Cavs Sign Sasha Kaun to 2-Year Deal

The Cavaliers off-season bench bolstering locked in one of its final pieces Saturday with the signing of Sasha Kaun to a two-year deal.

The 6-11 Kaun was the 56th overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft by the Seattle Supersonics before his rights were dealt to the Cavs for cash. Kaun, though, never donned the wine and gold choosing, instead, to play professionally in his native Russia for Euroleague power CSKA Moscow. Last season, Kaun averaged career highs with 9.9 points and 4.5 rebounds while playing 20.1 minutes per game.

The deal is reported to be a straight-up two-year deal, without player or team options for the second year. While this isn’t a big needle pushing move for the Cavs, Kaun does give the team an active, defensive-minded big with an impressive 7-6 wingspan who is either at or entering his prime. No one projects Kaun to be a star, but if he can be a rotational NBA big — something Cavs GM David Griffin has been quoted as saying he, at least, believes — the team is much better positioned to deal with injuries along their front line than they were a year ago. Kaun could also help the Cavs manage the minutes of Anderson Varejao as he returns from an Achilles injury.

This move reunites Kaun with Timofey Mozgov, his teammate on the Russian National Team, and Cavs head coach David Blatt, who coached the two big men as part of Russia’s 2012 bronze medal winning team.

I’ve talked quite a bit about Kaun here and here.

Now, all eyes are on Tristan Thompson, Rich Paul and the Cavs to get a deal done.