INDEPENDENCE, Ohio -- Hours after Dwyane Wade arrived in Cleveland, he went to LeBron James' house to celebrate. Their much-anticipated reunion finalized, with Wade once again having a chance to compete for a championship, the duo toasted with wine.

But there was none of that recently when Cavs head coach Tyronn Lue officially named Wade the starting shooting guard.

"I've started my whole life so I can't say that I'm like celebrating or anything," Wade said Tuesday morning following the Cavaliers' shootaround. "When you come to a new team and they have had success and guys have been in the starting lineup -- like, J.R. has been in the two-guard position -- and you come it's always, I can't say tough because you don't want to come in and change anything, you want to come in and add.

"But coach felt, with the start of the season and I.T. (Isaiah Thomas) being out and everything, he felt he wanted this lineup to be the lineup to go. I'm sure throughout the year we're going to look at certain things and see how it goes. This is the lineup right now."

Derrick Rose. Wade. James. Jae Crowder. Kevin Love.

It's a new starting group that features three new faces and one old head in a different spot, as Love has shifted to center in an effort to create more spacing.

The quintet will have some big shoes to fill and the comparisons to the old squad will be tough to avoid.

Tristan Thompson will come off the bench. So, too, will Smith. The mercurial swingman, who morphed into the Cavs' best perimeter defender over the last few years, has started 157 of 164 regular season games since coming to Cleveland. He's started all 39 playoff games the past two years after serving as the team's sixth man during his first postseason run.

"I'm honored to be starting here with these guys," Wade said. "(They've) gone to the Finals three years in a row so I don't take it lightly. The one thing here is from Day One, which I felt since I walked through this door, everyone here really is here for one reason and everyone is here to do their job and hopefully their job leads to what everyone wants at the end of the season and there's really been no egos. Everyone has just come in and done their job so it's been fun."

The new-look Cavaliers will technically debut tonight against the Chicago Bulls. James has been sidelined with a sore left ankle so the time spent together has been limited and chemistry issues should be expected early, especially with Wade and Rose.

Both players in the starting backcourt bring a similar skill set. They are high-level pick-and-roll maestros, players who like to have the ball in their hands while attacking the paint and slashing to the hoop.

But outside shooting could be a bit of a problem. The guys they are replacing -- Irving and Smith -- combined to knock down 272 3-pointers. Rose and Wade? 58.

And they are fully aware of the chatter.

"I've never played with him," Wade said of Rose. "I don't really think about the analytics and talk about 'these guys aren't 3-point shooters.' I don't really think about that. I just think about being able to be on the floor and winning games. That's all that matters.

"I think we have enough different things on this team. We don't want too much of just the same thing. I think we have enough different things and I think me and him bring something different to the game. We'll be on the court at times together and other times we won't be. I'm just enjoying the process of being around all these guys. These are great basketball players and I get to be around these guys. So I'm lucky and blessed to do that."

Rose explained earlier in training camp that his shortage of 3-point attempts was more about staying efficient with other aspects of his game. But he's been putting in extra work after practice and Lue doesn't want him to hesitate when those opportunities arise.

Unlike in Chicago or New York, the floor will be more spaced and there won't be as much attention on Rose, perhaps helping him improve on a career-worst 21 percent rate from beyond the arc.

"My 3-ball is looking nice right now. I'm just telling you. My 3-ball is looking nice right now," Rose said with a smile. "Whatever the game tell me to do, that's what I'm going to do. If they want me to sit in the corner, sit somewhere and just sit up and shoot. If that's what they want me to do, that's what I'm going to do. If they want me to attack and penetrate like I normally do, that's fine. I'm just trying to make the game not only easy for myself but easy for the team."

That may take time. James and Love have spent years building on-court chemistry and Wade's partnership with James shouldn't be hard to rekindle.

But for a team with title aspirations, one that enters the season at the top of the conference once again, there have been numerous changes. That means Smith will need to get re-acclimated with coming off the bench while finding his spots in the revamped second unit.

Wade doesn't have to worry about that. As he said Tuesday, he's exactly where he's always been. The only difference is the supporting cast.