Tyronne Lue is back on the Cleveland Cavaliers’ sideline, and he’s already making questionable decisions.
Leading into his team’s matchup with the Washington Wizards on Thursday, Cleveland’s head honcho told reporters that Jeff Green would be in the starting lineup…for the rest of the season…including the playoffs. He justified his answer thusly, per Cleveland.com’s Joe Vardon:
“We beat Boston, who’s second in the East, with Jeff starting at the four,” Lue explained. “We beat Toronto twice with him starting at the four, so, it’s good for us right now and we’ll just see what happens.”
Lue isn’t completely off base here. The Cavaliers are pumping in more than 115 points per 100 possessions when Green shares the court with LeBron James, an elite mark, according to Cleaning The Glass.
The problem? They’re also giving up more than 110 points per 100 possessions.
Things get even more complicated when adding Kevin Love into the fold. James, Green and Love once again prop up an offensive rating north of 115, but their defensive rating also climbs above that mark.
Playing Green at the 4 in general isn’t some cure-all either. The Cavaliers defense improves, but they’re still coughing up more than 107 points per 100 possessions, a so-so mark at best, per Cleaning The Glass.
All of this might still be fine if Lue’s decision didn’t also mean Larry Nance Jr. and Tristan Thompson would be coming off the bench together. Though the Cavaliers believe Nance is versatile enough to play the 4 or 5, running out both bigs at the same time could torpedo the spacing.
The two have played fewer than 15 possessions together this season, again per Cleaning The Glass, so it’s not even clear the Cavaliers intend to use them in tandem. This could create a weird situation in which neither one of them is playing enough because the team is still staggering their minutes.
Jumping through all these hoops to make Green, of all people, your starting 4 isn’t worth it. The Cavaliers haven’t been good enough with him for Lue to commit himself to this now.
