{"id":386098,"date":"2026-01-02T04:28:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-02T04:28:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/386098\/"},"modified":"2026-01-02T04:28:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-02T04:28:08","slug":"cavs-have-found-their-starting-small-forward-dean-wade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/386098\/","title":{"rendered":"Cavs have found their starting small forward: Dean Wade"},"content":{"rendered":"

CLEVELAND \u2014 Last December, Giannis Antetokounmpo faced the Cleveland Cavaliers<\/a> three days after securing an NBA Cup title by steamrolling the eventual champion Oklahoma City Thunder. He put up 26 points by continually slicing through one of the best defenses in recent memory like a knife through hot butter.<\/p>\n

That success didn\u2019t carry over to later in the week when he faced the Cavs.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s definitely harder,\u201d Antetokounmpo said<\/a> when asked afterward about the difference between Oklahoma City\u2019s defense and Cleveland\u2019s. \u201cI think they show, they close gaps better, a better rebounding team. That\u2019s pretty much it. It\u2019s harder. I know OKC was a great defensive team, but we were bigger than them. … Here\u2019s a team that can match up against us.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Cavs team that Antetokounmpo was referring to featured a starting front court of Dean Wade, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Allen. The same starting front court that has just fueled the Cavs to consecutive impressive wins over current Western Conference playoff teams.<\/p>\n

Defense has been an issue for the Cavs this season. They\u2019re 12th in defensive rating<\/a> after not being outside the top eight since drafting Mobley five seasons ago. However, that hasn\u2019t been an issue when the jumbo front court is playing.<\/p>\n

The Cavs have registered a 103 defensive rating<\/a> (98th percentile<\/a>) when Wade, Mobley, and Allen share the floor. It isn\u2019t a large sample size. The trio has only played 46 minutes together so far, but this has been a recurring trend over the past five years, as shown in the table below. Last year was the only time the Cavs have been outside the 98th percentile in defensive rating when their jumbo front court plays together.<\/p>\n

YearDefensive RatingNet Rating25-26103, 98th percentile+25.1, 100th percentile24-25113.5, 64th percentile+6.5, 82nd percentile24-2393.6, 100th percentile-4.5, 33rd percentile23-22101, 100th percentile+12.5, 98th percentile22-21102.8, 98th percentile+8.2, 91st percentile<\/p>\n

Cavs defensive and net ratings when Dean Wade, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Allen share the floor. Stats taken from Cleaning the Glass.<\/p>\n

Mobley and Allen deserve the majority of the credit for why that trio has been so good together over the last five seasons.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really easy when you play with those two bigs,\u201d Wade told Fear the Sword after Wednesday\u2019s win<\/a> over the Phoenix Suns<\/a>. \u201cThey always have your back, and they\u2019re always communicating. \u2026 Evan and J.A. can both guard one through five. They move their feet so well. So as long as we keep a body in front of a body, especially with those two, I feel like it\u2019s almost impossible to get by those two. All the credit has to go to those two.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the grouping doesn\u2019t work without Cleveland\u2019s two centers, Wade\u2019s contributions shouldn\u2019t be diminished. He has continually proven that he can defend the other team\u2019s best perimeter player, even if they\u2019re guards. His size and lateral quickness make that possible. And when he has the bigs behind him, Wade has the freedom to be aggressive at the point of attack.<\/p>\n

\u201cDean\u2019s a great on-ball defender,\u201d Mobley said. \u201cHe has a lot of size, can guard guards, and then with me and J.A. in there, it\u2019s hard to score in the paint.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wade drew the primary assignment on Devin Booker on Wednesday and did a great job. According to the NBA\u2019s matchup data<\/a>, Booker was held to just two points on 1-4 shooting when Wade was guarding him.<\/p>\n

This stop on Booker is a good example of why putting Wade on a dynamic guard works so well, even though Allen was the only other big on the floor in this clip. Phoenix tried to continually test Wade\u2019s foot speed by putting him in the pick-and-roll. Allen\u2019s defense in drop coverage, and Wade\u2019s ability to hedge and take away the outside shot, while also recovering back to the ball handler, made this an ineffective strategy.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Anything bought from the links helps support Fear the Sword. You can also shop all of Homage\u2019s Cavs gear HERE<\/a>. The link to the 2016 championship shirt HERE<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Defending guards wasn\u2019t natural for Wade. He admits that he\u2019s gotten more comfortable doing so in recent years and points to the middle of last season as a turning point for him. Wade knows that he can be more aggressive, pressuring the ball, considering the help he has on the backside.<\/p>\n

