3 Cavaliers lineups that should play more after destroying opponents this year

Lineup No. 2: Winging It

Donovan Mitchell, Sam Merrill, Isaac Okoro, Max Strus, Jarrett Allen

In years past, the Cleveland Cavaliers have struggled to field lineups that were not either crammed with bigs (including their "triple towers" look two seasons ago) or guard-heavy; they haven't had the players or the size on the wing to play anything else. The addition of Max Strus and the breakout of Sam Merrill havent solved the size issue, but they have unlocked some fascinating combinations of wings.

This lineup is extremely small; Max Strus is playing power forward at 6'5". What it isn't short on is role versatility; Strus and Merrill can fly around the court hunting 3-pointers, forcing defenses to keep their eyes on their movement and off of Donovan Mitchell looking to cook them with the ball. He and Allen can run pick-and-roll actions that strain defenses trying to run shooters off the 3-point line.

This group has played 14 possessions together and outscored opponents by 23.8 points per 100 possessions. The offense has been effective, but the real surprise is that this group has been able to keep up defensively. They have switched nearly everything, swarmed to the ball, and with Isaac Okoro at the tip of the spear and Jarrett Allen on the back line they have held opponents to a frigid 83.3 points per 100 possessions.

That is an unsustainably good defense for this group, and it certainly wouldn't survive heavy minutes against an opponent's best players, but in the right scenarios, this or another similar group is worth considering.