Scottie Barnes is a 6'9 227 pound point-forward with a 7'2 wingspan out of Florida State. His game is based on his ball handling, playmaking, finishing at the basket, and defense. He's kind of in the mold of Ben Simmons and Draymond Green, but with a little better of a jumpshot than those two. It's still a weakness of his, but he's far from being a non-shooter like Ben. He's projected to fall around the 7th spot in the draft, which is a place the Cavs could easily find themselves if the lottery decides they aren't worthy of being in the prized top 4.
Barnes' most natural fit in the NBA is probably power forward, but there is a problem with that. Cleveland is already pretty set at that position with Larry Nance and Dean Wade, and that's not even including the oft-injured former all-star Kevin Love. In Love's case I think his time in Cleveland is close to an end. The biggest thing keeping him from being traded is his massive contract. He's still owed around $60 million over the next two years, but the time left might finally be short enough that a team would feel comfortable taking a swing at him. With having two years left, if it doesn't go well for the first year, the second year won't be a problem because expiring contracts are a lot easier to move, or he could be bought out instead. The team I threw around as a trade destination for Love this offseason was Washington. They might be looking to make one last run with this Beal/Westbrook core. Love, Westbrook, and Beal all have their contracts expire in the same year, making an impending rebuild a lot cleaner and simplifies the teardown process. As for getting a return, expiring money would be great, and this trade I put together last week would get the job done in my opinion.
Both players the Cavs get back from this deal would probably be bought out unless someone decides a 35 year old Goran Dragic is worth trading for. One problem is that the Thunder have Al Horford, but he could be flipped to the Clippers for Pat Beverley and Luke Kennard. Now that that's out of the way, it's time to look at what the actual rotation and offensive/defensive scheme would look like.
With Base Lineup 1, the primary action would be pick and roll with either of Sexland and Allen. Mostly traditional, nothing unusual from what we've already seen this year. Good coaching would also obviously be implemented, pushing ball screens farther away from the hoop and encouraging Sexland, specifically Garland, to take more pull up threes. As for the Windler and Wade substitutions, never play both Windler and Wade at the same time in that lineup. Make sure Windler always has Nance at PF next to him to optimize the defense.
As for Base Lineup 2, the primary ball handlers would be Garland and Barnes. It would also be a pick and roll heavy offense, with some Barnes/Garland inverted pick and roll sprinkled in there. To clarify, Barnes would play all 14 minutes of the lineup, it's just that whether he plays SF or PF depends on who the other forward is there next to him, either Windler or Wade.
Base Lineup 3 is where things begin to change. No Garland, no Allen, and instead a lineup centered around versatility on both offense and defense. Sexton and Barnes would be the primary ball handlers in this lineup, with an offense based on PnP's/PnR's with Nance being the screener. Inverted pick and roll with Barnes and Sexton would also be a significant part of this lineup, now that there is the spacing to optimize it. On defense, every single screen would get switched. With Okoro, Barnes, Wade, and Nance, this is a perfect match between scheme and personnel. Nance isn't particularly fond of playing center, but considering the immense size around him and the switch heavy style, it should be alright.
As for the specific timing of the substitutions, I haven't gotten around to that. the starting lineup would most likely stay the same as it is this year. I might make a followup article including an Excel spreadsheet showing the substitution timeline after the season if our lottery odds make picking Barnes more likely than not. It is also worth mentioning that none of this means anything if JB Bickerstaff remains head coach past this year. He'll never structure his rotations like this, especially not like Base Lineup 3. Love also remaining on the team past this year throws a huge wrench into the mix.
Scottie Barnes isn't a very traditional player, but his unique skillset offers value and versatility that other players simply don't. There's a real possibility he ends up in Cleveland, and I think he'd fit well next to Sexland. His playmaking is a much needed skill for this young team, and his size and versatility makes him a very interesting prospect. The goal remains acquiring one of Cade Cunningham, Jalen Green, and Jalen Suggs, but Scottie Barnes would be a great consolation prize.
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