3 lineup moves the Cleveland Cavaliers need to do to fix their issues
By Chad Porto
Start Isaac Okoro until Dean Wade is healthy
To help bolster the starting five’s defense, the key is to get Dean Wade into the starting lineup on a regular basis. Wade is someone who just makes the team a better defensive unit. Of the Top 25 lineups based on minutes, units that include Wade average a defensive rating of 84.92 and have a net rating of +25.5 with him on the court in any of those top 10 lineups.
To say that Wade makes the team better is a drastic understatement. He’s not the best player on the team but he’s a glue guy. Not dissimilar to that of Larry Nance Jr. or Draymond Green. Wade just fits well and puts all of his efforts into every single play.
He’s the perfect fit for the starting lineup and should’ve started since the jump. The only problem? He’s not healthy at the moment, and until he’s ready to return the team should try out Isaac Okoro. Okoro is not a good player offensively and his net rating reflects it with just a +2.25 in all of his nine most-played lineups.
So he’s not on Wade’s level, and that’s ok, for a stopgap he is fine. Wade will likely return by the end of next week and when that happens, he’ll be able to take over.