Cleveland Cavaliers: Projecting the Rotation for the 2011-2012 NBA Season

The NBA is in the throes of a lockout, and all we fans can do is sit and wait for the news about what is going to happen in the future. 

When will the season start?  How many games will they play?  What will the new Collective Bargaining Agreement hold?

All those questions will have to wait to be answered, and we can speculate about them all we want, but in reality all this speculation is just wild guesses based on hearsay and rumors.

When it all comes down to it, all we can speculate about with some certainty is the basketball end of things.

Who will be playing in the playoffs? Who will sit in the basement of the league? Who is going to play?

Near and dear to my heart are the Cleveland Cavaliers, and they currently have one of the most interesting situations in the NBA. 

They have two high-first-round draft picks who look to be immediate impact players, they have players who will inevitably be traded and they have players who are seemingly in limbo.

But the ultimate question is, who is going to play for the Cavs in 2011-2012?

The first thing I want to take a look at is the starting rotation, which may end up being quite interesting.

I'll lay it out there, my initial starting lineup is Anderson Varejao, Antawn Jamison, Omri Casspi, Baron Davis and Kyrie Irving.

Ultimately, Irving is going to start on opening day. The last No. 1 draft pick to come off the bench on opening day was Andrea Bargnani, who, quite frankly, was nothing special as a rookie.

Davis seems to be the best option at shooting guard, as he is going to make a bigger impact than Anthony Parker (if they re-sign him). Plus, Davis did play some shooting guard for the Cavs last season.

The only options Cleveland has at small forward besides Casspi are Alonzo Gee and Christian Eyenga, who are miles away from being capable of starting. The Cavs may opt to bring Casspi off the bench and start Jamison at small forward, all depending on how the battle at power forward works out.

Jamison is the presumptive starter at power forward, as they wouldn't want to kill any trade value he might have (if they want to trade him) by bringing him off the bench.

However, that doesn't mean he is going to get the job with no problem. 

If there is a training camp, Tristan Thompson or even Samardo Samuels could fight for the spot.

Jamison will ultimately be the starter on opening day, but he could lose the job quickly if he plays uninspired basketball like he did last season.

At center, Anderson Varejao should have the starting job with no problems unless some injury issues crop up again, at which point the job would go to Ryan Hollins.

Off the bench, the guy who should get the most minutes is Ramon Sessions, followed closely by Thompson, Casspi and Hollins. Eyenga will also get reserve minutes, along with Samuels and Manny Harris.

Of course, the Cavaliers are going to be a team completely in flux throughout the season, so by the time the trade deadline passes, they could look completely different.