The Cleveland Cavaliers are heading to Indianapolis to face the Pacers on Friday evening. According to head coach J.B. Bickerstaff, the preseason finale will more or less be a dress rehearsal. The plan for Friday’s tune-up is to have all the regulars, except Jarrett Allen, who is set to be re-evaluated this weekend after suffering a bone bruise in his ankle, and Ricky Rubio, who remains away from the team, to play the first three quarters. Based on how things are going, Bickerstaff will determine the best approach for the final preseason frame.
“My expectation is we get as close to game-like as we can if all goes well,” Bickerstaff said on Monday, knocking on a table for good luck.
When asked about it as Cavaliers' practice concluded, Bickerstaff remained coy and told the media that they'll monitor how things go for his team. But, for now, everything seems to be in place for a semi-regular season look for the Cavaliers.
That means Darius Garland, Donovan Mitchell, Max Strus and Evan Mobley will start Friday night against the Pacers. While Bickerstaff has tinkered with Cleveland by trying a small-ball approach with Mobley at center and shooting all around him, the plan, sources tell ClutchPoints, is to stick with Mobley at power forward to start games. The same source said that while the results with Mobley playing center have been positive for the Cavaliers, they also don't want to run their superstar big man into the ground since playing at center isn't his traditional position. That means Damian Jones will likely start alongside Mobley, rounding out the remainder of the starting unit.
Those sentiments about Mobley's spot within the starting unit echo what Bickerstaff has said all throughout camp about wanting Cleveland to stick to their traditional tall-ball style. Thankfully, with there being success with Mobley playing center, it should give Bickerstaff time to see what players coming off the bench best complement their new small-ball approach.
Cavs expected to have deep rotation during the season
During the preseason, Bickerstaff said that he expects the Cavaliers to go 10 or 11 players deep into the rotation any night. With Allen leapfrogging Jones when healthy and Caris LeVert penciled in as the team's sixth man, there are still four to five spots left in Bickerestaff's rotation up for grabs. Although they've all played well leading up to Friday, Jones, Isaac Okoro, Georges Niang, Dean Wade and Ty Jerome will all make or break their cases during Friday's preseason finale.
When considering Cleveland's offensive approach heading into the 2023-24 season, Niang, Wade and Jerome are safe bets on getting consistent minutes every night. All three provide a premium commodity for any team, the Cavaliers included needs: three-point shooting. More importantly, Niang and Wade have the size to give Cleveland a mixture of off-ball screening on top of their three-point scoring. At the same time, thanks to those screens, Jerome is comfortable running all over the court to break down defenses and get cleaner looks on the perimeter.
That leaves Okoro and Jones likely duking it out for the last spot in the Cavaliers' nightly rotation. While Jones will start, and play, in place of Allen, he doesn't provide what Okoro gives Cleveland needs to complete their puzzle: point of attack defense. With Lamar Stevens gone, Okoro is the best perimeter defender on the Cavaliers but has always been a liability on offense whenever he isn't attacking the basket. Opposing defenses sag off of Okoro due to his lack of a reliable three-pointer to keep them honest. While Okoro is connecting on 42.8% of his three-pointers during the preseason, he isn't taking them at a volume where it makes a difference for the Cavaliers. Thankfully, with this new offensive approach Cleveland is taking, Okoro might not be a liability on offense much longer.
With so many three-point shooting threats like Garland, Mitchell, Strus and others on the roster, Okoro can slot in nicely and
“You're just clearing the paint for him to do his thing and be successful,” Bickerstaff said. “I think one of the underappreciated or undervalued things that Isaac does is he beats closeouts and makes the next right pass really well, so even when he gets to the paint, now you have Max or Georges or whoever on the back side. He does a really good job of finding those guys.”
That doesn't mean Okoro has to get 30 or so minutes a night for Cleveland. But, due to how invaluable his greatest skill is as a perimeter defender, he can't miss opportunities on the floor. But, thanks to the new spaced-out approach by the Cavaliers, he won't be as much of a liability on offense either.
Things won't be written in stone for the Cavaliers heading into the regular season. But, everyone will have a better understanding of what they have cooked up for the start of the regular season on either end of the floor.
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