Cavs are conforming to the NBA’s norms

The Cavaliers read the writing on the wall and knew gimmicks wouldn’t lead to titles.

This past month has been enlightening for the Cleveland Cavaliers front office. The Cavs have shown their mortality after spending the latter quarter of 2024 decimating the competition.

For those who dig deeper into their recent losses, there is a unifying thread. Losses to the Rockets (twice), Celtics, and Thunder have really shown the clear cracks the 2024-25 Cavaliers had: the lack of size and versatility.

All the losses mentioned started the same: Team X started off hot out of the gate, the Cavaliers reeled, pivoting to a gimmick lineup to catch up, and lost in the closing minutes after clawing back. Why do these losses occur in this sequence? The composition of these teams all follow the same template: tall, athletic, and switchable.

The Cavaliers for many seasons have yearned to have the traditional wing. Someone who checks the boxes and looks the part has long eluded the Cavaliers since the local guy left for Los Angeles. Stop gaps over that team have been unique and creative.

Whether it’s J.B. Bickerstaff deploying the three bigs with Lauri Markkanen, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Allen or now with the smaller frontcourt paired with the bigger backcourt, the Cavalier have always been willing to stray from the norm. However, it seems that the front office took the losses to heart and saw that to contend this season truly, a change was necessary.

With all of this in mind, the front office took their official stab at being at the forefront of title contention by trading for De’Andre Hunter. On the surface, the Cavaliers simply got a true wing for the first time in a long time. However, there is more than meets the eye with this acquisition. With Hunter, the Cavaliers have decided that to have a seat at the table they need to stray from being the team that zags and conform to the parody of the best in the league.

Hunter, whether starting or not, opens up a plethora of options for the Cavaliers coaching staff. Rather than defaulting to playing small, and relying on their historical pace of shot-making, the Cavaliers are now showing a capability to strut out lineups composed of switchable length and athleticism. Hunter provides a solution that has plagued the Cavaliers for a while, defending tall wings.

Without a Dean Wade, the options for answers against Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown were Max Strus, who even at 110% effort isn’t a true defensive wing. Now, the Cavaliers have multiple two-way wings that don’t hold a huge asterisk. Previous options like LeVert, Okoro, and Niang have all shown major warts that make it so throwing them out is a gamble.

Hunter offers stability and a safe option for the coaching staff as he plays both forward positions comfortably. Wade has been thrown out as a small forward, which while the numbers have shown to be in the Cavaliers’ favor is not the most idle place for Wade. Hunter can insert himself next to either Mobley or Allen as comfortably as being a small forward next to both. These are ideologies that allow the fluidity of the offenses we have seen with the Celtics as well as the Thunder and the Rockets.

Now, the Cavaliers have entered the parity of the league and are making their team constructed in the image of the teams that have given them trouble. It will be interesting to see how the coaching staff deploys Hunter and how they match up against the Celtics on Feb. 28.