3 reasons Dean Wade needs to be a Cavs’ rotational regular in 2023-24

Reason No. 3: Great defender

Wade plays great defense anytime he’s on the floor. His defensive footwork and ability to recover if he ever gets burned are very good. You will often find Wade in the passing lanes or disrupting the tempo of the opponent with his constant defensive skills.

He is a good rebounder and has quality positioning as a team defender, too. He’s totaled 534 rebounds in his career so far and had 94 steals along with 53 blocks. None of these statistics are over the top but when you consider that he consistently adds to these totals when given solid minutes of play then you see a player that helps his Cavs team succeed.

The Cavaliers and their head coach Bickerstaff seem to recognize this attribute of Wade but haven’t given him steady minutes, especially during this past season, and that had a factor in the outcome of the season.

The use of Wade down the stretch during the season was so out of whack. That led to Bickerstaff playing Wade in the first playoff game of the series against the New York Knicks only seven minutes in Game 1. After that, Wade got in just one more time for three minutes in Game 3.

This is why Bickerstaff needs to play Wade more often because every time they’ve not used him consistently the team usually loses.

I’m not sure what Bickerstaff’s plans are for Wade for this next season but if he doesn’t play him or is inconsistent with his usage then he once again has mismanaged a player that had a direct effect on the team.

We’re not here to say Wade should be starting in games, though I believe that he could fill that No. 3 position in the starting unit nicely.

But, Wade not being in that regular rotation of players would certainly be detrimental to the Cavs.