Go back through the library of articles on King James Gospel or any other site covering the Cleveland Cavaliers. What was this team's greatest roster need all season? The complete lack of a backup center. And they did absolutely nothing about it at the Trade Deadline.
Jarrett Allen was incredible in Game 2 against the Indiana Pacers. He needed to step up in a major way with two All-Star teammates sitting in street clothes all night, not to mention another key reserve. Without Evan Mobley, Darius Garland or De'Andre Hunter the pressure was on Allen to step up and be the elite player he can sometimes be.
Allen had 22 points, going 7-for-9 from the field and drawing eight free throws -- and making all of them. His 12 rebounds led all players for either team, and he had three blocks as well. It's hard to ask for anything more from him in a playoff game.
Yet by the end of the night, Allen was visibly gassed. A season of playing 30 minutes per game did not prepare him to be a linchpin on both ends of the court without relief coming in behind him or a Defensive Player of the Year beside him. Not only did Allen need to play 38 minutes, but he needed to do so with smaller players at power forward beside him.
For the 10 minutes Allen sat, it was Dean Wade who played smallball center, with Javonte Green beside him. That's a relatively small pairing on the backline, and while it played reasonably well, it stretched the team in other ways. Against a large team, Atkinson also had to play real stretches with either Max Strus or Isaac Okoro at power forward; Strus is the tall member of that duo at 6'5".
The Cavaliers desperately needed another big man that they could toss into the game for a few minutes. Someone with a pulse who wouldn't get completely eviscerated for a three minute stint in each half. Something to relieve the burden on Jarrett Allen and allow Kenny Atkinson to play Dean Wade at the 4 and limit the minutes where a shooting guard was playing power forward against the likes of Pascal Siakam.
Tristan Thompson is the only other big man on the roster, and it was clear early on this season that he doesn't have it anymore. He revived his career, presumably with the performance-enhancing drugs he was suspended for last year, but without them he dropped off a cliff. The Cavs kept him around for his locker room presence, presumably, but never found another answer to be ready behind Allen and Mobley in the case of an injury.
The Cavaliers knew they had this problem
Seriously, we have been saying it all season. We wrote about it in December. We wrote about it in February. Then when the Cavaliers ignored the problem at the Trade Deadline, we wrote about pursuing a big man on the buyout market. Cleveland could not afford to go into the playoffs with nothing behind their two bigs other than the memory of what TT used to be.
Koby Altman and the Cavaliers front office made a gamble that their bigs would stay healthy. That if Mobley or Allen missed time they could get by with Dean Wade and De'Andre Hunter on the backline. Perhaps it's a stroke of unavoidable bad luck that both Hunter and Mobley went down.
Yet these are the things a front office plans for, to give a head coach the tools he needs to win in any situation. The Cavaliers have (had?) a team good enough to win a championship, but they went to battle without a key and obvious piece of equipment. Now they need to reach for that thing on their belt, and there is nothing there.
We saw this coming, and Koby Altman and company ignored the problem. The result may be another lost season and the squandered promise of a deep playoff run. If the Cavaliers lose to the Pacers, as you point ringers of blame, be sure to set one squarely pointed at the chest of the Cleveland front office.