The Cleveland Cavaliers will miss Dean Wade as much as any team misses any player this season.
That is not because Wade is a superstar; he averaged 5.8 points per game last season. Yet his defensive versatility and excellence defending opposing forwards cannot be replicated by the players on Cleveland's roster this season.
And looking around the Eastern Conference, such a skill has never been more necessary.
The NBA is bursting with amazing forwards
On opening night this season, the Cavaliers will face off with LeBron James, Jaylen Brown and the new-look Philadelphia 76ers -- Wade's new team, in fact. In the past, Wade was their best option to defend both Brown and James. Not anymore.
In the NBA Cup this season, the Cavaliers are in a group with those same 76ers, as well as the Miami Heat -- loaded with Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bam Adebayo and Andrew Wiggins in the frontcourt -- and the New York Knicks, boasting Finals star OG Anunoby.
The Boston Celtics are getting Jayson Tatum back. The Toronto Raptors added Kawhi Leonard. The Atlanta Hawks have a fresh All-NBA forward in Jalen Johnson. Both Franz Wagner and Paolo Banchero enter the season healthy in Orlando. The Washington Wizards drafted AJ Dybantsa first overall, while the Chicago Bulls added Caleb Wilson alongside Matas Buzelis. The task of defending opposing forwards is only getting more difficult.
That's only the Eastern Conference. In the West, Cam Boozer could be the next Duke forward to ascend to stardom. He joins Cooper Flagg, on track to be an All-Star as early as his second season. Deni Avdija made his star turn last year. The San Antonio Spurs added Tobias Harris. The Houston Rockets have Kevin Durant, while the Utah Jazz have former Cavalier Lauri Markkanen starting at the 3.
The Cavaliers have a new weakness
Adding Peyton Watson was a high-risk, high-reward move, but even if he turns out to be all that the Cavaliers hope he can be, an athletic defender and offensive supporting star, he is still better equipped to take on opposing guards than opposing forwards.
The theory for the Cleveland defense is that Watson can take the most formidable perimeter player, allowing Donovan Mitchell to take the smallest remaining player and James Harden to take on the least formidable, with his strength making him a reasonable option even on larger players.
That solution works against some teams, but certainly not against the array of superpowered forwards they are going to run into. And facing the likes of Kawhi Leonard or Cooper Flagg means the Cavs will be without a reliable defender to throw at them.
Perhaps re-signing Wade was impossible given the other things they hoped to do this offseason. It took a lot of work to maneuver their way down in salary to sign-and-trade for Watson and still bring back Harden on a lucrative new deal.
Nearly every night in the NBA this season, the Cavaliers will be hard-pressed to defend the best forwards in the league, a group of players that is only growing. And they may just regret letting Wade walk away this summer.
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