Thinking Hard About Training Camp Invitees

With two weeks of training camp gone by, we’ve learned a few things about the 2015-2016 Cleveland Cavaliers. Mo Williams seems likely to start at point guard until Kyrie Irving returns from injury, Anderson Varejao—effective or not—still runs around a basketball court like a chicken with its head cut off, J.R. Smith continues to be one of the more interesting quotes in the league, and that LeBron James guy is still pretty good at basketball

But plenty of questions remain. When will Kyrie Irving be back? How long until Tristan Thompson re-signs? What’s with Kevin Love’s hair? While these questions have been analyzed to death and/or are impossible to answer, there is one other that many Cavs fans are curious to know the answer to: which training camp invitee—if any—will earn the final spot on the Cavaliers’ roster? After the Wine & Gold Scrimmage and two preseason games against the Atlanta Hawks and Philadelphia 76ers, we take a look at each training camp invitee below. The players are essentially listed what seems to be least to most likely to make the final roster, with the possible exception of Dionte Christmas, who was just signed this weekend.

Michael Dunigan

Dunigan spent last season with the Canton Charge and there was never any doubt he was brought to camp strictly to serve as a practice body. He was recently waived to sign the next man on this list.

Dionte Christmas

Christmas agreed to a non-guaranteed deal with the Cavaliers that was announced on Saturday, and will spend the rest of camp with the team. Undrafted out of Temple in 2009, the 6’5″ shooting guard played 31 games for the Phoenix Suns during the 2013-2014 season, averaging just over six minutes per game. Christmas didn’t exactly impress with the Suns, shooting just 35.5% from the field and 29% from three. Other than that single season in Phoenix, Christmas has spent the rest of his career overseas, where he was much better, averaging 10.9 points per game while shooting 45.1% from the floor and 37.9% from three in 87 games over four seasons. He also has a reputation as a good defender, despite a lack of elite athleticism. While playing college ball at Temple, Christmas was known to have a shaky shot selection, and that is likely part of the reason he has never found a home in the NBA. At 29 years old, it’s hard to see the upside Christmas could possess, and he may have been brought to camp as a practice body with J.R. Smith dealing with hamstring issues. Still, he has been able to space the floor in college and stops overseas, and there is a chance the Cavaliers may have seen something in Christmas that warranted the late addition.

Nick Minnerath

While it’s possible to see the Cavaliers keeping another big man, I don’t see it being Minnerath. Don’t let the tattoos fool you, Minnerath’s game is nothing like Chris Andersen’s. A tweener forward, Minnerath played 22 minutes Thursday night against the Philadelphia 76ers, and finished with an efficient eight points on five shots to go along with a pair of rebounds, an assist, and a steal. That’s all well and good, but it’s hard to see what specific skill Minnerath would bring to the Cavaliers. While he has shot a very good 38% from three while playing overseas the last three seasons, he didn’t attempt a single three against the Sixers. Having a skill doesn’t mean anything if you don’t use that skill. At 6’9″ and with a relatively slight frame, it’s hard to see Minnerath defending fours in the NBA, and he doesn’t seem quick enough to guard threes either. Minnerath is also 27 years old, and while he seems to be a bit of a late bloomer, it’s unlikely he has the kind of upside the Cavs would consider investing a roster spot in.

Chris Johnson

The other of the two big men still with the Cavaliers as a training camp invitee, Johnson is nothing if not big. I saw him standing near Timofey Mozgov and Sasha Kaun at the Wine & Gold Scrimmage, and can safely say that Johnson is every bit the 6’11” he is listed at. He also has an NBA skill, having averaged 2.8 blocks per 36 minutes over 71 games with the Celtics, Trailblazers, Timberwolves, and New Orleans Hornets.  Johnson’s shot blocking helped him win the 2011 NBA D-League Defensive Player of the Year Award, and he also blocked two shots in eight minutes against the Atlanta Hawks Wednesday night. But there’s a reason that Johnson is 30 years old and hasn’t played in the NBA since the 2012-2013 season. Keeping Johnson on the fifteen man roster makes sense if the Cavaliers feel the need to carry another true big man due to Tristan Thompson’s holdout and the injury histories of Kevin Love and Anderson Varejao, but that doesn’t seem to be the case, considering he played just eight minutes in each of the first two preseason games.

D.J. Stephens

Stephens has done a solid job in camp, and has become a bit of a fan favorite with his highlight reel dunks. His elite athleticism is well-documented.

Stephens has also displayed a solid outside shot in limited time, after never really showing one in prior stops overseas or during a brief stint with the Milwaukee Bucks. The 2013 Conference USA Defensive Player of the Year, Stephens is also a terrific rebounder for a wing, and has averaged over six boards per game when playing at least 23 minutes a game. The biggest knock on Stephens is probably that he’s played like the role player he would be, meaning while he hasn’t done anything obviously wrong, he hasn’t stood out either, even when playing with the other camp invitees. It also doesn’t bode well for Stephens that we was a DNP-CD for Wednesday’s game against the Hawks, while four other camp invitees played in both of this week’s preseason games. Stephens may still have a chance to make the final roster, but he seems to be behind the next three men on this list.

