For the Cavaliers' sake, it's time to bench Isaiah Thomas
The Cleveland Cavaliers were 24-12 prior to Isaiah Thomas' long-awaited debut Jan. 2. With the two-time All-Star point guard on the mend, the future looked golden.
Led by LeBron James, Kevin Love, and a horde of seasoned veteran role players like Dwyane Wade, J.R. Smith, Jae Crowder, Tristan Thompson, and Kyle Korver, adding one of the most dynamic scorers in the Association seemed to give the Cavaliers an embarrassment of riches.
Thomas' return - a 17-point beatdown of the Portland Trail Blazers - felt like the new normal. It was soon revealed to be an exception.
The team is just 2-7 since that win against Portland, and 2-5 in games that Thomas started. Coach Tyronn Lue declared the lineup will change ahead of Friday's game against the Indiana Pacers, and though neither James nor Love is moving to a reserve role, Thomas isn't assured of remaining a starter. Relegating him to the bench for now might be the best thing for the offense, the defense, the starting lineup, the bench unit, and Thomas himself.
Thomas feels passive compared to last season with the Boston Celtics. That's not to say he's slower - he's actually moving at a higher average speed on both ends of the floor compared to last season, albeit in fewer minutes per game - but he hasn't shown the same explosive scoring touch. Whether his hip injury has irreversibly sapped his ability to launch, twist, and turn toward the hoop, or whether he simply needs more reps at NBA speed, Thomas clearly just isn't cutting it against the league's best defenses. And given his propensity to lay out a welcome mat at that end of the floor, Thomas' diminished scoring touch is untenable.
Thomas is shooting career worsts across the board - 39.1 percent from the field, 28 percent from beyond the arc, and 79.4 percent from the foul line. Lineups featuring Thomas have scored 100.7 points per 100 possessions, but the starting unit has underperformed even that low bar. The Thomas-Smith-Crowder-James-Love lineup has an offensive efficiency rating of 95 points per 100 possessions to date. They make the Sacramento Kings, owners of the worst offensive efficiency rating in the league (100.2), look like a well-oiled machine.
Away from James and Love, however, Thomas has actually been quite effective alongside the Cavs' primary reserves. One unit that's seen the floor in half of Thomas' appearances features him alongside Wade in the backcourt, with Korver on the wing and an athletic - if undersized - frontcourt duo of Jeff Green and Thompson. In 34 minutes, that grouping has an offensive efficiency rating of 110.3 while staying afloat on the defensive end. Perhaps Thomas is succeeding because that role-player-heavy lineup is more similar to what he was used to as the proverbial man in Boston. It certainly doesn't hurt that bench-heavy, Thomas-centric units aren't tasked with shutting down the opponents' best scorers. Any capable NBA coach can scheme a way to get a good bucket against a Thomas lineup.
It is perhaps no coincidence that in the Cavaliers' best team performance over the past month - the Portland win - Thomas came off the bench, logging just under 19 minutes of action.
So why not make Thomas the sixth man semi-permanently? He'd still get opportunities to play alongside James and Love (and he'll have to learn to play effectively alongside them well ahead of the postseason), but he'd also get to be himself for significant stretches. And Thomas would be wise to take on a role he can flourish in ahead of his free agency this summer. The Cavaliers pride themselves on not practicing during the season, so the 28-year-old should allow himself to work his way back to top form in less strenuous circumstances.
Of course, someone has to take Thomas' place in the starting lineup. Until the rumored trade with the Kings for George Hill comes to fruition, the Cavaliers should once again call upon Jose Calderon to help save their season. During the team's 13-game winning streak from Nov. 11 to Dec. 6, the Cavaliers had the most overall team success with Calderon nominally starting at point guard but James shouldering primary ball-handling duties.
While the 36-year-old Calderon is far from even an average defender, the Cavs had the 19th-best defensive rating from Nov. 20 to Jan. 3 with Calderon starting every game. The indirect benefit of starting a player like Calderon - a pass-first guard who rarely looks to score himself - is that the ball finds the hands of Smith and Crowder with greater regularity; the surest way to convince a disinterested defender to stay engaged is to feed them more touches on offense. Through eight games, Thomas is making an average of 52.6 passes per 36 minutes. Calderon has averaged 60.4 passes per 36 minutes this season, and was up to 62.8 passes per 36 while starting during the Cavs' winning streak. The ball moves more freely when Calderon is on the floor, and that makes him the best stopgap ahead of any potential trade deadline deal.
Smith can publicly declare he's ready to come off the bench if needed, and Crowder can serve as a scapegoat for his longtime teammate, but if either player is moved to the bench without changing Thomas' role, Cleveland's big rotation shakeup won't amount to much. The team lacks any internal replacement capable of significantly improving the starting lineup's defense as long as Thomas remains entrenched. Until he's back to playing like his 2015-17 self, the quickest way to shore up all phases of the Cavs' game is to turn Thomas loose as their go-to sixth man, giving him fewer stars to share the ball with and easier defensive assignments.
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But the best-laid plans won't make a difference if Lue can't facilitate Thomas' transition to the bench - a shift that even less prideful players perceive as a demotion. The chip on Thomas' shoulder is almost bigger than he is, and it remains to be seen whether he would accept a change in status in a manner that wouldn't cause an already unstable locker room to implode.
Regardless, the Cavaliers are falling without an obvious parachute in sight, and James and Thomas can both bolt this summer. It's time for the organization to make a huge move with their tiny star.
(Photos courtesy: Action Images)