PSA: Send Tyler Zeller and Anthony Bennett to the D-League
2013-12-16
The early D-League assignments from the Cavs roster have been Sergey Karasev, Henry Sims, and Carrick Felix. We will see how the season progresses as far as their use of the Charge, but hopefully Tyler Zeller and Anthony Bennett see time in Canton*.
Perhaps Zeller is learning a ton and progressing as a player, just by seeing his teammates in action and watching film with them & the Cavs coaches. My guess though is that better development would occur in the ummm…Developmental League, where he would actually get on the court. It seems to make more sense to have Henry Sims sitting on Cleveland’s bench as the 12th man, and the 17th draft pick from 2012 seeing playing time and focused on improving. The Cavs invested a solid draft slot and millions of dollars in Zeller, so a strong push should be given towards turning him into a really solid rotation big.
How much can a positional coach cost, relative to a team’s investment in a player? Send Tyler to Canton; assign a coach to his development; work on his jumper and some post moves; continue working on a strength and conditioning regimen; then when Bynum or Varejao is unable to play (or traded this year or next), ideally Zeller is molded into a high quality, low cost backup center.
With Anthony Bennett, spending one month working on physical conditioning & explosiveness, and getting some on-court run would have to pay benefits. The same coach could work with him and Zeller. With Bennett, give him a personal chef, too…return him to being a lean, mean dunking machine. Seeing him get minutes with the Charge could prove much more beneficial than Carrick Felix.
Certainly the Cavs know much more about developing players than me, but it seems a shame that two recent first round picks, one approaching his 24th birthday, are buried at the end of a bench. The Charge have a back-to-back against Fort Wayne next Saturday and Sunday, let’s see what damage a Zeller-Bennett front court can do.
*This comes up periodically, and Cory Hughey mentioned it in Friday’s comments. I decided to give it “headline” status.
As a first time reader of this thread and a hometown Cleveland boy who hasn’t lived there in 20 years, it is so refreshing to see all you guys chime in with intellectually well thought out analysis for the most part. I hate reading threads with cheerleading, ignorance and just plain dickishness. Makes me miss the folks on the North Coast! I must say I have backed off my intense following and scrutiny of the Cavs this year due to a. lifetime pain b. the Lebron fiasco c. lifetime pain and d. the Bennet pick With all the first rounders… Read more »
@Rodney Mac and Nate I really don’t think the article is that bad. Most of the article is just analysis of stats, which was interesting to see. The bad part was his opinionated stuff at the end.
I just think it’s easy to pile on Grant right now. Has he lost a trade? I don’t think so. When was the last time Mitch Kupchak won a trade? I live in Los Angles and there is no uprising to burn Kupchak at the stake. We want to say that Grant has reached on picks, but he really hasn’t. If a guy would go 5th or 6th and you took him 4th it’s not a reach. The TT/Jonas debate has gone on strong for three years now. wqqqcfxzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzcxw33y77It’ll take another couple years to know how Grant has drafted. It… Read more »
If they send AB to the D-League he would be the highest pick ever assigned to the D-League. True confidence killer.
this just came to me as i was watching the giannis nab rookie video, AB for giannis straight up
I think the nba will rapidly figure out that they can use the dleague as a “aaa” like in baseball. Will be used heavily for rehabbing injured vets, giving young and talented players lots of reps in slightly worse competition to boost their confidence, and for lifting guys to their rosters who didn’t show well in the draft bt might just be a good fit for their particular schemes. @rodneymac Delly can also shoot about as well as Gee without stopping the ball for senseless dribbling. He is def the better option if we aren’t going to find a spot… Read more »
I don’t have a problem sending Zeller to Canton but I would rather Bennett stay in Cleveland. For his own confidence I wouldn’t want him with that stigma of being the first overall pick sent “down”. Would prefer to see Brown just give him consistent minutes and find a role where AB at least knows he will get regular PT. He’s slimmed down and I still believe in his talent. Let him figure it out.
