Breaking down your Kyrie Irving trade questions

How big of a concern is IT's shoulder? Does Crowder start at SG or come off the bench? Does Zizic play this year? Do the Cavs keep pick?

— Browns22 (@browns2211) August 24, 2017

I’m gonna answer the questions on Crowder and Zizic here, since I already hit on Thomas’ hip, and I will get to the draft pick with another question.

Crowder will likely come off the bench, since he technically plays at that small forward position and will be behind James as a result. Given Smith’s defensive prowess on the wing and his shooting ability, it’s hard for me to imagine a scenario where he will lose his starting shooting guard spot.

Crowder may actually be a huge asset in that backup role for the Cavs, as he gives the team a lot more depth in a sixth man role and can theoretically give Lue more chances to rest James.

I’m not going to break everything down by the numbers since I did that earlier in the week, but Crowder is definitely the most underrated part of this whole trade. Defensively, he could be the spark plug the Cavs need, especially against the Warriors where he can matchup with Draymond Green and Kevin Durant.

Now, if an injury occurs in the starting line-up at any position besides the point guard spot, Crowder would probably be the first person to get the starting nod. In fact, against the Warriors, Lue could start Crowder instead of Tristan Thompson and move Kevin Love to the five spot for a better matchup.

It will likely be tough for Zizic to crack Lue’s rotation. Given how young he is, he will likely need one more year of development before he sees consistent time at this level.

With the previous two questions, you see how deep this team is. Keep in mind that Lue likes to play with a 10-man rotation in the regular season. He will definitely have a lot of options to play with, but it’s clear that the Cavs really did get deeper with their off-season moves.

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