The Cleveland Cavaliers are already shorthanded. They still have one open roster spot and have both starting center Tristan Thompson and starting power forward Kevin Love out with an injury. While Larry Nance Jr. has stepped up and played better than anyone expected as the new starting center, the Cavs just lost two more players to injury, further depleting their frontcourt. With the two latest injuries, there is almost no depth at all for the Cavaliers when it comes to their big men.

Power Forward has been decimated

When the 2017-18 NBA season started, Kevin Love moved from power forward to center and Jae Crowder started at power forward for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Of course, Crowder is now with the Utah Jazz, as part of the trade that brought Rodney Hood to the Cavs. That is tough because the Cavaliers latest injuries have left them very short.

First up, rookie Cedi Osman stepped in and started in place of Kevin Love and did better than anyone expected. However, Osman suffered a groin injury in the Cavaliers loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday night. According to Osman, he "heard a pop" in his groin, and this could be very bad news for the Cavs.

If Cedi Osman felt a "pop" than his absence could be prolonged and that is something that Cavaliers don't need right now. According to Cavs beat writer Joe Vardon, Cleveland is looking at possible free agents because they have no depth left.

LeBron James moved to power forward while Rodney Hood joined the starting lineup at small forward.

Another Cavs injury spoiled that

The problem came after that. Shortly after the Cleveland Cavaliers changed around their roster and LeBron moved to power forward, the man who stepped into James' role went out with a back injury.

The diagnosis of Rodney Hood is a lower back strain, and he has also been ruled as day-to-day heading into Sunday's game against the Los Angeles Lakers.

This means that center Tristan Thompson, power forwards Kevin Love and Cedi Osman and small forward/shooting guard Rodney Hood are all injured. According to Dave McMenamin, the Cleveland Cavaliers will start Jeff Green in Rodney Hood's place.

In the musical chairs that have become of the Cleveland Cavaliers lineup, that means the starting lineup looks like this when they play the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday:

  • Point Guard: George Hill
  • Shooting Guard: JR Smith
  • Small Forward: LeBron James
  • Power Forward: Jeff Green
  • Center: Larry Nance Jr.

The second team for the Cleveland Cavaliers will see Ante Zizic and Kyle Korver as the only bench players to help out the big men, while Jordan Clarkson and Jose Calderon will be the best players to run the second team. All that is left is London Perrantes and John Holland, and that is now a huge area of concern.
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