Cavs Training Camp (roster down to 15)

[Douglar]

Since the Cavs have a preseason game in Brasil, their training camp will start on Sept 26th.

[parsehtml]
<iframe src="http://free.timeanddate.com/countdown/i4aqdx5b/n417/cf112/cm0/cu2/ct0/cs0/ca0/cr0/ss0/cac02253a/cpc000/pc870619/tcd0b239/fs100/szw448/szh189/tatDays%20until%20Training%20Camp/tacfff/tptTraining%20Camp%20Started/tpc000/matfor%20the%20Cleveland%20Cavaliers/mac003b7b/mptfor%20the%20Cleveland%20Cavaliers/mpc003b7b/iso2014-09-26T08:00:00/bo2" frameborder="0" width="450" height="191"></iframe>
[/parsehtml]
Here is what I got for the training camp depth chart (bolded players have significant guaranteed salary):--

• PG: Kyrie Irving / Dellavedova / John Lucas III
• SG: Dion Waiters / Mike Miller / Joe Harris
• SF: Lebron James / Shawn Marion / James Jones
• PF: Kevin Love / Tristan Thompson / Malcolm Thomas / Dwight Powell
• C: Anderson Varejao / Brendan Haywood / Alex Kirk / Erik Murphy

Cavs can add up to three more players.

Baring any trades or big signings, looks like the training camp challenges are going to be:

• Malcolm Thomas vs Dwight Powell
• Alex Kirk vs. Erik Murphy

John Lucas III might get bumped for Ray Allen if he signs with the Cavs, but that's looking less likely these days. Never know.

 

[theSTEREO.]

This feels like the first truly endless basketball year.

Season went to playoffs, went to lottery, went to finals, went to draft, went to Lebron free agency went to Miller/James, went to Summer League, went to Marion, went to Love, went to FIBA World Cup, then a week off and then training camp starts.

Unbelievable.

 

[Smooth]

Doesn't seem like Erik Murphy or Malcolm Thomas have any chance of making the roster after the Cavs signed Dwight Powell and Alex Kirk..

Which is odd considering the Cavs gave up Felix and a '15 pick to acquire Murphy, Thomas and Lucas III... And Lucas III could be cut too if the Cavs sign Allen..

So to me I'd bet on the Cavs making some type of move with Murphy, Thomas and Lucas III before camp or else the Cavs cut them and gave up two pieces for nothing...

Sidenote: I'd like to see Miller start and have Waiters come off the bench.. I know he's hellbent on starting but I think he'd be more likely to understand coming off the bench now that LeBron and Love are in the starting lineup and not TT and Gee...

 

[Douglar]

Doesn't seem like Erik Murphy or Malcolm Thomas have any chance of making the roster after the Cavs signed Dwight Powell and Alex Kirk.

Malcolm Thomas has played for Blatt before. He's got length. He could have been a target. He's also been signed twice by the Spurs. They have a rep of finding smart bargain talent. Thomas has got a chance at sticking with the Cavs.

Erik Murphy doesn't look like a complete waste either as a jump shooting bigman. He's playing for Finland this summer in the world cup, so we can track his progress.

I think the Kirk signing is probably more about getting a C for the 4th squad in training camp and for Canton. The last two players waived from training camp can bypass the D-league draft and go directly to Canton if they are agreeable. The Cavs include $50K of guaranteed NBA money in the contract to make Kirk more agreeable (like they did for Kevin Jones and Micheal Eric in the past). Or you could be right and he earns a roster spot, either through skill or default (if the non-guaranteed guys get traded).

As for Dwight, he could be in line to be the 15th man and designated doughnut buyer, but the timing makes me think that it's possible that Powell demanded his "required tender". If he did that, then the Cavs had give him some sort of NBA contract before Sept 6th or Powell would become a free agent. Hard to see where things go with Powell right now. He could be 15th man for the Cavs, the next starting PF in Canton, or a free agent by Halloween.

 

[VAIN1]

Doesn't seem like Erik Murphy or Malcolm Thomas have any chance of making the roster after the Cavs signed Dwight Powell and Alex Kirk..

Which is odd considering the Cavs gave up Felix and a '15 pick to acquire Murphy, Thomas and Lucas III... And Lucas III could be cut too if the Cavs sign Allen..

So to me I'd bet on the Cavs making some type of move with Murphy, Thomas and Lucas III before camp or else the Cavs cut them and gave up two pieces for nothing...

Sidenote: I'd like to see Miller start and have Waiters come off the bench.. I know he's hellbent on starting but I think he'd be more likely to understand coming off the bench now that LeBron and Love are in the starting lineup and not TT and Gee...

I am curious why you want Miller starting over Dion? Miller cant defend or keep up with athletic guards as well as he used to and he was no defensive stopper.

Is it floor spacing?

Or with Lebrons ball handling Dion's isn't as important any more?

I like a bench of Delly/ Dion/ Miller/ Matrix/ & TT a lot but want Dion to start of course

Defensively I think they could give some starting lineups trouble let alone destroying other teams benches.

On a side note Malcom Thomas looks interesting....

 

[bobcat22]

I am curious why you want Miller starting over Dion? Miller cant defend or keep up with athletic guards as well as he used to and he was no defensive stopper.

Is it floor spacing?

Or with Lebrons ball handling Dion's isn't as important any more?

I like a bench of Delly/ Dion/ Miller/ Matrix/ & TT a lot but want Dion to start of course

Defensively I think they could give some starting lineups trouble let alone destroying other teams benches.

On a side note Malcom Thomas looks interesting....

