CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Dean Wade will start at small forward in Lauri Markkanen’s place on Wednesday night against the Portland Trail Blazers, sources tell cleveland.com.
It will be Wade’s first start of the season -- and 20th of his career.
Cavs coach J.B. Bickerstaff contemplated other options. Ultimately he wanted to stay true to the bigger identity they’ve created. At 6-foot-9, Wade, like Markkanen, has spent the bulk of his NBA career at power forward, but will move over one spot, playing alongside (near) 7-footers Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen in Wednesday’s lineup.
Markkanen, the starter at small forward for the previous eight games, is out indefinitely. He did not participate in shootaround and was placed in the league’s health and safety protocols Wednesday afternoon. He is not expected to accompany the team on its upcoming two-game road trip to Toronto and New York. Cavs coach J.B. Bickerstaff said filling in for Markkanen -- and Kevin Love, who was also placed in the health and safety protocols -- will need to be a team effort.
“We’re gonna go deeper into our bench obviously,” Bickerstaff said. “The rotation will become a little bit longer and guys are gonna have to play a few more minutes than they have in the past. We’re confident in the group that we have. The guys that are available and healthy can give us quality minutes and we just got to continue to be who we are. We got to continue to compete on the defensive end of the floor, and then offensively, play the game together. And if we do that, we’ll give ourselves a shot.”
Isaac Okoro will also be out Wednesday, as he continues to nurse a strained left hamstring. It will be his fifth consecutive absence.
Cleveland being down three of its top eight rotation players could open up more playing time for Cedi Osman, Dylan Windler and Lamar Stevens, along with Wade.
“Just go out and be the best version of yourself,” Bickerstaff said of his message. “We can’t expect one person to pick up for Kevin, Isaac and Lauri. But we can expect each of those guys to use their skill set to help the team win and just play to their potential and be the best versions of themselves. So if three of those guys sub in and just give you a small bump, then you give yourself an opportunity. If we go out and play outside ourselves, then we’re going to end up hurting the team.”
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