KneeCap: Summer Cavs 79, Summer Bulls 85 (or, Title Hopes Washed Away)

It was fun while it lasted… but the summer run had to end sometime for these Cavalier hopefuls. While they unfortunately didn’t make it to the Tournament Championship game to face former Cav draftee Tyus Jones and the TWolves, the Summer Cavs showed a lot of fight, effort and talent in getting further than expected. Their endless summer was finally cut short by an undefeated Bulls squad that featured a formidable front line and some hot three point shooting by rookie Denzel Valentine.

Even though the Bulls shot just 36.4 percent from the floor, and trailed the Cavs by 10 at the half, they mounted a massive comeback to outscore Cleveland 49-33 in the second half. Turnovers played a big part of it with Chicago committing only seven compared to 17 for the Cavs. The Bulls, led by Bobby Portis and Christiano Felicio, also dominated the smaller Cavs frontline 32-18 in the paint.

The Cavs got out to a hot start, getting 10 points from Jordan McRae in the first quarter and 14 points from Kay Felder in the half, to build a 46-36 halftime lead. But, the Bulls turned up the defensive intensity in the final 20 minutes, pressuring the Cavs into turnovers and using a 17-4 run to take the lead. Chicago went ahead for good on Valentine’s banked in prayer of a three-pointer with 2:24 remaining.

https://twitter.com/GMS_NBA/status/754925904040751105

Killer Shrimp led the Cavs with 22 points to go with five assists, four rebounds and three blocks, but he seemed to struggle a bit once the Bulls keyed in on him. Orange Mamba was a little less spectacular than he’d been over the last few games, finishing with just 16 points, six boards, and five turnovers. Maybe McRae just ran out of gas, but he was only able to hit 6-16 from the field, and got to the line just twice (a stark contrast to his previous outings). The only other double-digit scoring performance came from Raphiael Putney who chipped in 15 points and six boards.

Felicio and Portis led six Bulls into double figures, combining for 34 points and 15 rebounds. Valentine and Jerian Grant both scored 13, while Dez Wells and Spencer Dinwiddie also hit double digits. The Bulls will take on the TWolves tonight to decide the Summer League Las Vegas Tournament Championship.

Meanwhile, the surprising Summer Cavs, who started just 1-2 in the “regular season” wound up with a 4-3 overall record after taking down the Celtics, Lakers and Nets in the Tournament. McRae proved that Orange might just be the new Black as far as Mambas go, notching a First Team All-Summer League spot…

Celtics rookie Jaylen Brown named All-NBA Summer League 2nd teamer for Las Vegas. pic.twitter.com/0v66gbDiud

— Chris Forsberg (@ChrisForsberg_) July 18, 2016

McRae finished third in scoring in the Summer League with 24.3 ppg. On the downside, it was on just 37% shooting from the field (29% from downtown), but he did get to the line an amazing 81 times in seven games.

Kay Felder also had a positive impact overall in the summer session, averaging 15.3 ppg and 3.9 apg. While his size was an issue at times, his hustle and ability led to some terrific plays. The upsides were his floor vision, passing and mid-range jumper. The downsides were his difficulties finishing over, passing over or guarding taller players. Also, though he shot a respectable 42% from the field, his shooting from distance needs considerable work at just 22%.

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Other standouts among the hopefuls were DeAndre Liggins and Raphiael Putney. Liggins is a plus defender, and showed some flashes of offensive ability as well. Unfortunately, he just didn’t get a volume of shots, but seems to have the skills to catch on with either the Cavs or another team for training camp at least. Putney is intriguing because of his three point accuracy. He shot 14-32 for the summer for a sizzling 44%. Most of them were of the catch and shoot variety (usually off of Felder assists), but that kind of clip should get him an invite to an NBA camp.

Even though the Cavs’ Summer League experience didn’t wind up ending with a second Championship in 2016, the experience still made for some surprisingly entertaining viewing. Based on the performances, I fully expect McRae and Felder to get serious consideration to make the 2016-17 NBA squad, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see both Liggins and Putney at training camp.

Sadly, after tonight’s Championship game, it’ll be a while until training camp. But, just because there aren’t any games going on, doesn’t mean we won’t be bringing you interesting stuff here at C:tB. Stay tuned for lots more summer fun!

#EndlessCtBSummer