Daily Archives: October 1, 2018

Cavaliers roster construction is concerning

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The Cleveland Cavaliers roster has a lot of players of relatively the same skill level who play the same position. The problem is that said skill level is not great. 

There are a handful of guys on the Cavaliers who are clearly the best player on the roster at their respective position. Kevin Love, George Hill and Tristan Thompson for example. It is the other players on the roster that tend to make things a bit muddy. This of course excludes Collin Sexton who is a rookie and nobody truly knows how he will play in the NBA. The miscellaneous veterans on the roster occupy the same positions and are relatively at the same skill level.

Shooting Guards

Jordan Clarkson,  J.R. Smith and David Nwaba all play the guard position. Clarkson was a point guard but is currently listed as a shooting guard. This is in part due to the presences of George Hill and Collin Sexton on the roster. Smith is the starter and Clarkson will surely see time off the bench. Nwaba is still a young player who improved upon his rookie campaign. There is certainly a chance that Nwaba grows this season and could his fair share of playing time. If this does occur Cleveland may look into moving Smith or Clarkson to free up more time at the shooting guard position.

Small Forwards

The cluster of  Kyle Korver, Rodney Hood and Cedi Osman all play the small forward position. Cleveland likes the longterm outlook of Osman but that did not stop them from re-signing Hood. Hood has potential but fell out of favor towards the end of last season. Hood should have something to prove this year in an expanded role. Long time NBA veteran Korver is a great presence off the bench, but his career is nearing the end. Korver is a prime trade candidate sometime during this season which would clear things up a bit for Cleveland.

Power Forwards

After Kevin Love the Cavaliers have Larry Nance Jr., Sam Dekker and Channing Frye. Nance is an energetic power forward who is able to provide a quick spark off the bench. Still a developmental player Nance certainly has the chance to take a step forward this season. Dekker will not warrant a ton of playing time, but if a youth movement occurs sometime around mid-season it would not be entirely surprising to see Frye get traded yet again. Contending teams are always looking for three-point shooting and especially three-point shooting big men.

Lineup flexibility

This Cavaliers team does have a ton of lineup flexibility thanks to their depth on their roster. Cleveland can play small with their plethora of guards on the roster. Which of course will help when facing other teams who utilize this strategy. The last thing Cleveland wants to do is deploy a lineup of bigger, slower players when facing a team with three guards on the floor.

Minutes allocation will be interesting since a large portion of minutes that used to be dedicated to LeBron James is now available for distribution. This means that approximately 37 minutes are now up for grabs for the above listed names. Everyone on the roster has to step up and produce or some of the older veterans such as George Hill, J.R. Smith, Kyle Korver and Channing Frye could have new homes before the year is up.

What the Cavaliers truly need is for a few guys to separate themselves from others on the roster and stake a claim for meaningful minutes. If this happens the rotations will settle into place and maybe Cleveland performs better than many expect this year. If not than Tyronn Lue will be unsure of who to play at certain times due to the fact that they are all pretty much the same. If the latter occurs a fire sale of sorts could occur and a lot of young players will see the majority of minutes as the season goes on.

What are Browns doing with Duke Johnson?

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So far this season Cleveland Browns running back Duke Johnson has been underwhelming. This needs to change and soon.

The Cleveland Browns have played their fourth game of the season and Duke Johnson’s presence in the offense is incredibly small. In Sunday’s loss to Oakland Johnson carried the ball twice for 11 yards and caught four passes on six targets for 45 yards. Johnson also ran in a two-point conversion attempt. While this week has been Johnson’s best game of the season, it is not saying that much.

Part of the reason for Johnson’s lack of productivity this year is definitely in part due to the presences of Carlos Hyde and Nick Chubb. Hyde is the bell cow of the Browns offense and Chubb had a breakout performance Sunday, rushing for over 100 yards and two touchdowns on three carries. This could lead to even less carries for Johnson. He is not exactly rushing a whole lot this season as he is averaging three rushes per game.  With Chubb most likely having a more prominent role in the offense it brings forth a question.

Just what will the Browns do with Duke Johnson?

Through four games Johnson has 12 rushes for 40 yards and nine receptions for 84 yards. At this current rate Johnson is on pace for the worst season of his career. It is obvious that Cleveland does not want to use Johnson in the running game which is why a conversion to receiver may be in order.

Running a successful offense in the NFL is all about creating and exploiting mismatches. Johnson as a receiver is a huge mismatch. He is fast enough to play the position and the way his body is built will prevent him from being bullied by defensive backs. Johnson as a receiver would also help other pass catchers on the field get favorable matchups.

Cleveland has experimented with this before, famously using Johnson as a receiver in 2017’s Week 1 loss to Pittsburgh. While the outing did not produce eye popping numbers (only two catches for 20 yards) it opened up the field for others to make plays. Johnson being out wide kept the Pittsburgh defense honest and allowed others to put together a respectable performance for themselves.

Sure this will take a bit of an adjustment for everyone involved. Johnson is a running back but is better catching the ball out of the backfield rather than running in-between the tackles. What this really does is allow Cleveland to get the most out of Johnson, something that really has not happened yet. So far into his young career, the idea of Duke Johnson is greater than actual on field production.

Will the Browns actually convert Duke Johnson to wide receiver?

Probably not. Johnson is too dangerous in the passing game as a running back that it pays to have him line up in the backfield. However if the Browns truly want to get the most out of Johnson, they should wise up and at least have him line up as a receiver more often. Even if it is not a full conversion to receiver. Johnson is so dangerous as a receiver that it needs to happen. His skill set out wide will bring the Browns offense to the next level and will hopefully lead to more wins in the future.