Cleveland’s depth should be an advantage again next season.
The Cleveland Cavaliers appear mostly done with significant roster moves this offseason. They will presumably fill the 14th roster spot and add another two-way player before the start of the season, but their core rotations are set.
Let’s take a look at the three position groups to see what their biggest strengths and weaknesses are.
Guards
The Cavs have the most bodies at the guard position with the addition of Lonzo Ball and the selection of Tyrese Proctor in the NBA Draft. Here’s how things currently shake out:
- Donovan Mitchell
- Darius Garland
- Lonzo Ball
- Sam Merrill
- Craig Porter Jr.
- Tyrese Proctor
Biggest strength: Varied skillsets
Cleveland’s top-four players at guard bring very different things to the table. Mitchell is one of the most electric scoring guards in the league. Few are better at orchestrating an offense than Garland. Ball is an exceptional ball mover and defender. And Merrill is one of the most dangerous off-ball movement shooters.
Not only are all four players very good at what they do, but they’re skilled in ways that should work in concert with each other. Ball’s addition certainly helps here. His size, ball-handling ability, and defensive capabilities should fill some of the gaps that were exposed in last season’s playoffs.
Biggest weakness: Lack of depth outside the top four
There are legitimate questions about how ready Porter or Proctor is to jump into more serious rotation minutes. Garland is expected to miss the beginning of next season and Ball has an extensive injury history that has limited him to just 70 combined games over the last four seasons.
Porter has shown in the last two seasons that he can be a good innings-eater. He’s capable of keeping the team on schedule when he’s been asked to step into a backup role from time to time. However, the lack of improvement with his jumper — or really any area of his game — doesn’t lead you to believe that it’s something he could excel in if he were asked to do it for a month or so.
Wings
This has historically been the Cavs’ weakest position group since LeBron James left. That is still true, but it isn’t as bad as it was at the start of last season thanks to De’Andre Hunter.
Below is the projected depth chart:
- De’Andre Hunter
- Max Strus
- Jaylon Tyson
- Luke Travers
Biggest strength: Playing without the ball
The Cavs’ high-usage players are in the front and back courts. They need their wings to accent them in lower usage roles. Fortunately, this group can do so because of the shooting Hunter and Strus provide.
We didn’t see Hunter play wing much last season because of the lack of depth with the bigs. Dean Wade’s various injuries — and inability to be an impact offensive player — forced Kenny Atkinson into playing Hunter at the four. It’s beneficial that Hunter can give minutes at four when needed, but it isn’t his best position considering his rebounding capabilities.
The addition of Larry Nance Jr. should allow Hunter to play almost exclusively the three and shift into the starting lineup.
Biggest weakness: Is this anyone’s natural position?
You could make an argument that the top three names listed above are better suited to be a guard. Hunter has length, but plays with the physicality of a guard. Strus has the physicality, but is undersized. And Tyson still seems more comfortable in an on-ball role.
This shouldn’t be a debilitating problem. The Cavs won’t be winning due to the strength of their wings. This is just a somewhat odd group that lacks the prototypical wing skillset or size.
Bigs
The frontcourt is arguably the Cavs’ strongest position group. They have top-end talent and depth with the addition of Nance to ease some of the concerns we saw last season.
Here’s the forward depth chart:
- Evan Mobley
- Jarrett Allen
- Larry Nance Jr.
- Dean Wade
- Nae’Qwan Tomlin
Biggest strength: Top-end talent
No other team can run out two centers with the skillsets of Mobley and Allen. The leaps that Mobley has taken with his offensive game have allowed him to seamlessly fit alongside Allen throughout last regular season.
Nance and Wade don’t contribute to the top-end talent, but they do have the perfect skillsets to pair with either Mobley or Allen. Both can play some small-ball five but are more naturally suited at the four. That’s incredibly beneficial considering the Cavs start two forwards who are more comfortable at center.
Biggest weakness: Health of the reserves
Nance and Wade are good enough backups, they’ve just had issues staying on the court in recent seasons. Nance only played 24 games last season and has only played in 65 games twice in his decade-long career. Wade hasn’t participated in 65 games once in his career. The closest he’s come is appearing in 63 back in 2020-21.
Cleveland has more insurance in the frontcourt than they did last season, but health is an area of concern for the backup bigs.
Overall, the Cavs should be one of the deepest teams in the league again next season. They have incredible depth with their top-end talent and have reinforced some of their weaknesses this offseason despite losing Ty Jerome in free agency.
Depth should once again be the Cavs’ greatest strength next season.