CLEVELAND —The Cavaliers have more All-Stars attending games in street clothes than in a uniform these days.
It isn’t a position they’d like to be in very often. And it’s their nightmare scenario for April, May or June, when they hope to make a deep playoff run well beyond the second round.
But for a team with a virtual certainty to make the playoffs? There might be a silver lining to having the end of the bench see an uptick in minutes for a stretch of games early in the season.
The Cavs have an injury list longer than a CVS receipt. In a 112-101 loss to the Toronto Raptors on Halloween night, they were without All-Star guards Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland, small forward Max Strus, center Jarrett Allen and guard Sam Merrill, who before going down with a hip injury was off to a terrific start this season.
Cavaliers injury situation among the worst in NBA
That’s four starters from last year’s main lineup — two of them All-Stars — and a guard they signed to a four-year extension this summer. It’s a lot of firepower suddenly unavailable.
No Mitchell, no Garland, no Allen, along with the others, is far from ideal. Cleveland could be looking at a rough opening to their regular season while having to rely on All-Star Evan Mobley and De’Andre Hunter to a high degree. But with the playoffs always front of mind, they’re looking at this injury-riddled stretch more as a fact-finding mission, and perhaps a silver lining if depth becomes a concern during some more important games.
“I relish these opportunities as a program, as an organization,” Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson said. “Nights like these are really al little bit of a measuring stick.”
Cavaliers getting extended look at Jaylon Tyson because of injuries
Against the Raptors, second-year guard Jaylon Tyson played 33 minutes. Lonzo Ball played 25 minutes; the Cavs won’t push him too much because of injury concerns, but he’ll certainly have plenty of runway to play 20-plus minutes. Craig Porter Jr. hit the 20-minute mark. Luke Travers, Tyrese Proctor and Thomas Bryant all played at least 12 minutes.
Those aren’t figures the Cavs would have envisioned for this early in the season. But it is providing them an opportunity to throw some bench players into the fire, so to speak.
“I love it. I mean, this is how you build trust, right?” Atkinson said. “This is how you discover things, through injuries. It’s the history of the NBA.”
Tyson, and what the Cavs can uncover with him, has been a focal point of this stretch. He played well in the loss to the Raptors, finishing with 18 points on 7-for-14 shooting from the floor along with four rebounds, four assists and three blocked shots.
It’s also allowing Tyson to play a more worry-free style of basketball.
“If he’s the ninth man and playing 8-10 minutes, or 2-5 minute stints, it’s tough to play that way,” Atkinson said. “Now, he knows he’s out there. He knows he can make mistakes. He knows I’m not going to take him out.
“And I think it’s building confidence with the vets. They’re already whispering, ‘This guy can really help us.’ So, you know, it’s a real positive. We hate losing, not thrilled we did’t come out with a win, but thrilled we’re discovering things about our roster.”
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Cavs’ lengthy injury list leading to discovery phase with Jaylon Tyson, other role players
Reporting by Ryan Lewis, Akron Beacon Journal / Akron Beacon Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
