The Cleveland Cavs have slowly but surely started to turn their season around in recent weeks, currently sitting at 27-20 after a recent road win over the Orlando Magic. While the Cavs are still far from where they thought they’d be at this point in the 2025-26 campaign, the teams is showing some glimpses of the squad that secured the first seed in the Eastern Conference last season.
One player who played some solid basketball in the win over Orlando was Cavs wing Dean Wade, who scored 10 points in the win.
Recently, Cavs head coach Kennty Atkinson had high praise for what Wade brings to the team.
“He’s the ultimate glue guy,” said Atkinson, per Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. “That’s the cliche everyone uses but it’s true.”
Wade also helped the Cavs play some solid defense on Magic wing Paolo Banchero.
“We call him the ‘blanket,’” said Cavs guard Donovan Mitchell. “He finds ways to help us get stops. And then when the ball is up in the air and I can’t get it, with Evan and J.A. boxing out, he goes climbing to grab it. Those are the little things that win you games and also win you playoff games. It’s great to go through these things, figure it out and get better. He was phenomenal.”
Wade is one of the many Cavs players who has missed time due to injury this year, a list that includes point guard Darius Garland and shooting guard Max Strus, who is still yet to make his season debut in 2025-26.
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The Cavs will hope that Wade and some of their other role players are able to keep up the good work as things continue this season and they slowly make their way up the Eastern Conference standings.
The Cavs will next take the floor on Monday evening at home for a rematch against the Magic.
