Who is part of the Cavaliers' playoff rotation? After one game, that is the most pressing question surrounding this team right now — and it's far from the most stressful question the team could be facing.
As the playoffs progress, other questions will obviously emerge. Does James Harden break (sometimes fair, sometimes silly) perception of his postseason performance? Can Donovan Mitchell be the No. 1 option on an NBA Finals team? Can this defense hold up against higher-powered offenses?
Those can be addressed another day. In Game 1 against Toronto, they looked incredibly sharp (50% from 3PT, forced 17 turnovers), showing they are a tier or two above the Toronto Raptors — and they did that while Kenny Atkinson tinkered with the lineup during the game.
Max Strus, Jaylon Tyson, Keon Ellis, Sam Merrill, and Dennis Schroder all played minutes in the first half. Nae'Qwan Tomlin was only used in garbage time, which is somewhat notable — but maybe not shocking, as the Cavs will probably elect to have at least Evan Mobley or Jarrett Allen on the floor at pretty much all times.
Cavaliers have plenty of weapons, but what will the rotation look like?
In a first round series, if Kenny Atkinson can go 10 players deep in every first half, that's a huge win for the Cavs. Not only because it will give him a better chance to see which configurations work best for a Cavaliers team that obviously made a massive in-season trade, but also because it keeps the main guys fresh for a (potentially) deep playoff run. It's a bttle of atrition in the postseason, and having 10 capable guys to call on in series' like this is a pretty big deal.
The Raptors aren't a bad basketball team, and there will likely be some games this series in which Atkinson is forced to stick with his core guys for more than he did today, when nobody played more than 33 minutes. But it's still a good sign that the team can basically figure out what works on the fly and still win comfortably.
If I had to guess, I think Keon Ellis stays in the rotation but only for quick bursts. His defense remains high-level, but he might not bring enough offensive pop to play more than 10-ish minutes per game. Sam Merrill obviously needs to shoot well to keep his place, and if Max Strus stays hot (he went 8-10 today) it might nullify Merrill's value.
Overall, not having an obvious rotation is a good problem to have, because it's not a matter of not having enough talent... It's the opposite. Six percent of the way to a ring!
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