Steve Hetzel, coach of the Cavs D-League affiliate, the Canton Charge, gives Dakota Schmidt of Ridiculous Upside some insight as to how the developmental process works for Cleveland: “We all talk and communicate about when they’ll be sent down, their overall expectations and how they’ll be able to be coached. They allow me to coach these guys as if they’re my players. It’s a good relationship in the sense that we give constant feedback to each other on when we’re going to have those players and what they want the players to work on in-game. It’s a real benefit to be directly affiliated with the Cavs because it’s a struggle for teams who don’t have a direct NBA affiliation.”
Here’s more from Cleveland:
- In the same interview, Hetzel doesn’t rule out the possibility of an Anthony Bennett assignment, telling Schmidt, “That’s completely up to Coach [Mike] Brown and the Cavs organization. If they want to send him down, we’d be open arms. Right now Bennett is getting time with Cleveland and if you’re getting minutes in the NBA, then that’s the best experience that you can get. Whether he’s flourishing or struggling, he’ll improve with the playing time that he gets. If that time comes, we’ll cross that bridge as it happens.” Bennett’s play has finally picked up in recent days, after his historically poor play for a number one pick had some calling for him to get some time in the D-League.
- Rival executives believe new Cavs GM David Griffin‘s best option going forward would be trading recently acquired Luol Deng and trying to land a premium first-round pick in this year’s draft, per Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders. Since it appears unlikely that Deng will stay with Cleveland beyond this season, Kennedy thinks buyers would see value in obtaining him now, while he still has his Bird Rights, to have a leg up on signing him to a long-term contract extension. Deng can be traded a second time this season with some limitations: he cannot be dealt back to the Bulls and he cannot be traded away along with any other Cavs players.
- The Cavs have recalled rookie Sergey Karasev from the D-League, per Cavs.com. Karasev has been in the D-League since being assigned late last month, and has totaled 17 games in his time with the Cavs.