Kevin Love Still Believes He Is Elite Player
- Cavs power forward Kevin Love‘s stats have declined, as well as his perceived value around the league, since he arrived in Cleveland, but the big man insists he is still an All-Star caliber performer, writes Jason Lloyd of The Akron Beacon Journal. “I don’t need to justify what I’m capable of,” Love said. “Kind of the same thing with All-Star, too. I don’t need that to justify how I feel about my game and where I think my value is in this league. I know what I’m capable of. I’m willing to show it.”
- Former Cavs coach David Blatt received a strong endorsement from Tyronn Lue, the man who replaced him, to land another NBA coaching gig, Lloyd relays in the same article. “He definitely deserves another chance,” Lue said. “I thought Coach Blatt did a great and phenomenal job here. He taught me a lot. Just being friends with him and getting a chance to understand him was great for me. I know a lot of guys around here, we talked about it the other day, they miss him and his presence. I would just like to keep in contact with him. Hopefully, he gets another job in this league because he deserves it.” Blatt reportedly interviewed for the Knicks vacant post this week and the Lakers reportedly plan to interview him for their head coaching job, too.
2015/16 D-League Usage Report: Cavaliers
The NBA’s relationship with the D-League continues to grow, and this season a total of 19 NBA teams had one-to-one affiliations with D-League clubs. Those NBA organizations without their own affiliates were required to assign players to D-League clubs associated with other NBA franchises. D-League teams could volunteer to take on the assigned players, and if no volunteers emerged, the players were assigned at random.
This significant change from the 2014/15 season came about after the Pacers purchased the Fort Wayne Mad Ants and turned them into their one-to-one partner for the 2015/16 campaign. Other NBA teams have interest in following suit in the years ahead, and the NBA’s ultimate goal for the D-League is for all 30 NBA franchises to have their own D-League squads. You can view the complete list of D-League affiliates here.
We at Hoops Rumors are recapping the D-League-related activity for the 2015/16 campaign for each team and we’ll continue with the Cleveland Cavaliers, whose D-League affiliate is the Canton Charge:
The Cavs made nine assignments for the 2015/16 campaign, sending three players to the D-League for a total of 29 days. Listed below are all the assignments and recalls Cleveland made for the 2015/16 season:
- November 13th: Assigned Joe Harris (1st) — Recalled November 19th
- November 20th: Assigned Joe Harris (2nd) — Recalled November 21st
- November 28th: Assigned Joe Harris (3rd) — Recalled November 30th
- December 2nd: Assigned Joe Harris (4th) — Recalled December 17th
- December 19th: Assigned Joe Harris (5th) — Recalled December 20th
- April 11th: Assigned Sasha Kaun (1st) — Recalled April 11th
- April 11th: Assigned Jordan McRae (1st) — Recalled April 11th
- April 12th: Assigned Sasha Kaun (2nd) — Recalled April 13th
- April 12th: Assigned Jordan McRae (2nd) — Recalled April 13th
Canton also had seven players assigned to it from other NBA franchises via the flexible assignment rule:
- The Bucks sent Damien Inglis (one assignment, 13 days) and Rashad Vaughn (one assignment, eight days).
- The Bulls sent Cristiano Felicio (two assignments, 15 days).
- The Clippers sent C.J. Wilcox (three assignments, 40 days).
- The Hawks sent Edy Tavares (one assignment, three days), Tim Hardaway Jr. (one assignment, three days) and Lamar Patterson (one assignment, 24 days).
Here is how the Cavs’ players performed while on assignment to the D-League this season:
- Joe Harris: In 10 D-League appearances, the combo guard averaged 16.4 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.6 assists in 33.1 minutes per outing. Harris’ shooting line was .397/.323/.794.
- Sasha Kaun: In one D-League outing, the center logged 15 points, nine rebounds, three steals and three blocks in 30 minutes of action. Kaun made six out of his seven field goal attempts on the night.
- Jordan McRae: The shooting guard did not see any game action for Canton while on assignment. McRae did appear in 29 contests this season for the Delaware 87ers, who are the Sixers’ affiliate, averaging 23.3 points, 4.6 rebounds and 5.2 assists in 35.4 minutes per outing. His slash line with Delaware was .549/.318/.799.
Griffin Says Lue Better Fit Than Blatt Was
When asked about the Cavs’ record being worse under Lue than under Blatt this season, Griffin responded, “I told everyone that things were likely to get worse before they got better after the change,” said Griffin. “I know the [coaching] change was somewhat unprecedented. We were going to make some significant changes, and it was going to take Ty a while to get his feet on the ground. At one point, we had 23 games in 41 days. When Ty took over, we were changing offensive and defensive schemes and there were periods where we had absolutely no practice days. We put him in a very tough spot.”
