5 Cleveland Cavaliers Who Must Step Up Immediately
The Cleveland Cavaliers are finally beginning to shows signs of life, winning three straight games following a dismal 5-7 beginning to the 2017-18 season.
While it's fair to label the team's disastrous defense the root cause of the slow start, there's a lot of individual blame to go around as well.
A team with eight new members is going to have its bumps, but for some, the problems extend beyond pure chemistry. Be it style of play, being asked to do too much or simply Father Time, many Cavs are struggling for different reasons.
Yes, we've got five months until the start of the postseason, but improvement for some must be shown now to avoid a drop in minutes, spot in the rotation or even a place on the team altogether.
All (yes, even LeBron James) could be contributing more, but these five players need to adjust their respective games the most.
5. Iman Shumpert, G
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2017-18 Stats Per Game: 5.6 points, 3.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 22.9 minutes, 40.0/28.0/73.3 shooting, plus-2.2
Iman Shumpert's lack of improvement since he joined the Cavaliers via trade in Jan. 2015 has been alarming.
At 27, he should be entering the prime of his career. Shumpert is extremely athletic, can play multiple positions and is able to play lockdown defense in spurts.
That being said, his shooting only continues to get worse. In the past four games starting at point guard for the injured Derrick Rose, Shumpert is converting just 30.4 percent of his shots, including 16.7 percent (2-of-12) from deep.
Head coach Tyronn Lue likes to use Shumpert defensively on opposing point guards. Former floor general Kyrie Irving used to cover a lesser offensive threat. Isaiah Thomas will likely do the same when he returns.
Thomas' addition to an already crowded rotation could remove Shumpert entirely, as Thomas will require 30-plus minutes per night alongside J.R. Smith, Dwyane Wade, Derrick Rose and Kyle Korver.
With Rose nursing a sore ankle, this has been Shumpert's chance to prove he deserves minutes no matter what. Instead, 5.0 points and 2.2 assists in 31.0 minutes in five games as a starter this season has proved quite the opposite.
4. Dwyane Wade, G
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2017-18 Stats Per Game: 8.9 points, 3.6 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 22.0 minutes, 40.2/21.4/79.3 shooting, plus-0.9
Wade has been Cleveland's second-best playmaker behind James this season. This is both a compliment and a concern.
His assists (3.8) and assist percentage (25.8 percent) are both comfortably second on the Cavaliers, figures that should fall to third when Thomas returns.
Wade hasn't been awful. For a 35-year-old shooting guard who can't shoot, he's molded himself into an important part of the Cavaliers' second unit.
Still, it's fair to expect more from Wade. His outside shooting has gotten so bad he hasn't even attempted a three-pointer in the Cavs' past five games. He's also very much adjusting to serving as a fifth-sixth offensive option after 14 years of being 1A or 1B.
With this comes some bad habits: no-pass possessions where Wade brings the ball up and settles for a mid-range jumper, getting to the paint and forcing shots at the rim and having the scoring mentality of a 25-year-old with a body a decade older.
Wade should continue to groom himself into a sixth-man role, but with so many mouths to feed, his efficiency (rather than raw numbers) will be key.
3. Tristan Thompson, C
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2017-18 Stats Per Game: 4.4 points, 6.4 rebounds, 0.5 blocks, 21.6 minutes, 60.0/0.0/45.5 shooting, minus-5.1
Tristan Thompson was off to the worst start of his seven-year career before a calf strain sidelined him until early December.
The 26-year-old center is putting up personal lows in points, rebounds, assists, steals and minutes. Lue originally wanted to use Thompson as his sixth man, partly in an effort to save his body from guarding starting centers for 30 minutes every night. This was a short experiment, however, as Kevin Love already showed signs of wearing down when asked to do the same.
Cleveland needs Thompson. Not to score but to crash the glass, protect the paint and free up players like James and Thomas with hard screens.
Even before the injury, there was concern with Thompson's play. He didn't secure a single rebound in a loss to the New York Knicks on Oct. 29, just the second time ever in 533 combined regular-season and playoff contests he's failed to do so when logging one minute or more, per Basketball Reference.
His rebound percentage (15.9 percent) is Thompson's lowest mark since his rookie season, while his block percentage is fifth on the team behind even guard Wade's (2.0 percent to 3.1 percent).
Hopefully this poor play has to do with the flip-flopping between the starting unit and bench and all the new teammates he's been sharing the floor with.
Hopefully.
2. Jae Crowder, F
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2017-18 Stats Per Game: 8.2 points, 3.6 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 26.4 minutes, 36.8/30.8/85.3 shooting, minus-3.5
This is not the same Jae Crowder we saw play for the Boston Celtics a year ago.
Crowder, known for his intense defense, has been sloppy on that end all season. Too often, opposing wings have beat him to the basket in isolation. When the Cavs haven't asked him to guard a big, that is.
This is part of the problem with Crowder. He's so good at so many things that Lue has spread him a little thin instead of focusing on one position or role.
"I'm not where I want to be, honestly," Crowder said, per ESPN.com's Dave McMenamin.
We've seen Crowder start at power forward and come off the bench. With Thompson's injury, the 6'6" Crowder has been forced into some difficult matchups, including one with the New York Knicks' 7'3" Kristaps Porzingis. It's no wonder we've seen a drop in his offensive numbers as well.
"He's such a huge X-factor for us and can do so many things," Kevin Love told ESPN (h/t McMenamin). "It's just tough because we've been asking him to play the 4, play the 3, guard the other team's best player, score the basketball."
Until there's a defined role for Crowder, he will probably continue to struggle. Thompson's projected return means yet another move to the bench for Crowder, where he's been even worse. In three games as a reserve, the 27-year-old forward is averaging just 6.3 points on 27.3 percent shooting.
Although Crowder is one of the most versatile players on the team, Lue needs to settle on a role for him and stick with it if possible.
1. Derrick Rose, PG
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2017-18 Stats Per Game: 14.3 points, 2.6 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 26.8 minutes, 47.0/23.1/90.5 shooting, minus-7.4
Derrick Rose is moving well for someone coming off numerous knee surgeries, is the Cavs' third-leading scorer and is shooting a career-high 67.5 percent from within three feet of the basket this season.
And there ends the positives with Rose.
The inability to look or create for teammates is alarming. The 29-year-old ranks fifth on the team in assists per game despite being the starting point guard. For context, Smith is handing out more helpers per game (2.0) than Rose.
Why such terrible passing numbers for a guy who's averaged 6.0 dimes per game in his career up to this point?
"He's on a minutes restriction and in a contract year," an NBA scout told Sam Amico of Amico Hoops. "So he may be 'looking to get his' while he's out there."
Rose's assist percentage (10.4 percent) aligns with those of Jeff Green (9.9) and Love (9.8), two power forwards who are primarily asked to score. His plus/minus (minus-7.4), win shares (minus-0.1), box plus/minus (minus-7.6) and value over replacement player (minus-0.3) are all dead last among the Cavs' 11 rotation members.
When Thomas returns, Rose will be sent to the second unit. Whether he even stays with that group will likely depend on his ability to change, get others involved and play better defense.
In its past four games, while Rose has nursed a sore ankle, Cleveland is 3-1.
Greg Swartz is the Cleveland Cavaliers lead writer for Bleacher Report. Stats provided by NBA.com and Basketball Reference unless otherwise noted.
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