3 lineups featuring the Cleveland Cavaliers’ newcomers

Lineup No. 2: Garland-Jerome-Strus-Mobley-Allen

In this lineup, the Cavaliers have Garland as the primary playmaker, flanked by Jerome and Strus on the wings, and then the Mobley-Allen pairing in the frontcourt.

Garland will have his share of playmaking run here, but Jerome is a suitable ball movement presence in his own right. And while he’s not Strus as a movement shooter, Jerome should help Cleveland’s horizontal spacing, and can knock down off-ball looks. Even on a two-way deal, he cashed in on 38.9 percent of his three-point attempts last season with the Golden State Warriors, and was solid in his opportunities.

Garland could play some off the ball here in this sort of lineup as well, and perhaps the Cavaliers could feature DG and Strus as ghost screeners here, where Jerome can either be able to get to pull-ups with that threat, or at times find those guys via relocation. Off that, Allen on the interior could an option to look to upon penetration as a counter to those wrinkles.

With the shooters on the perimeter in this group, Cleveland could have Mobley get mid-post looks as well, where he can be uber-aggressive as a scorer, but also use his size to find over-the-top feeds to the shooting threats.

Now, on the defensive end, there could be some size limitations on the perimeter with this lineup.

However, Mobley and Allen could mitigate possible deficiencies to some extent, and while Strus is not a lockdown defensive wing, he is a player that can defend bigger wings and some forwards on-ball with his strength, and Jerome holds his own on that end. Additionally, even with Garland having some defensive limitations, he has made strides there, and as an off-ball defender, has gotten much better, and is especially active as a rotator in passing lanes.

Overall, this lineup could be an intriguing option at times to go for Cleveland with the shooting aspect in mind, and for plus playmaking.