Kenny Atkinson's wing philosophy and the 2025 prospects that fit

Under Kenny Atkinson, the Cavaliers are on pace for the third-best record in NBA history, largely because of the emphasis on a certain type of wings. Here are a few of the 2025 prospects that fit.

Kenny Atkinson (David Richard/Imagn Images)

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Basketball constantly evolves and changes, creating a sink-or-swim environment for the NBA’s 30 teams. The Cavaliers are swimming, outpacing their opponents by a mile to the tune of a 27-4 record — a 71-win pace (at the time of writing) — with the league’s best offense, scoring 9.2 points per 100 possessions more than the league average rate.

There are many aspects to it, some flashier than others. For example, the leap fourth-year big Evan Mobley has taken and sixth-year guard Darius Garland’s return to form. However, with relatively the same roster as last season, new head coach Kenny Atkinson has unlocked something with this team, largely due to his usage of Cleveland’s wings.

Caris LeVert, Sam Merrill, Dean Wade, Max Strus and Isaac Okoro make up the wing rotation for Cleveland. On the surface, they all provide something different: Levert is a Sixth Man candidate with a herky-jerky style, Merrill is a constantly sprinting sharpshooter, Wade is a gap-filler with shooting and defense, and so on. However, each has been able to thrive through their ability to do two things in Atkinson’s offense.

The first is attacking closeouts. Atkinson’s proclivity for lineups with three or four “smaller” players has benefitted spacing, especially with Cleveland’s roster featuring seven players above 40% from beyond the arc. Initially, spacing opens driving lanes for Cleveland’s primary handlers. That, in turn, causes the defense to collapse, creating space for passes and then forcing a closeout on the ball’s recipient.

In this sequence of events, the advantage has been created; it’s now up to the player receiving the closeout to take advantage of it. Every player in Cleveland’s wing rotation has shown the ability to capitalize.

Most recently, Cleveland drafted Jaylon Tyson 20th overall, largely because of his ability to fit into this role. At Cal, he had a high-volume role, with clear traits suggesting he’d scale down beautifully. Despite a limited showing thus far, the signs have been positive.

With this philosophy in mind, here are the 2025 prospects that fit Cleveland’s and Kenny Atkinson’s blueprint for wings.