The arrival of Dwyane Wade brought on a new twist to this star-studded Cleveland Cavaliers roster, as the new-signing was supposed to take over J.R. Smith’s starting shooting guard spot.
While that sounds fitting, given Wade’s All-Star caliber play, even at the age of 35; the Cavs are not quite ready to move in that direction.
Wade was excused from today’s practice after attending Wednesday night’s one shortly after signing his $2.3 million veteran’s minimum deal with the team, along with his physical — though he is expected to be available for Friday’s introductory press conference and ensuing practice.
Smith on the other hand, remained mum about who would start, but relayed that it doesn’t matter who gets the nod, given that all egos are checked at the door.
“I’m not going to sit here and get into a ‘blank’ measuring contest with Dwyane Wade,” Smith told reporters, according to Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com. “I’m not going to win that. I’m not going to do that. I’m going to continue to work hard for our team and however they choose to do it, that’s who it’s going to be.”
Head coach Tyronn Lue said he lined up Wade as part of the second unit along with Jeff Green, Kyle Korver, Tristan Thompson and Iman Shumpert while Derrick Rose, Kevin Love, Jae Crowder, Smith and LeBron James lined up as part of the first unit.
“Had a great flow, great chemistry and just trying to figure things out and learn on the fly,” said Lue. “But (Wade) is a smart player and picked things up really quick.”
“We have a plan in place. I’m not going say who is going to start as of right now but we have a plan in place and we’ll see how it looks and then we’ll go from there.”
Playing Rose and Wade in the starting lineup would cut yet another three-point shooting option for the Cavs, a system in which they’ve heavily relied on during the last two seasons under Lue.
Some have offered that Wade would take Rose’s place as the starting point guard, given that they’re both non-three-point shooters, with Wade being less reluctant to take them — keeping Smith as a source of treys spotted in the corners.
In only a few practices, it looks like Smith is likely to be the starter regardless, but it’s a long training camp and things are always changing according to how the coaching staff chooses to map out the rotations.