Over the past couple of years, we have written about the lack of size on the Cleveland Cavaliers’ roster. Outside of Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley, they have a plethora of smaller players for their positions.
We know about the backcourt of Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell, but Max Strus and Isaac Okoro were getting a lot of time at small forward, and both are 6’5″, undersized for that spot.
In the off-season, Koby Altman addressed this a bit, trading for 6’6″ guard Lonzo Ball, signing Larry Nance Jr. as a free agent and moving De’Andre Hunter (6’8″) into the starting lineup at small forward.
They also brought in Thomas Bryant to back up at center and he’s 6’9″, but he’s really taking the roster spot used on Tristan Thompson a year ago.
So they still really haven’t addressed adding size up front. The forerunner for the new style of play in the NBA, the Golden State Warriors teams from 2015-2018 were based around the outside shooting of Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson and the versatility of Draymond Green.
They still had serviceable big men on the roster.
In 2015, their first title, they had Andrew Bogut, Marreese Speights, Festus Ezeli, and David Lee, all of whom are 6’9″ and taller, and all were in the top 12 in terms of minutes. On their second title squad, they had added Kevin Durant (conservatively 6’11”), replaced Bogut with Zaza Pachulia (6’11”) and had Javale McGee (7’0″) with David West (6’9″).
Look at last year’s champions, the Oklahoma City Thunder. They have the combination of Chet Holmgren (7’1″) and Isaiah Hartenstein (7’0″ and don’t get us started) and have two other 6’9″ players who got minutes in Jaylin Williams and Ousmane Dieng.
Since Allen and Mobley have missed a lot of time with injuries this season, the lack of size has reared its ugly head for Kenny Atkinson once again. In the loss to Charlotte on Sunday, the coach was using Dean Wade at center with the next two tallest players being Ball and Jaylin Tyson, both a 6’6″.
Wade is listed at 6’9″ but is used primarily for his ability to defend on the perimeter, not as a deterrent to opposing players driving to the basket.
In short (no pun intended) that’s a very small group on the floor, especially with the Hornets going with no one under 6’5″ for most of the quarter.
So, once again, the roster construction should be questioned. A few years ago, the emphasis seemed to be on smaller, quicker players who can shoot. But in the past couple of seasons, those players are getting bigger and just as quick.
It’s a constant evolution.
Basketball is a sport by its nature where size is important and having bigger players who can play a spot where they have a size advantage with the same skill set is always desirable.
Can the Cavaliers make any moves to get bigger as this season progresses? The salary cap and apron will make it very difficult, but there’s usually some way to get it done.
Even when everyone is healthy, this Cavs’ roster needs to get bigger.
Cleveland Sports Perspective 