Evan Mobley at Cavs media day. ESPNCleveland/Rob Lorenzo.
Training Camp Notebook: Evan Mobley's return and figuring out the rotation
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Danny Cunningham covers the Cavaliers for 850 ESPN Cleveland and TheLandOnDemand.com
The Cleveland Cavaliers are slated to close their preseason slate on Friday night in Orlando against the Magic in a game that became more interesting on Thursday afternoon.
That’s because Cavaliers head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said after practice that second-year big man Evan Mobley would be making his preseason debut. Mobley has missed the first three preseason games with a sprained right ankle suffered in practice a little less than two weeks ago. Friday will serve as an opportunity to ensure that Mobley is ready for game action and isn’t stepping onto the court for the first time this season in a real game situation.
With that said, it won’t be an opportunity for the Cavs to see what their full team looks like, as Bickerstaff also announced that All-Stars Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, and Jarrett Allen will all be missing the final preseason tune up. The trio won’t be traveling to Orlando. The notable name that will be playing with Mobley is swingman Caris LeVert. This comes after LeVert was the only healthy scratch from Wednesday night’s game against the Atlanta Hawks for rest purposes.
The Cavs obviously won’t be able to see what their future looks like on Friday night, but having Mobley back on the floor will be a big plus. Being able to figure out what things look like with all four of Mobley, Garland, Mitchell, and Allen together will have to wait for Wednesday night for the public to see, and that doesn’t seem to be something the Cavs are all that concerned about.
“I mean, he's a basketball player. He's not a guy who you have to direct the game to. He’s a guy who knows how to impact the game in a bunch of different ways,” Bickerstaff said Thursday. “You don't have to call plays for Evan to be impactful. He reads the game well, he's got great instincts. So, he knows how to pick his spots and play the game.”
Rotation conversations
The Cavaliers have not yet announced who will be the team’s starting small forward yet, even if it appears as if LeVert has the inside track. Bickerstaff confirmed that the team wouldn’t announce who is going to be starting in the position until next Wednesday when the team plays in Toronto against the Raptors.
LeVert does have the inside track for that position, but what Isaac Okoro was able to do on Wednesday night certainly does give the coaching staff something to think about as well. Dean Wade missing two of the team’s three preseason games thus far also makes it difficult to see him being the starter on opening night.
That’s not the only decision that needs to be made, either. As the Cavaliers will need to decide just how deep the rotation goes on a nightly basis. In the past, Bickerstaff has mentioned that he believes 10 is the right number to play and that it can be difficult to play 11 guys on a regular basis. Right now the top 10 for the Cavaliers would figure to be the starting five of Allen, Mobley, Garland, Mitchell, and LeVert in addition to Kevin Love, Okoro, and Wade as locks off the bench. There’s also likely room for Robin Lopez as a backup big man bringing the tally to nine, and then space for either Raul Neto as the third point guard or an additional wing such as Cedi Osman or Lamar Stevens.
It will be one of the more fascinating things about opening night.
“I mean, the conversations will happen, but the decision will be made obviously before Wednesday,” Bickerstaff said. “But it will be evolving as the guys are on the floor together and we see the best lineups and rotations. And again, four games isn't enough to figure out like how all the pieces match without the guys that have been injured. So, I reserve the right to make changes as the season goes on.”
