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The Cleveland Cavaliers, at the very least, got over the Conference Finals hump during their postseason run in 2026. The problem, of course, was that the eventual NBA champion New York Knicks swept them. There remains plenty of urgency for the Cavs to find a breakthrough, especially after they traded away Darius Garland for James Harden, and their moves this offseason show that the front office is all-in on this core of theirs.
Throughout the Donovan Mitchell era, the three-spot has been a bit of a hole for the Cavs. They have tried to deploy Isaac Okoro, Max Strus, and De’Andre Hunter to fill that void, but none of them have stuck. Of those players, Strus did the best job as a rugged defender and movement shooter, but Cleveland knew that this was a position they needed to upgrade in.
Considering that the Cavs were in second apron hell not too long ago, it’s quite remarkable of them to pull off a sign-and-trade for up-and-coming combo forward Peyton Watson — giving them a long-term solution at a position of need.
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With that said, it doesn’t appear as though any Cavs player is in danger of losing a starting spot heading into the 2026-27 campaign.
Peyton Watson is the nailed-on starter for the Cavs at the three
18 different players started at least one game for the Cavs last season. Even Evan Mobley came off the bench on two occasions. But this is a team that has prioritized continuity, and as long as they’re healthy, there will not be much movement in the starting lineup.
There’s no reason to expect head coach Kenny Atkinson to make many changes, if any at all, to his starting lineup. Their All-Star backcourt of Mitchell and Harden remains, and their frontcourt is set with Mobley and Jarrett Allen running it back for the sixth consecutive season.
Prior to the signing of Watson, it would have been interesting to see who the Cavs would have started in an alternative universe where the Denver Nuggets bit the second apron bullet. Perhaps Cleveland would have started Strus regularly yet again, or maybe new signing Mario Hezonja, after impressing in the EuroLeague, could make his case for a spot in the starting five.
But the Cavs did not trade away a 2031 first-round pick, one of their few tradeable draft assets, and sign Watson to a four-year, $88 million contract to have him come off the bench.
Watson was making plenty of strides on offense in the middle of the 2025-26 season; amid the Nuggets’ injury woes, there was a stretch from December 22 until February 4 where Watson nailed a starting role and was incredible on a nightly basis.
During that aforementioned stretch, Watson averaged 19.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.2 steals, and 1.3 blocks on 49/43/73 shooting splits. Nikola Jokic did miss 16 of the Nuggets’ 25 games during that stretch, which, without a doubt, helped inflate Watson’s stats.
But it’s a testament to his improved skill level that he was able to put up those stats while receiving more defensive attention and less help from his three-time MVP teammate.
The Cavs won’t have the usage opening for Watson to fill the stat sheet the way he did during that eye-opening stretch. But that doesn’t mean that they aren’t all-in on him as a member of this core.
Not only can he wreak havoc defensively, he was much-improved from beyond the arc as well (41.1% last season), making him a valuable off-ball weapon for Harden and Mitchell to feed. Moreover, Watson’s improved game off the bounce means that defenses simply cannot ignore him or close out on him hard.
This makes it so that none of the Cavs’ starters are actually under much of a threat to lose their spot. What’s more interesting to monitor is how the Cavs will divvy up the minutes off the bench.
Who will be the fixtures off the bench for Kenny Atkinson?
Without a doubt, Jaylon Tyson and Sam Merrill will be featuring prominently in the Cavs’ rotation. Merrill can pick up opposing guards for 94 feet, while Tyson impressed as a glue-guy last season, averaging 13.2 points per game while making two triples per game on a 44.6% clip.
Hezonja should also be one of the first guys off the bench for Atkinson. Last season, in 66 games across EuroLeague and Liga ACB, Hezonja averaged nearly 15 points per contest on 44/33/87 shooting splits. He can be a huge weapon in transition, and he also provides some defensive tenacity on the wing.
Nae’Qwan Tomlin, the team’s resident dirty work guy, Thomas Bryant, the veteran backup big, and Craig Porter Jr. should also get some minutes here and there. Tyrese Proctor and Meleek Thomas may not be in the rotation every night, but they should get some chances to impress and earn minutes.
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