Keon Ellis Slides to DNP-CDs in Two Raptors Games
Keon Ellis has gone from one of the first players off the bench to a healthy scratch in the past two games against the Toronto Raptors. The shift has put his role with the Cleveland Cavaliers under a brighter light, especially after he first looked like a useful rotation piece.
Ellis and Schroder at the deadline
The Cavaliers acquired Dennis Schroder and Keon Ellis from the Sacramento Kings at the trade deadline, and the two arrived with very different momentum. Schroder hit the ground running as a vocal leader and an offensive catalyst before going ice-cold in the final stretch of the season, while Ellis opened with impressive defensive activity.
That early usage did not last. Ellis moved from an early bench role to DNP-CDs, and the last two Raptors games left him on the outside of Kenny Atkinson's rotation entirely.
Raptors exposed the gap
Against Toronto, the matchup got rough fast. Ellis logged box-plus-minus marks of -5, -3, 1 and -3 in the first four contests of the series, according to Basketball Reference, and he was outmuscled and outsized by the Raptors' lengthy, switchable players.
That matters because Cleveland keeps running into big ball-handlers in Eastern Conference series, and Ellis does not have the size to solve that problem on his own. When his shot is not falling, he is not bringing much to the table, which leaves his defensive value carrying a heavier load than it can against this kind of opponent.
Cleveland's wing size problem
Dean Wade is the only Cavalier mentioned here who can hold his own against big, ball-handling forwards, but he has been a liability for the past three years at the very least. That leaves Cleveland with a thin answer on the wing when the matchup turns physical and versatile.
Ellis remains the ultimate hustler and has put his body on the line every time his number has been called, but that effort has not been enough to keep his role steady. For a player trying to hold value in free agency, two straight games as a healthy scratch against Toronto is the kind of slide that changes how a front office weighs the next contract.
