Cleveland Cavaliers: 3 adjustments they must make

Cleveland Cavaliers’ adjustments: Lineup Change

The tides have quickly changed for Andre Drummond. A week ago, Cavs fans scoffed at the idea of buying the two-time All-Star out of his contract. Now, they are begging to get him off the roster, even if it means getting nothing in return.

For anyone who has watched Drummond play basketball at any point in his career, we saw this coming. He is either the best player on the floor or the worst, rarely landing anywhere in between and often playing like the latter. He has been particularly bad as of late, showing no passion or energy in two losses.

Is the answer simply cutting their losses and shedding his massive contract? I don’t think so. Drummond still has value to the Cavaliers and he has shown it throughout the course of the season, averaging 18.2 points and 14.6 rebounds. But, it’s obvious something needs to change.

Jarrett Allen has proven to be the better option of the two. He’s more willing to play his role as a rim-runner, almost never demanding the ball in the post and constantly working to set his teammates up with screens.

Swapping Drummond for Allen not only elevates the team’s spirits (it’s clear how much more fun they have with Allen on the floor compared to Drummond) but it also fixes the problems we’ve mentioned so far. Allen is a better fit for an uptempo playstyle and he’s nearly doubled Drummond’s screen assists total this season – lending us to believe he can help get shooters open better than Drummond.

Andre can be a massive help to the team when he’s engaged – but when he’s not, just sit him on the bench. The Cavaliers have enough depth in the frontcourt to succeed without him.