The Cleveland Cavaliers have a playoff decision to make.
At the risk of sounding pedantic, a basketball team can only have 5 players on the court at one time. Depth is obviously a valuable component of a good team, but when the chips are down, only five players get to compete at one time.
The Cavaliers certainly have a lot of depth, and it's a major reason they are 54-10, the best record in the league and trending toward the best record in franchise history. They have won 14-straight games for the second time this season (they began the year 15-0).
When Darius Garland or Donovan Mitchell need a night off, there is Ty Jerome or Isaac Okoro ready to step in. Max Strus, De'Andre Hunter and Dean Wade are a fearsome trio of 3-and-D wings. Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen can play together and lock down 48 minutes of star-level play at center. And Sam Merrill brings movement shooting that can break a defense trying to stop everything else going on.
That's 10 players all worthy of a major rotation role, and most would start on most teams around the league. That depth is carrying the Cavs through the regular season, but if everyone is healthy in the playoffs, head coach Kenny Atkinson will have difficult decisions to make.
In the playoffs, teams tend to trim their rotations to maximize playing time for their key players. Will Atkinson do that? Are Okoro, Wade and Merrill headed for reduced playing time?
The even more difficult question is going to be the closing lineup. There appear to be three locks: Darius Garland, Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley. Who will join them in Atkinson's go-to closing lineup in the playoffs?
That answer could define the postseason for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Who will close playoff games for the Cavaliers?
The first name to consider is clearly Jarrett Allen. The former All-Star center is an All-Defense candidate in the middle for Cleveland, one of the most efficient players in the entire league and a long-term member of this core. On the surface he appears to be a lock to start and close games.
That has not been the case this season for Atkinson, however, as his first adjustment is to pull one of his bigs off the court and play two wings at the 3 and the 4. That has worked for the full 48 minutes to consistently rotate in another shooter, but what will he choose for high-pressure closing situations?
If he does pull Allen off the floor, then the most likely route is to close with both Max Strus and De'Andre Hunter. That adds two excellent shooters to the group who provide solid defense; there is no true lockdown option in that group, but Hunter is a large body to take on the Jayson Tatums and Jalen Williams of the league and Strus is a savvy option.
It is also possible in some matchups that Atkinson looks to Dean Wade, who is even bigger than Hunter -- certainly stronger -- and profiles as the best defensive option of the three. He may be called on against the Milwaukee Bucks, for example, if Atkinson wants to get a shooter on the court without sacrificing too much defensively over Allen.
What if Atkinson wants to ride with his four stars? Then the question of who closes becomes an even more difficult one. Does he pick Strus, who has been starting and excelling over the past month-plus? Or does he pick Hunter, who has more size and shooting accuracy than Strus?
At least one of those three players is going to be left out in closing lineups. Perhaps those groups change from series to series, or even game-to-game, and matchups will certainly dictate some of Atkinson's decisions.
Ultimately, however, how far the Cavaliers go will be determined -- at least in part -- by the coaching decisions Atkinson is making over the course of a game. And in the biggest of moments, he will need to decide who plays and who sits -- a decision that will have major ramifications.
Who ends up riding the pine, and who will get to take the court to make history for Cleveland?