Isaiah Thomas makes his much awaited debut with the Cleveland Cavaliers tonight, and it couldn’t have come at a better time.
The Cavs have lost four of their last five and appears to be in a bit of a holiday malaise following a tough loss to Golden State on Christmas Day.
The bench has struggled a bit since Tristan Thompson’s return and his replacement of Channing Frye with the second unit. Dwyane Wade and his crew have lost the floor spacing that the latter provided with his three point shooting.
Thompson needs to be near the basket and if he’s away from the rim, he doesn’t need to be guarded. That takes away driving lanes for Wade and allows teams to shadow Kyle Korver, making it more difficult for him to get open.
Thomas will start off coming off the bench and will play limited minutes, but the starting lineup is also in need of a shot in the arm.
Jose Calderon did a great job in the starting lineup after Derrick Rose was injured, but he is starting to show that he is, well, Jose Calderon. He’s a guy who should be playing limited minutes, and instead he playing more than he did a year ago.
They also need to get more offense out of their starting lineup. Currently, the only players Tyronn Lue can count on nightly are LeBron James and Kevin Love.
Unfortunately, that’s only two-fifths of the starting five.
JR Smith’s shooting continues to decline from his first two seasons with the Cavaliers, dropping from 39% and 40% in those seasons to the 35% and 36% in the past two campaigns.
Moreso, he has been more inconsistent, at times going several games where he is not a factor on the offensive end. By now, we know James needs to play with three point shooters to open up driving lines. In return, those shooters get wide open looks.
Those snipers have to knock down those looks more often than not. Right now, that’s not a given.
Calderon and Smith’s issues are one reason the bench group is more productive than the starters. There are more of them making nightly contributions.
Once Thomas shakes the rust off his game, he should help provide more scoring from the starting five, and he is a 36.7% career shooter from behind the arc, so opponents have to account for him.
He’s also an 88% lifetime free throw shooter, so if he gets fouled he makes them. Keep in mind, the Cavs already rank second in the NBA in free throw shooting as a team.
No doubt, it will take some time for Thomas to get used to playing with a roster that outside of Jae Crowder, he hasn’t played with before. But, his style does fit more than someone like Thompson.
To start, we can see Thomas taking Calderon’s role, but with more drives and more volume scoring. He also provides the offense with another player who can create his own shot, something that only James and Wade can do right now with regularity.
Thomas’ return to the floor should give the Cavaliers a little boost that is needed right now. It’s not like the team has been playing poorly, but a slight jolt shouldn’t hurt anything.
JK
Cleveland Sports Perspective 