Cavaliers have the length to compete with Celtics

The Cavaliers' move for additional depth on the wing paid off in Friday’s win over Boston.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are entering the final phase of the season with their eyes firmly locked on the NBA title. Miraculously, they have already clinched the playoffs. The one seed in the Eastern Conference is all but assured.

From this point forward, everything is about the playoffs and preparing for them. Coach Kenny Atkinson directly stated that he intended to treat Friday’s game against the Boston Celtics like a playoff game, and after an impressive come-from-behind victory, he has to like what he sees.

As the Cavs enter the stretch run, both the final roster moves the team made and the way the players are deployed are informative to what the front office felt they needed to win it all. Three players were added in the last month and two players were shipped out.

At first glance, the players are all very different aside from being wings. Even the way the new players were acquired by the Cavaliers was varied. Out went a scoring in Caris LeVert and a shooting specialist in Georges Niang. A trade brought in a do-it-all forward De’Andre Hunter, who could be a viable starter or a sixth man. In came a defensive specialist wing in Javonte Green. Power forward Nae’Qwan Tomlin joined on a 10-day contract after flashing in the G-League.

As different as these players are, there is one attribute that unites them all: Wingspan. Shorter arms head out, longer arms come in.

The common theme amongst Cleveland’s roster moves is a concerted effort to get longer. The Cavs have a non-traditional starting line-up featuring two bigs in Evan Mobley and Jarret Allen. While national media loves saying the Cavs start two seven-footers, Mobley and Allen are actually closer to 6’11” and 6’9”. What makes them twin towers is their length with 7’4” and 7’5” wingspans respectively.

The Cavs' most poorly kept secret has been that outside of Mobley and Allen, they are actually quite small. There wasn’t a single rotation player with a wingspan of seven feet or longer on the roster outside of those two. Dean Wade was the closest at 6’11”.

Why is length so important? Basketball, like many sports, is a game of inches. The modern game has an increased emphasis on spacing. Teams try to stretch a defense out with three-point shooting to create lanes to drive and room to operate.

The Cavaliers employ a variety of defenses including a prolific zone and multiple hybrid schemes. Wingspan impacts everything in these schemes. It impacts how close a player has to get to swipe at the ball. How far they get from their primary assignment to take that swipe. It impacts how far away they can be from a shooter and still meaningfully contest a shot when the ball is swung.

Another critical element is that when it comes to contesting shots, wingspan is comparative. The longer the shooter is, the longer the defender must be to meaningfully contest the shot.

This brings us back to the game against the defending champion Boston Celtics.

The Celtics are the single greatest obstacle standing between the Cavaliers and the NBA Finals. And they’re long.

They famously shoot more three-point attempts than any team in the league. Three of their high-volume shooters have a wingspan of seven feet or more. Jayson Tatum is nearly there as well with a 6’ 11” wingspan.

This disparity in wingspan was on display in the three previous games that the Cavs and Celtics and the Cavaliers front office clearly took note. As the Celtics hoisted shots, the question was not just whether the Cavaliers were able to contest. The question was if that contest even had an impact. The wingspan differential was even more pronounced in those games as Dean Wade missed all three contests.

In Friday night’s 123-116 victory, the Cavaliers put their newfound length on display. They began the game with their familiar starting line-up of Garland, Mitchell, Strus, Mobley, and Allen. The first set of substitutes saw Mobley exit and Hunter enter. When Allen subbed out, Mobley subbed in. The next long pairing was Mobley and Wade. After that, Allen, Hunter, and Wade all shared the court.

The pattern was clear. By game’s end, the Cavaliers played 48 full minutes with two players with a wingspan of 6’11” or more on the court at all times. This was despite Mobley struggling with foul trouble and Allen playing only 24 minutes for matchup reasons. This was despite Green playing zero minutes as he is a depth piece who is new to the team. This approach was simply impossible before the Hunter trade and Wade’s return to health.

This worked. Per Cleaning the Glass, the Celtics were only in the 23rd percentile in attempted corner three-point attempts. The Cavaliers won the math battle as they methodically worked their way back from a huge first-quarter deficit to steal the game.

The Cavaliers are nearing their final form for 2025. They are healthy, they have made their roster moves, and they are longer than ever before. Every minute the Cavs play will now feature not just elite ball handling and elite rim protection but multiple long players scrambling and contesting. Every minute a perimeter defensive specialist like an Okoro or Green plays will have length behind it.

Friday’s game against the Celtics provides the first major proof-of-concept for the impact of this increased size.

The Cavaliers have been the best team in the NBA by record for the bulk of the season. Now, they are better than ever and ready to push for the title.