Cleveland made it clear they had no plans to tank this season and just play their young talent when they gave Kevin Love a massive new contract extension.
So it makes sense that the starting lineup is going to have George Hill, Rodney Hood, Tristan Thompson and a lot of veterans. That according to Joe Varden of the Athletic.A few days before I started at The Athletic, I reported for Cleveland.com that Hood would start at shooting guard and Cedi Osman was penciled in as the starting 3. Everything the Cavs have shown on social media (Twitter pics, Instagram) gives the appearance of Osman working with the first team. Love, a five-time All-Star, will start at power forward, and we know either Thompson or Nance will start at center. All indications are George Hill is the Cavs’ starting point guard, at least for now. So we have a pretty good lock on the Cavs’ top six players.
Rookie Collin Sexton is going to play. Jordan Clarkson is second in the NBA the past two seasons in bench scoring. He’ll be out there. Sources say all three guards have looked strong in camp. Kyle Korver was sixth in the league in 3-point percentage last season (.436), so, he’s going to be playing. That’s nine guys, already, with no mention of Smith, Sam Dekker, Ante Zizic, Channing Frye or David Nwaba.What will be interesting to see is how the Cavaliers’ starting lineups evolve as the season goes on. If the team struggles early will Sexton get to start? Will we see more Larry Nance Jr. at the five (he will start against smaller lineups)? They have liked Dekker in camp, will his minutes go up? And, how will trades impact all of it?