Cleveland Cavaliers Have a Good Problem as Playoffs Approach

The Cleveland Cavaliers only have 17 regular-season games left on their schedule, heading into Wednesday night’s matchup against the Orlando Magic.

When it comes down to it, that’s not a ton of time before the playoffs get started, and the Cavaliers have a problem on their hands over the next few weeks. However, it’s not a bad problem. Actually, Kenny Atkinson called it “the best problem in the world for a coach to have.”

Cleveland has so much depth on its roster, but the rotation always tightens up and shrinks once the postseason starts. Figuring out who will be in that go-to group won’t be easy, and Cleveland’s coach admitted that it could be on a game-to-game basis. 

When healthy, the Cavaliers will have Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley, James Harden, and Jarrett Allen in their starting lineup. The final starting spot is one of the pieces the team still must figure out.

The other players who have a strong argument to have meaningful minutes in a playoff series include Thomas Bryant, Keon Ellis, Sam Merrill, Dennis Schroder, Nae’Qwan Tomlin, Jaylon Tyson, and Dean Wade. 

To make matters even more complicated, Max Strus is expected to make his season debut after ankle surgery in the coming days, which could very well come on Sunday.

Of those eight players, five likely fit into the picture, possibly even four depending on the matchup.

Atkinson is downplaying this reality, either. Cleveland’s head coach said he told his players it’ll be a “fight” to earn a spot in the playoff rotation.

“We’ve got so many good players. We're deep. 
It's like, who's gonna be a star in their role?” said Atkinson after Cleveland’s victory over the Philadelphia 76ers. 

Cleveland’s coach said earlier in the week that the first step in resolving this issue is getting everyone healthy. When will Allen be back from his knee injury? What will Strus look like after nearly 10 months off from NBA basketball?

"It's a challenge, and we gotta move quick here,” admitted Kenny. 
”We have our full roster back…, and then we have to make decisions, and they’re gonna be tough decisions to make end of game, but like I said, just rotation-wise, what kind of what that looks like.”

The final few weeks of the season will likely be a lot of trial and error for the Cavaliers' roster. While some of it may look great, and some of it now so much, these few weeks of determining a rotation will be critical for Cleveland to make a run in the playoffs. 

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