Austin Daye

Probably the most well-known invitee among NBA fans, Daye has had a good camp doing what he does best, spacing the floor and rebounding. After hitting four threes on Wednesday against the Hawks, Daye made up for a poor shooting night against the 76ers by grabbing nine rebounds to go along with four assists and two blocks. As we’ve discussed before, Daye’s lack of speed and strength are his biggest hindrances. He cannot create space for himself on offense, and is a subpar defender despite terrific length. Daye’s lack of athleticism also limits his upside in comparison to some of his roster competition, and with six seasons and 293 games under his belt, he likely is who he is. If neither the Hawks nor the San Antonio Spurs could make Daye into a rotation player on a good team, then he probably will never be one. One thing Daye have may going for him, despite a low ceiling, is a relatively high floor compared to the other roster invitees. With career marks of 35.1% from three and an average of 6.7 rebounds per 36 minutes, Daye has proven himself to be a legit NBA player. Maybe not a good one, but a true NBA player nonetheless. You can’t say that for sure about any of the other invitees.

Quinn Cook

Cook got people talking after a terrific showing at the Wine & Gold Scrimmage, when he scored 13 points along with three rebounds and four assists. Since then though, the magic has worn off for the former McDonald’s All-American and NCAA champion. While he has had a solid 3.5-to-one assist-to-turnover ratio during the preseason, and even got to play alongside four starters against the Hawks, the flaws in Cook’s game have begun to show. In many ways Cook’s weaknesses are somewhat similar to Daye’s. He lacks the athleticism to get into the lane or create separation that most point guards need in the NBA. This lack of athleticism also hurts him on the defensive end, as quick guards can simply blow by him. Atlanta guards Jeff Teague and Dennis Schroeder regularly did just that to Cook during Thursday’s game, and he doesn’t have the ability on offense to make up for that kind of poor defense. Cook is a smart player who makes the right pass, and has a solid basketball I.Q. He’s the kind of player who’s good at many things, but great at nothing. European leagues are filled with good college players—David Lighty comes to mind—who lack an elite NBA skill. Cook may be that kind of player.

Jared Cunningham

Cunningham is the hot name among fans and the media after a spectacular performance against the Sixers on Thursday, in which he scored 31 points on just 10 shots to go along with four rebounds and three assists. The question is, should he be? While he has been both impressive and efficient in all three—including the Wine & Gold Scrimmage—of his outings with the Cavaliers, Cunningham hasn’t succeeded at all in the NBA. In three seasons of sporadic appearances with four teams since being drafted 24th overall by the Cavaliers—who sent him along with Jae Crowder and Bernard James to the Dallas Mavericks for Tyler Zeller—Cunningham has shot just 35.3% from the floor and 30.4% from three. That’s not just bad, it’s horrific. While some would say that’s due to the sporadic minutes he has played in the NBA, the counter argument is that there’s a reason Cunningham has only played those few minutes. It’s not like things have been much better in the D-League either. While most NBA players tend to dominate when they are sent down, Cunningham has shot just 39.2% from the floor and 31% from beyond the arc over 66 games in the Developmental League. There is simply no real evidence that Cunningham can play efficient offense. Basically, Cunningham is a more well-known version of Stephens, a terrific athlete who uses that to be a plus defender, but has no refined offensive game.

Another note, last year the Los Angeles Clippers kept Cunningham on their roster out of training camp over Joe Ingles. Cunningham then shot 36% in 19 games with the Clippers before he was traded to the 76ers and subsequently waived, while Ingles became a solid rotation player for the Utah Jazz. That is definitely not the kind of move the Cavaliers would want to make. Despite all of that, it’s a competition for a reason and Cunningham has done everything he can to win it. He definitely has gotten the attention of David Blatt, and an optimist might see him as a poor man’s Iman Shumpert, which might make sense for the roster while Shumpert recovers from wrist surgery.

Conclusions

There’s no doubt that each of these men were brought to training camp by the Cavaliers for a specific reason. Some were simply there to be practice bodies, while the Cavaliers may like others as members of their D-League team, the Canton Charge. Still, each of these men has been given a chance to show that they are a player who fits on the Cavaliers’ final fifteen man roster. In fact, there may be more than one spot available, at least for a little while, as Tristan Thompson doesn’t seem to be close to re-signing with the team. While the odds are against it, there is a chance one of these players could have a real impact on the Cleveland Cavaliers’ season. While I’m not sure why the Cavaliers signed Christmas so late, and there’s a part of me that thinks they may really like him, my gut says that Cunningham makes the final roster, while Cook will end up with the Canton Charge and Daye, Stephens, and the rest will wind up playing overseas. Nevertheless, until it is finally determined, who deserves the final roster spot(s) will remain a hot topic for debate among Cavalier faithful.