CLEVELAND, Ohio — Check the shooting stats, the points per possession numbers and the lineup data. Prepare the shot charts, the salary cap spreadsheets and the pick-and-roll film clips.
Spare no metric or research tool when the Thunder play the Cavs on Monday, which offers a rare chance to compare Cleveland to its championship standard. Or spare yourself some time by noting the oldest benchmark in basketball: Size.
We’re talking playground rules, folks. Never seen these teams play? Pick the tallest players first. We’ve known since childhood that big people rule the basketball court.
So when measuring Cleveland against Oklahoma City, why not start with a ruler?
The Thunder’s top three highest-paid players feature two former All-Stars (guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and forward Jalen Williams), and one more in training (center Chet Holmgren). All three are listed at 6-foot-5 or taller and can stretch their wingspans at least six feet, 11 inches wide.
Conversely, the Cavs’ highest paid trio includes two All-Star guards (Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland) who are listed at 6-2 or shorter and one All-Star center (Evan Mobley) who, alongside star-in-his-role Jarrett Allen, is supposed to balance this backcourt’s size deficiencies.
The Cavs might say that Mitchell’s build (215 pounds) and wingspan (6-10) buck usual small or adjacent labels, but they cannot erase history. And the basketball reference books count few short kings who have ever won the race to crown an NBA champion.
We even have the fancy metrics to prove it.
Since the NBA/ABA merger, only seven players who stand 6-4 or smaller — that’s two inches taller than Mitchell and three taller than Garland — have posted a 25% usage rate while playing 30-plus playoff minutes per game on a championship team. Five played with at least one fellow All-Star/Hall of Famer who shouldered a similar (if not larger) share of offensive responsibility. And only three — Warriors guard Stephen Curry (2022), former Pistons guard Isiah Thomas (1989) and former Sonics guard Gus Williams (1979) — won a title alongside another undersized scorer who handled the second-largest offensive load.
(Note: Usage rate measures the number of a player’s possessions that end in shot attempt, free throw attempt or turnover, or the number of possessions they “use.”)
**Small guards who spurred NBA titles (25% playoff usage rate or higher)**
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Player
Height
Titles won w/ high usage
Highest usage on title team?
Teammate with highest usage
Stephen Curry (Warriors)
6-2
4 (2015, 2017, 2018, 2022)
Three times (2015, 2017, 2022)
6-foot-11 Kevin Durant (2017-2018) and
6-foot-4 Jordan Poole (2022)
Tony Parker (Spurs)
6-2
3 (2005, 2007, 2014)
Once (2014)
6-foot-11 Tim Duncan (05 and 07)
6-foot-6 Manu Ginobili (2014)
Dwyane Wade (Heat)
6-4
3 (2006, 2012, 2013)
Once (2006)
7-foot-1 Shaquille O’Neal (2006) 6-foot-9 LeBron James (2012 & 2013)
Isiah Thomas (Pistons)
6-1
Two (1989 and 1990)
Once (1990)
6-foot-2 Vinnie Johnson (1989)
7-foot-1 James Edwards (1990)
Kyrie Irving (Cavs)
6-2
1 (2016)
No
6-foot-9 LeBron James
Jamal Murray (Nuggets)
6-4
1 (202
No
6-foot-11 Nikola Jokic
Gus Williams (Sonics)
6-2
1 (1979)
Yes
6-foot-4 Dennis Johnson
_(\*Minimum 20 minutes per game for teammate with highest usage)_
Former Spurs guard Tony Parker had Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili. Former Heat guard Dwayne Wade had Shaquille O’Neal and LeBron James. Warriors guard Stephen Curry won with Jordan Poole in 2022, but I would consider Curry, the best shooter ever, a historic outlier. And Pistons guard Isiah Thomas had Vinnie Johnson and Joe Dumars, but he counted center James Edwards as his second in command (and forward Mark Aguirre as his third) during Detroit’s second championship run.
The Cavs are betting that Mobley can fit a co-star’s mold, which is still a possibility (though he ranked fifth on the team in playoff usage last year). But they’re also betting that Mitchell _and_ Garland fit a championship puzzle. In fact, they’ve pushed their chips into the salary cap’s second apron, which counts as “all in” during today’s NBA.
Meanwhile, we count one champion (2022 Warriors) that resembles their high-usage backcourt blueprint since 1990. We count three in league history. We count zero champions with a Mitchell-sized guard carrying a Mitchell-sized offensive workload (34.5% career playoff usage rate), and that’s before we account for Garland’s 6-foot-1 frame and 24.7% career playoff usage rate.
_But the Cavs haven’t been healthy in the playoffs!_
Correct, but why do you think that is? If the NBA season is hard on all bodies, then logic follows that smaller ones might struggle more. Garland missed 25 regular-season games two season ago and has already missed 17 (and counting) this year. The Mitchell-Garland pairing has only been healthy for 10 of a possible 16 playoff games. And Cleveland needs this backcourt to play through June.
_The two-big lineups don’t work!_
Are we sure that’s the problem? Because the Allen-Mobley pairing has finished with a better net rating than Garland and Mitchell together for three straight postseasons now, per cleaningtheglass.com. Defense makes part of that difference (and part of the argument against small backcourts), but the Allen-Mobley duo had a better offensive rating last postseason, too.
Garland’s injured toe hindered his play last spring, but now we’re talking durability again, which is another reason why some teams steer clear of smaller guards.
_But Mitchell outproduces his measurements!_
Can’t argue with you there. The Cavs’ star is one of 12 players in league history to average 25 playoff points per game while maintaining at least a 51% effective field goal percentage (minimum 10 playoff games played). He’s also the only player on that list to never make the conference finals. And the closest resume to his belong to Knicks guard Jalen Brunson (one conference finals appearance), who is also the only list member shorter than Mitchell.
Probably just a coincidence.
When the champs come to town, the contenders grab a measuring stick. And in the modern NBA, ruler ticks run a gamut of geeky stats. Show us the clutch-time numbers, the expected field goal percentages and the PACE factors.
Or show us the best players from each team walking into the arena. Then choose the bigger group. History says they’re a safer bet.
Just like the playground taught us.