What happened
Cleveland treated Saturday’s Wine & Gold scrimmage as its final preseason dress rehearsal, and Sam Merrill, Nae'Qwan Tomlin, and Khalifa Diop did not play. Gold controlled the scrimmage behind strong work from Evan Mobley and James Harden.
Kenny Atkinson said he likes the Harden-Mobley pairing and is still sorting out the other pieces around them, while rookie Melaek Thomas remains a lineup work in progress. Atkinson also said Mitchell and Thomas could eventually fit together.
Cleveland appears to be testing Harden and Mobley together, so the remaining rotation spots are not settled yet. Thomas’s role may depend on whether he can help on or off the ball, and the scrimmage showed some of that uncertainty.
Automated brief based on the linked report. Lineup context is analysis; official starting-five labels come separately from our game data provider.
Original reporting: Evan Mobley impresses in Cavs annual Wine & Gold scrimmage — Yahoo Sports ↗