With Darius Garland and Max Strus set to miss the start of the season, the Cleveland Cavaliers are likely going to roll with Donovan Mitchell, Sam Merrill, De'Andre Hunter, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen as their first five on the floor to begin the year. The problem is, that group only played a combined 10 possessions together for all of last season.
It's obvious that Kenny Atkinson didn't rely on those five at the same time much at all last season. It simply wasn't a group he had to lean into due to the depth and health of the roster. But now, by necessity, they might be the lineup forced to carrying the early part of the season.
10 possessions shared together is essentially nothing. There was no real time to build any kind of flow, familiarity on defense, communication or spacing. Without any kind of real reps together, the level of trust among these five is naturally going to be shaky.
This group of five is a solid mix of ball-handlers, shooters, and big guys. But the spacing as well as the specific role definitions may be a bit unclear. It's going to take some time for important details to be worked out.
The Cavs' temporary starting five has not played much together
One thing is clear: Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley are going to have to carry pretty heavily on both ends early on. They're far and away the two most talented players in this lineup, and if one of them has a particularly off night it could mean trouble for the rest of the group.
With one starter and one crucial bench guy injured, Cleveland's bench is going to likely be overworked early on. That's going to make it harder to rotate, get guys their proper rest, and adapt against diverse opposing lineups.
Early results are going to matter a lot with this starting five. The Cavs have a chance to jump out to another excellent record in the early going just like they did last year. But if they're still trying to figure out things with this group on the floor, it could lead to less than desirable results to begin with.
So it's perfectly understandable why the Cavaliers' coaching staff and fanbase alike may not fully "trust" this group as of yet. The rational mind would say that there's no other option than for them to prove they can keep things humming until Garland and Strus are back on the hardwood.