As the Cleveland Cavaliers tip-off their preseason tonight in Chicago against the Chicago Bulls, the preseason allows for Cavaliers head coach J.B. Bickerstaff and the rest of the staff to evaluate and experiment with players and lineups to get ready for the grind of 2021-22’s full 82-game schedule.
The Cavaliers dealt with plenty of injuries last season, with 20 different lineup combinations getting at least 26 minutes.
This preseason will be about figuring out the main rotation for the season, which Bickerstaff says will be a ten-man rotation.
“We’ll go to different guys on different nights, but everyone has a chance to crack that top ten,” Bickerstaff told reporters yesterday.
For a team that boasted 30 different starting lineups in a 72-game schedule, knowing your starting rotation is a huge hurdle, but Bickerstaff and co. seem to have a handle on that decision as well: “The sooner the better, obviously, but going into this, we have an idea. The most important thing for us is learning combinations more, and learning units that play well together.”
When asked about balancing the number of minutes and rotations this preseason, Bickerstaff said it would be a building process: “We’ll do both. It’s just a matter of our substitutions and our rotations, but we want to get guys to a certain number. We’ll build throughout the preseason as far as what that number is. We’ll start with a base where it’s enough to sprinkle in those rotations and those bearings that we’ll build as well.”
“There is maybe [rotation spot] 8, 9, 10 that’s up for grabs. Somebody’s got to stand out to jump in there, but we’ll give them an opportunity to do that.”
As for some of those candidates for the bench spots in the rotation, a couple candidates are guards Ricky Rubio and Kevin Pangos.
Rubio has been a leader in the past for all-star guards like Devin Booker and Donovan Mitchell, but Cavs guard Collin Sexton is excited for him to fill the veteran role, which was previously held by Cavs guard Matthew Dellavadova, who left the NBA this offseason to head back to Australia
While Rubio is a savvy vet, Kevin Pangos is new to the NBA after playing the past six seasons in Europe.
Pangos, 28, is known for his outside jumpshot, and will look to make an impact from beyond the arc, where the Cavaliers notoriously struggled in 2020-21.
Sexton, Rubio and Pangos will all be playing for the Cavaliers tonight against the Chicago Bulls from the United Center at 8 pm.
