{"id":700331,"date":"2026-04-05T22:28:15","date_gmt":"2026-04-05T22:28:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/700331\/"},"modified":"2026-04-05T22:28:15","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T22:28:15","slug":"cavs-are-yet-to-commit-to-starting-small-forward","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/700331\/","title":{"rendered":"Cavs are yet to commit to starting small forward"},"content":{"rendered":"

CLEVELAND \u2014 The Cleveland Cavaliers<\/a> haven\u2019t had many opportunities to see how this team looks when it\u2019s at \u2014 or even near \u2014 full strength. That\u2019s one of the downsides to having a team undergo renovations at the trade deadline.<\/p>\n

As of now, head coach Kenny Atkinson still doesn\u2019t know who the starting small forward will be in the playoffs. Right now, the plan is to decide who\u2019s in that spot based on the matchup and how they\u2019re playing.<\/p>\n

Atkinson was asked if Max Strus was going to be the starting small forward going forward, and said no.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat position is going to be flexible in terms of starting and finishing,\u201d Atkinson said before the Indiana Pacers game on Sunday. \u201cYou have to earn it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Atkinson listed five options for who could be in the starting small forward spot: Max Strus, Dean Wade, Sam Merrill, Jaylon Tyson, and Keon Ellis.<\/p>\n

Below is a chart of how those groupings have done with the four permanent starters: James Harden, Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Allen. For a point of reference, the Cavs have scored 121.2 points per 100 possessions<\/a> (88th percentile for offensive rating<\/a>), allowed 100.6 points per 100 defensive possessions<\/a> (100th percentile for defensive rating<\/a>), and outscored their opponent by 20.6 points per 100 possessions<\/a> (100th percentile for net rating<\/a>) in the 165 possessions this quartet has played together.<\/p>\n

Fifth StarterPossessions with other four startersOffensive RatingDefensive RatingNet RatingMax Strus68108.8110.8-1.9Dean Wade56114.391.1+23.2Sam Merrill38155.3100+55.3Jaylon Tyson310066.7+33.3Keon EllisHave not played together yetN\/AN\/AN\/A\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Anything bought from the links helps support Fear the Sword. You can buy the Jarrett Allen Fro shirt HERE<\/a>. You can also shop all of Homage\u2019s Cavs gear HERE<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As you can see, the sample size is incredibly small. So much so, the data from any of these numbers isn\u2019t really that useful. The Cavs shouldn\u2019t be making any decisions based on this. At the same time, it is encouraging that they have performed well in the limited time their four best players have shared the floor.<\/p>\n

Atkinson admitted before Sunday\u2019s game that he\u2019s still trying to figure out how to best use Harden, who will be playing in just his 24th game with the Cavs on Sunday.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m still looking back at James\u2019s career, stealing ATOs (after timeout plays) from Houston,\u201d Atkinson said. \u201cHow did the spacing look with the Clippers? I look at some of the Nets\u2019 stuff. \u2026 Past teams, have used him as a defender on the four-man?\u201d<\/p>\n

The Cavaliers are in a tough position. The playoffs are two weeks away, and they\u2019re still assessing what they have and how to use their best players. There was really no way around this problem when the Cavs decided to overhaul the roster in February. The hope was that talent would win out this season. And at times it has. Other times, they\u2019ve looked like a team still piecing things together.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll see how this looks in the playoffs. As of now, Atkinson doesn\u2019t know who will be at the starting small forward spot. He is, however, confident in the options that he does have.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a good problem to have, but these are tough decisions to make, so it\u2019ll be flexible,\u201d Atkinson said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CLEVELAND \u2014 The Cleveland Cavaliers haven\u2019t had many opportunities to see how this team looks when it\u2019s at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":700332,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3772],"tags":[7,306,147,305,193,3846,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-700331","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cleveland-cavaliers","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-cavaliers","10":"tag-cavs-news","11":"tag-cleveland","12":"tag-cleveland-cavaliers","13":"tag-clevelandcavaliers","14":"tag-nba"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/700331","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=700331"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/700331\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/700332"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=700331"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=700331"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=700331"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}