Wade playing the three also gives the Cavs a rebounding advantage that they have lacked. That\u2019s what head coach Kenny Atkinson pointed to when asked what he\u2019s liked about the grouping.<\/p>\n

The Cavs have consistently been a better rebounding team with Wade on the floor<\/a>. He has the discipline and strength to be good at boxing his opponents out. When he\u2019s playing small forward, that role changes.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of threes don\u2019t crash that hard,\u201d Wade said. \u201cSo on the defensive end, I would just peek back, and if they weren\u2019t crashing, I would go and just try to sandwich Mark Williams. And if I can\u2019t get to him fast enough, then I\u2019m kind of free roaming and just trying to get loose balls that bounce high.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut when you\u2019re the four or five, your only goal is to box out. A lot of times, when you do box out, neither one of you is going to get [the rebound]. And that\u2019s the biggest thing. As long as he doesn\u2019t get it, it\u2019s fine. But when I\u2019m the three, like tonight, I\u2019m just crashing, trying to get loose ones, trying to squeeze rebounds, trying to box out bigs, keep them out of the play. The mentality is going to be a little different knowing who you\u2019re guarding.\u201d<\/p>\n

Better rebounding, combined with being able to disrupt passing lanes with the team\u2019s overall length, has led to better transition offense. The Cavs have added six points per 100 possessions in transition<\/a> (97th percentile<\/a>) when Wade, Mobley, and Allen share the floor.<\/p>\n

Even though Wade isn\u2019t necessarily the most versatile offensive player, his ability to be an off-ball shooter and cutter is exactly what\u2019s needed when he\u2019s playing alongside the core four of Darius Garland, Donovan Mitchell, Mobley, and Allen.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy main job is defense, and having everyone\u2019s back,\u201d Wade said when asked about playing with the starters, \u201cand then on offense, just space [the floor]. It\u2019s really up to those guys how I play on offense, which is perfect. I think that what they like about me is that I just space the floor and give those guys room to work. I don\u2019t need [shots]. One game I might get two shots, next game I might get 15. That\u2019s fine with me. It doesn\u2019t affect the way I play. As hard as I play, I\u2019ll play that no matter what. \u2026 When you got such dynamic basketball players from Evan, J.A., to D.G., and Don \u2014 people that can really just make it happen in any aspect of the game.\u201d<\/p>\n

This formula has worked for the Cavs in the halfcourt. The core four with Wade have registered a 106.7 half-court offensive rating<\/a> (95th percentile<\/a>) and had a 110.4 half-court offensive rating<\/a> (99th percentile<\/a>) last season.<\/p>\n

It turns out that just providing additional space and room to operate is exactly what the two most dynamic guards and bigs need on offense.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy job is to just stay spaced,\u201d Wade said. \u201cIf you\u2019ve got to cut, cut. And if they throw it to you, shoot it. I mean, it\u2019s really easy. \u2026 Tonight I only had five points, but the ball only came a couple times, and that\u2019s perfectly fine. We won the game, and everyone was playing really well. My main focus is defense, and then offense is definitely second.\u201d<\/p>\n

Figuring out a suitable starting small forward to fit with the team\u2019s core four has been a continual challenge. Max Strus, De\u2019Andre Hunter, Jaylon Tyson, Isaac Okoro, and even Sam Merrill have all had chances to claim the role over the last several seasons.<\/p>\n

Yet, the one player who makes the most sense was there the whole time in Wade.<\/p>\n

He isn\u2019t the most exciting player and doesn\u2019t have the flashiest skillset. Although those aren\u2019t things the team needs. They need someone who can space the floor and find the open man offensively while amplifying what the starting front court does best defensively. Wade does all of those things better than anyone else on the roster.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s invaluable,\u201d Mitchell said of Wade a few weeks ago. \u201cHe\u2019s consistent every day with what he does, even when the shots necessarily aren\u2019t falling for him. \u2026 Being able to be versatile is his specialty, and he brings that for us every night.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CLEVELAND \u2014 Last December, Giannis Antetokounmpo faced the Cleveland Cavaliers three days after securing an NBA Cup title…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":386099,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[574],"tags":[64,63,726,115848,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-386098","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-basketball","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-basketball","11":"tag-cavs-analysis","12":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386098","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=386098"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386098\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/386099"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=386098"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=386098"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=386098"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}