The Waiters/Barnes debates will go on for a long time. I think the Tristan/Jonas questions will be answered sooner. Either JV takes a big step forward like most people think he will or he doesn’t. If he doesn’t break out by next season then we will probably be glad Grant didn’t take him.
Nope. JV might be a little better but it seemed like there were other issues going on with him such as would and when would he come over. Dion seems pretty clearly better than Barnes.
It was perfectly clear, Kevin.
If feels as if only Kyrie and TT have/are developed. With Dion having ‘fit’ issues and Bennett having fitness (or worse) issues and TZ not even being able to find time on the court. When should we start “blaming” Grant for these selections? Granted it’s still early in all of thier careers so there is still plenty of time to develop (arguably not with TZ due to age). But it’s hard to see Bennet truly doing a complete 180 from what he has shown. I’d be ok if he was averaging like 9-12 pts and 5 rebounds a game, but… Read more »
82games updated their stats through 12/15. Some interesting tidbits. Not that surprisingly Delladova has the best +/- on the team. What is surprising though is that he’s up to 20% playing time and that the big difference comes on Offense not Defense. We average 1.14 points per possession with him on the court and give up 1.04 Ppp. The 1.14 is the highest on the team by a ton. The next closest is Andy with 1.04. Irving has a 1.01 and waiters has 1.03. On Defense Delladova’s 1.04 is good but not as drastically different from the regulars. Gee and… Read more »
From the concluding paragraph of the piece, again from LAST YEAR, “The ways in which NBA teams are assigning players nowadays, whether they be first round draft picks in need of playing time, or ten-year veterans rehabbing their way back to the NBA spotlight, being “assigned” to the D-League has become a player specific plan.”
Kj,
I had no idea you would be so adverse to a Cavs:the Blog game thread.
Aksel,
Thanks for the link. If it wasn’t clear in my brief article, a D-League stint for Zeller or Bennett should definitely not be viewed as a demotion. Anyone who views the D-League that way needs to reconsider what it is good for.
I support the idea. Teams like the Spurs, who I think we can all agree are well run (in an absolute sense and certainly in comparison to the Cavs) routinely use and have used the D-League in creative ways. This is from last year, for example:
http://www.ridiculousupside.com/2012/12/20/3786396/nba-teams-now-using-d-league-stints-to-do-more-than-simply-develop
Usually when a CtB article comes out, there is a link and a teaser to it on the Cavs team page on ESPN. However, this article- calling for two recent first round picks to go to the D-League- is conspicuously absent.
Interesting.
Stop. Please. This WILL NEVER, EVER HAPPEN. Nor should it.
Well this is extremely off topic but can this blog start a intra-game comment thread? All it would need is a title ‘Cavs v ____ game thread’ or think of something creative idk and idc. Would be a cool thing to get other Cavs fans input, thoughts, comments, jokes during the game instead of all after.
Not sure f this had been tried or not but it could work pretty good.
Kojo,
It hasn’t been tried at Cavs:the Blog. Fearthesword is the place for in-game comment threads. They have that market cornered.
Ibelieve the main issue with both of them is conditioning and that can be taken care of in Cleveland. Bennet needs to lose 20 and Zeller needs to put the 20 he lost after surgery in the Pre-season back on. Once they do these things they’ll be much more NBA ready.
Zeller is a victim of the numbers game . It’s a shame he never sees light on the court. He is still better than Bennett. Sad but true. If anyone is misused on this team; it’s him I think everyone has forgotten what he can do.
If you’ll notice, there’s a pattern the Cavs stick to on the d – league this year. They send guys down to Canton for home games on nights the cavs aren’t playing. I think they prefer guys to be with the team for games, even when they’re not playing. The advantage is that you have those guys available if you need them. The disadvantage is they don’t get enough run. AB15 looked less gum – droppish this weekend. The announcers commented that he was back to his weight at unlv. Hopefully things will pick up and he will be average… Read more »
Kevin,
How many of those players ended up spending time in the D league after 2,000 NBA mins? Larry Sanders broke 2,000 career mins in his 3rd season, Leuer has played 1,000 career mins. All the names I immediately recognized were getting their D-league time before their NBA time.