Cavaliers GM David Griffin was hesitant to say anything negative about former coach David Blatt, but the executive did contend that Blatt wasn’t the right person to lead the team’s current roster, Terry Pluto of The Plain Dealer writes. “David really didn’t do anything inherently wrong,” said Griffin. “It just wasn’t the right fit. We [the players] are radically more engaged with each other [since Tyronn Lue took over as coach]. You can see it on an night-in, night-out basis just by watching the bench during games.”
Jefferson Making Subtle, Key Contribution
- Richard Jefferson‘s contribution in Game 1 was subtle but important and showed the value of his signing this past offseason for the Cavaliers, observe Michael Beaven and George Thomas of the Akron Beacon Journal.
Cavs Add Damon Jones To Coaching Staff
- The Cavaliers have added Damon Jones to Tyronn Lue‘s coaching staff for the playoffs, relays Chris Haynes of The Northeast Ohio Media Group. The team believes it can benefit from Jones’ experience and rapport with players in its quest to return to the NBA finals, Haynes adds. Jones spent the season as an assistant with the Canton Charge, Cleveland’s D-League affiliate.
Cavs Eye Al Horford
Atlanta likes rim protection at the center position, but other teams like him for his floor-stretching capabilities, Vivlamore observes. Horford reportedly places a high priority on signing for five years, which he can only do with the Hawks, but just about every other team in the league is nonetheless eyeing him, Vivlamore says, mentioning the Cavaliers, Raptors and Celtics specifically. Vivlamore makes similar remarks in a video with CineSport’s Noah Coslov on the Journal-Constitution site.
LeBron's PG Skills Led To Jones Signing
- The Cavaliers made it a priority to sign a perimeter defender like Dahntay Jones as insurance for Iman Shumpert instead of a point guard to offset the injury to Mo Williams because they envision LeBron James running the point in a pinch, accoriding to Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com. The Cavs inked Jones earlier today as Williams reportedly headed to New York for further examination on his sore left knee.
Cavs Recall Kaun, McRae From D-League
- The Cavaliers have recalled shooting guard Jordan McRae and center Sasha Kaun from their D-League affiliate in Canton, the team announced.
Cavs Sign Dahntay Jones
The Cavs have signed veteran swingman Dahntay Jones for tonight’s regular season finale and the playoffs, the team announced via press release. The team had an open roster spot, so no corresponding move is necessary. Cleveland was reportedly unlikely to fill the vacancy, so the signing appears to be a reversal of plans, perhaps related to concern regarding the injured Mo Williams, who’s traveling to New York today for further examination on his sore left knee, as Chris Haynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Northeast Ohio Media Group reports.
Jones, 35, spent most of the season with the D-League affiliate of the Pistons following a preseason stint with the Nets, who waived him before opening night. The Cavs will face the Pistons in the first round of the playoffs.
The 11-year NBA veteran played a bit role on the Clippers last season, averaging less than a point per game in 33 appearances. The Clippers were apparently fond of Jones for his contribution to team chemistry, so it’s conceivable that played a role in Cleveland’s decision, given the pressure surrounding the Cavs. Still, Jones proved he still has on-court value during his time in the D-League this season, sticking 41.2% of his 3-pointers. He averaged 15.7 points, but he made his reputation in the NBA as a stout defender.
Cleveland is limited to the minimum salary, so the deal figures to cost the Cavs $26,467 in salary and luxury tax payments. Jones is in line to see $8,819 plus a playoff share.
Despite Whispers, Mo Williams Says No Retirement Yet
- The Cavs have once more assigned Sasha Kaun and Jordan McRae to the D-League, the team announced. Cleveland sent them to the D-League Canton Charge on Monday but recalled them later in the day, reportedly because of the injuries to Iman Shumpert, who’s expected to return to play at the start of the postseason, and Williams.
Mo Williams insists he has no plans to retire after the season, even though multiple people suggest otherwise, reports Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal. Williams visited well-known orthopedic surgeon Dr. James Andrews on Monday, and it’s believed this is the third time he’s seen Andrews about his sore left knee, which has been bothering him for the last couple of years, Lloyd writes. No surgery is planned at this point, but if he were to undergo a procedure, he’d miss the playoffs and perhaps the start of next season, according to Lloyd. Williams, 33, has a player option worth nearly $2.195MM for 2016/17 on his contract with the Cavaliers.