The Point Four-ward: Wine and Golding in Las Vegas

Four points I’m thinking about the Cleveland Cavaliers…

1.) On Tuesday, the Cavaliers announced their roster for the 2016 NBA Summer League in Las Vegas. With games scheduled for this coming Friday, Saturday, Monday and, at least, two more as part of the Summer League Tournament, Cavs fans — by virtue of their team’s deepest of playoff runs — don’t even have to go a month without seeing players in their favorite color of laundry.

Most of the attention on this Phil Handy coached group of NBA-wanna-makes will be centered on two players: one, Jordan McRae, already has a guaranteed contract for next season and another, Kay Felder, will finally get to show what he can do against the big boys (that, for Felder, who stands just 5-9, are even bigger than for most).

The Cavs reportedly like McRae and want to see if he can continue to develop and provide youth on the wing. He’s already endeared himself to Cavs fans with his 37-point outburst in the final game of the season against the Detroit Pistons. If you forgot already, here’s a refresher:

https://youtu.be/jk9S7rHr8r0

McRae seems to be solidly in the Cavs cap-strapped plans, while Felder will be trying to show that he is worth the $2.4 million Cavs owner Dan Gilbert paid the Atlanta Hawks for the right to draft the undersized playmaker out of Oakland University.

With the Cavs choosing not to match the Milwaukee Bucks’ offer to back-up point guard Matthew Dellavedova, Felder will be given a shot to make the team as its third point guard behind (at present) Kyrie Irving and Mo Williams. Even if Felder lights up Las Vegas like… well, like Las Vegas, the Cavs are likely far from done in their off-season work on that position.

2.) With the team primarily looking for guards and wings, here are a few other Summer Cavs to keep an eye on:

Back in 2014, DeAndre Liggins was called up to the Heat from their D-League affiliate. At that point, Dakota Schmidt of the D-League blog Ridiculous Upside, gave the following scouting report:

As a long, lanky 6’6 wing, Liggins has held on to that defense-first mentality that helped push him to a 2nd round in the 2011 NBA Draft. By utilizing that aforementioned frame and 6’11 wingspan, Liggins is able to be an absolute menace on the D-League opposition which has helped lead him to a stellar 98.2 DefRtg. With that in mind, Liggins has been an absolute ball-hawk as he leads the NBADL with 2.5 steals per game.

Since then, Liggins has failed to catch on with a big-league club, playing one season overseas and then returning to the D-League where he was an All-Star and was named the 2015-16 NBADL Defensive Player of the year by making plays like these:

Liggins defensive abilities have never been in question — and he passes extremely well, averaging seven assists a game this past year — but even now at 28 years of age, his offensive game is limited to what he can generate in transition off of steals (he swiped 2.1 per game last season) and shooting the three ball. In 2015-16, he pushed his three point shooting percentage up to a career-best 43.4, making him a very intriguing 3-and-D candidate for the Cavs moving forward.

Two years younger than Liggins, the Cavs’ 2015 second round draft choice Sir’Dominic Pointer probably still has a ways to go before he becomes the type of disruptive wing player that Cavs GM David Griffin had in mind when he took the 6-6 forward from St. Johns. Pointer shot just 17% from three-point range as a member of the Canton Charge in 2015-16. Overall, he averaged just 6.9 points and 4.5 rebounds in 20 minutes of D-League action, but did manage to throw in some of these, as well:

4.) While I was hoping that the Cavs’ Summer League point guard rotation would also include Quinn Cook, it seems that the 2015-16 NBADL Rookie of the Year has decided to pass up a Summer League invitation from the Dallas Mavericks in order to join the D-League Select Team in Vegas. No word on if the Cavs invited Cook, who played last year for the Charge.

Another point guard from Canton’s roster last season will be going. Michael Stockton, 27 and the son of NBA great John Stockton, played at Westminster College and professionally in Germany for MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg. While he’s had to fight hard to get himself this far onto the NBA’s radar, he did deliver some strong performances, averaging 8.4 points and 4.7 assists a game in his first D-League season.  Here’s a look at one of them:

Of course, it’s unlikely that the Cavs, chasing their second championship and having to potentially contend with an even more dangerous Golden State Warriors team, will have much immediate need for many (if any) of the guys who will take the courts in Vegas wearing Cavs jerseys. McRae has a leg up on the rest. No one knows what exactly Felder will bring, but he already has fans in the offices at Quicken Loans Arena. Maybe, Liggins impresses enough to get a training camp invite. That might be about it.

Still, Summer League is always fun (as is staving off my NBA withdrawl from fully kicking in for another month). Go, Summer Cavs!