Simple point though- who should have better coaches, the Cavs or the Charge?
tom,
In my random hypothetical, a coach is assigned to Canton to devote most of their time to Zeller and Bennett. Presumably a solid coach is available within the organization (or outside) that can do this. My vague theory is that a coach 85% as good, but can spend 3 times as much time with the player, is more beneficial.
Where is the commenter, I think he goes by Tyrone, that randomly shows up and calls us nerds? I deserve that treatment right now.
Zeller can go down, but only to shake the rust off. There is no reason to have him down more then a week at best (Just to see some court time). But Bennett should look in to getting a condo in Canton. I hear the NFL Hall of Fame is a nice attraction while he is there because he should spend a season leading the Charge. Clearly this is a guy who just does not get what it takes at this level. He needs to be baby stepped in to the the NBA. This guy is not a first round… Read more »
Thanks for the shout out Kev. The Cavs should have a check list of goals for this season and Zeller and Bennett’s development should be in the top 10 of it. Zeller might be the third wheel this year, but I can’t see Andy and Bynum both being on this team next season. Bynum has drastically exceeded our water level in N’awlins expectations this season, but he’s certainly not a lock to have his $12 million option picked up. If he can’t be relied upon to play more than 25 minutes a night, he’s not worth that kind of scratch.… Read more »
“I don’t know that either side of this debate can prove their point.”
Exactly.
Haha, Ross. We needed Monday content, and I would like to see these guys get a little D-League run, so Voila! 300 words on using the Charge!
So we are stuck with Sims for a game and that short bus ride is suddenly a long flight if the Cavs are on the road, and then we either play a guy that hasn’t been practicing with the team or we dump loads of mins on either Andy/Bynum (which won’t end well). For what end? The D-league is a step up in competition from college but a step down (Two? Three? four?) from the NBA. Zeller has already played 2,000 nba mins and started 55 games. In the D-league Zeller will be a giant, instead of gangly and skinny… Read more »
I don’t know that either side of this debate can prove their point. The following current NBA rotation bigs spent time in the D-League (in no order and probably not all inclusive): Josh McRoberts, Ian Mahinmi, Larry Sanders, Daniel Orton, Anthony Tolliver, Byron Mullens, Aron Baynes, Joel Freeland, Perry Jones, Ed Davis, Kosta Koufos, Jon Leuer, Miles Plumlee, Marcus Morris, Marcin Gortat. Surely a similar list could be created of “guys that were stuck to the end of the bench and weren’t getting an opportunity to play, but became NBA rotation bigs”, but I’m not creating that list. It just… Read more »
For Zeller, I imagine it would be helpful to play some as an offensive focal point. Maybe he can further develop a post game, something that could be useful as part of a second team offense. Practice time would be able to focus more on him, whereas now he is probably a bit of an afterthought…”Tyler, stand behind Bynum while we walk through a few inside-outside plays”. He really needs to work on his picking / screen-setting, too, as well as rolling after the pick. The team could basically say, “What do we want Tyler and Anthony to improve on”,… Read more »
Bennett is already reporting changing his eating habits and having lost 12-15 lbs. AB has several problems- 1. Conditioning. He can work on that on his own and in practices with the team. There are limited conditioning benefits to playing with the CC. 2. His shot. His outside jumper is terrible- he can work on that either in Cleveland or Canton- but Cle should have a better shot coach than Canton (or a position coach they hire for him). 3. Aggressiveness/fit in the offense. Canton might help his confidence playing with the ball in his hands against lesser competition, but… Read more »
Never happens with Zeller. both our Cs have injury histories/risks. If we send him down and one day Bynum’s knees swell before a game or Andy limps off in early action we are stuck for the night.
Tom,
Sims would be there for the random game where Andy or Bynum can’t play. If it is more than one game, then Tyler takes the short ride from Canton.