The Point Four-ward: Minor Threat

Four points I’m thinking about the Cleveland Cavaliers…

1.) The 2016 NBA Las Vegas Summer League crowned a champion Monday night as the Summer Bulls bested the Summer Wolves 84-82. Summer League MVP (and former Cavaliers first round pick) Tyus Jones tallied 27 points and 10 assists, eventually falling to the Bulls, led by the duo of Bobby Portis and Jerian Grant. Portis and Grant scored 26 and 24 points respectively and each grabbed 10 boards in a thrilling contest that needed an extra two minutes (Summer League OT is two minutes, not five) to decide.

That’s right. I described a Summer League game as “thrilling” without a hint of sarcasm.

The past two weeks of basketball in Vegas — while still full of its trademark warts and rough edges — contained the highest level of play I can remember watching from the league’s summer vacation showcase. Maybe it was because this was the first time the Summer Cavs managed to play beyond the five games each team is guaranteed, but this year I stopped watching just the top rookies and second-year players and started watching the teams that the participating NBA clubs were fielding. The way some of these teams were able to come together and compete given so little practice time was a real pleasure to watch.

What I saw on display in Vegas is further proof that there is just a lot of basketball talent out there. Not every player may be NBA-caliber, but many of them can still shine when the teammates and competition are a notch below the big leagues. This should bode well for the possibility of the D-League as both a legitimate minor league system for the NBA and an entertainment draw in its own right.

2.) However, a large part of the reason the NBA Las Vegas Summer League has gained so much fan support over the years can be found in two words in the event’s name: Vegas and Summer. Summer League has become the San Diego Comic Con of hoops junkies. There’s entertainment, gambling, sports (um… the entertainment of gambling on sports) and the fact that you will absolutely run into NBA players, coaches and former stars just walking by around Vegas. I remember being there in the summer of 2013 to cover a Dion Waiters/Tyler Zeller led team and interview that year’s number one pick, Antony Bennett, who didn’t play as he worked his way back from shoulder surgery. During just one game, I spoke briefly to Tristan Thompson, fan-boyed out at the sight of Mark Price, and had no way of knowing the future relevance of the former-player-turned-assistant-coach sitting a few people down from me on the bleacher, a guy named Tyronn Lue.

Even if you’re just watching the Summer League on TV, you get some of that flavor. Coaches, light years more relaxed than we’re used to seeing them during the regular season, stop by to talk to the on-air commentators. The cameras pan to players in the stands who have come to cheer on a couple of their teammates. It’s fun and, what’s more, it’s summer. There is no other NBA action for an NBA fan to watch. Of course, it’s going to occasionally seem thrilling… perhaps, more so than if it had to compete against action from the signature league.

Even after the myriad of issues that would have to be settled in order for the D-League to be a proper minor league conduit to the 30 NBA teams (very few of which I have the legal acumen to discuss right now), the true marketability of D-League teams would still sit obscured by the shadow of their parent clubs. If there was a D-League season that ran — like the WNBA’s — during the summer months, it would likely draw. But the NBA needs those D-League players to be ready to be called up (the true dream of every on of those players playing in Vegas, let’s remember) and help out, be it on ten-day contracts or longer, so it only makes sense for the seasons to run concurrently. And, after all, a minor league is not major for a reason.

Still, apart from some random highlights, I didn’t watch any D-League games this past year. This coming season, I expect that to change. I mean… where else am I going to get my Raphiael Putney fix?

3.) While the Summer Cavs fell in the final four of the Summer League tournament, guard Jordan McRae, a former D-Leaguer, kept on winning. On Tuesday, McRae was named to the Samsung All-NBA Summer League first team after averaging 24.3 points per game, the third most among the players in Vegas. McRae wasn’t always efficient, shooting just 37.6% from the floor during league play, but it’s important in Summer League to look not just what a player is doing but what he is being asked to do. The coaches wanted McRae to show that he could create shots and score. Largely, that’s what McRae did, netting 33 and 36 in back-t0-back games last week, constantly drawing contact on his dives, getting to the free throw line and knocking down the freebies at an 81.5% clip.

Compare that to last year’s summer league team, where then-second year guard Joe Harris, also asked by coaches to work on his scoring and playmaking, averaged just eight points on 23.3% shooting. McRae is only six months older than Harris so just ask yourself this: if you are the Cavs, do you feel better having Harris on your roster or McRae?

McRae clearly has the better (if still limited) upside.

4.) While McRae’s defense, vision and athleticism showed the holes that kept McRae mostly in the D-League until finally hooking on with the Cavs last season, Cleveland GM David Griffin has been looking for ways to add more playmakers to their bench ever since the 2015 Finals. McRae showed playmaking promise in Vegas, as did rookie guard Kay Felder, making them both strong candidates to fill out the team’s few remaining roster spots out of training camp.

There is one more thing on Griffin’s wish list, though. The Cavs GM has stated that he’d still like to add another defensive-minded wing player. If McRae and Felder both make the final roster and they keep Dahntay Jones for the second year of his deal at the veteran’s minimum, with the addition of Chris “Birdman” Anderson, the Cavs roster is full at 15.

Should that change at all, keep an eye on Summer Cav DeAndre Liggins. Liggins, the 2015-16 D-League Defensive Player of the Year played great defense for the Cavs in Vegas. He also connected on 45% of his threes during Summer League and would give the wine and gold a long, athletic wing defender who doesn’t need the ball to make an impact.