In my opinion I would also prefer Miller to start. In the starting lineup Miller would be relegated to a jump shooter, but he is a Top 5 shooter in the league and gives the Cavs plenty of space on offense.

Waiters on the bench makes more sense because of his playing style. He can come off the bench and give Kyrie a breather and run the show. It gives him more of an opportunity to showcase his skills and he gives you immediate offense off the bench ala Ginobili or Harden with OKC. He will still get his normal minutes and play in crunch time, he just wouldn't start. It's not about if he is good enough to start, he clearly is, it's about his impact off the bench. He is used to that role as well because he came off the bench at Syracuse.

 

[Mott the Hoople]

With the scarcity of Cavs game tickets, and their relative costs, I think it would be great if the Cavs could find a way to open up some training camp sessions to the public.

It would give an opportunity for kids to see the guys in the flesh, and the work that goes into the finished product. A brief basketball skills clinic even be part of it. You could even turn it into something helpful with admission being some canned food.
There are plenty of sites that could be used in the region like the JAR, the Wolstein, Spire Institute, and others.

 

[Simon]

Malcolm Thomas has played for Blatt before. He's got length. He could have been a target. He's also been signed twice by the Spurs. They have a rep of finding smart bargain talent. Thomas has got a chance at sticking with the Cavs.

Erik Murphy doesn't look like a complete waste either as a jump shooting bigman. He's playing for Finland this summer in the world cup, so we can track his progress.

I think the Kirk signing is probably more about getting a C for the 4th squad in training camp and for Canton. The last two players waived from training camp can bypass the D-league draft and go directly to Canton if they are agreeable. The Cavs include $50K of guaranteed NBA money in the contract to make Kirk more agreeable (like they did for Kevin Jones and Micheal Eric in the past). Or you could be right and he earns a roster spot, either through skill or default (if the non-guaranteed guys get traded).

As for Dwight, he could be in line to be the 15th man and designated doughnut buyer, but the timing makes me think that it's possible that Powell demanded his "required tender". If he did that, then the Cavs had give him some sort of NBA contract before Sept 6th or Powell would become a free agent. Hard to see where things go with Powell right now. He could be 15th man for the Cavs, the next starting PF in Canton, or a free agent by Halloween.

From what I've been hearing, I heard Thomas was pissed he was traded to the Cavs. Blatt cut Thomas from the team and Thomas was not too happy about that.

 

[oracio]

From what I've been hearing, I heard Thomas was pissed he was traded to the Cavs. Blatt cut Thomas from the team and Thomas was not too happy about that.

That's true.
Please notice: Malcom is not an NBA caliber player. He isn't even a top Euroleague club roster caliber.

The only good thing that I remember from him is his shot blocks. He has long arms and good athleticism but that's about it.

His offense? one of the poorest I've seen from an American player coming to Maccabi.
The guy can't shoot, only dunk and has a very unpleasant hook shot that rarely works (and when it does you can put it on a two and a half minutes "highlights" video).

Sorry for being harsh on him, but that's the truth.

I don't know why he got signed but I'm sure Blatt gave his input to Griffin regarding Malcom's performance in Maccabi.

Players rarely get cut mid-season in Maccabi, especially American ones. So you get the point...

 

[Cavalierfan]

How long can we actually wait for Ray Allen to make a decision? Even if does, do we really have room for him?

Guaranteed Roster spots (12): Kyrie, James, Dion, Andy, Love, Thompson, Marion, Miller, Jones, Haywood, Delly, Harris
Likely roster spots (1): Powell (drafted and 6-11)

That leaves us two opening day roster spots and 1 has to be a center (Kirk and Thomas as of now appear to be competing for 1 roster spot if neither is moved). The other is likely going to be the player that JL3 and Murphy are inevitably traded for. I get the value that Ray Allen brings, but where is he going to get minutes on a team with Dion, Miller, LBJ and Marion (plus James Jones on roster) getting the SG/SF minutes?

Also, how amazing is it that in basically 2 months we've replaced Gee at SF with that group??

 

[Cavatt]

That's true.
Please notice: Malcom is not an NBA caliber player. He isn't even a top Euroleague club roster caliber.

The only good thing that I remember from him is his shot blocks. He has long arms and good athleticism but that's about it.

His offense? one of the poorest I've seen from an American player coming to Maccabi.
The guy can't shoot, only dunk and has a very unpleasant hook shot that rarely works (and when it does you can put it on a two and a half minutes "highlights" video).

Sorry for being harsh on him, but that's the truth.

I don't know why he got signed but I'm sure Blatt gave his input to Griffin regarding Malcom's performance in Maccabi.

Players rarely get cut mid-season in Maccabi, especially American ones. So you get the point...

You can use a guy who "can only dunk" on this team I think. There is enough shooting elsewhere. Is he a good rebounder?

Just wondering if Blatt was like, "Now I can use him."

 

[oracio]

You can use a guy who "can only dunk" on this team I think. There is enough shooting elsewhere. Is he a good rebounder?

Just wondering if Blatt was like, "Now I can use him."

Well in the local Israeli league, which is not a great league whatsoever his stats where:
13 games 20.1 Minutes 7.4 Pts 73.1% FT 4.2 DefR 1.3 OfR

 

[Cavatt]

Thanks. Yeah I am wondering what these guys are doing here. I thought they liked the look of Felix, so I could only imagine there was another trade coming after the Love one. I guess we will find out soon enough.

 

[nikolajz1]

How long can we actually wait for Ray Allen to make a decision? Even if does, do we really have room for him?

Guaranteed Roster spots (12): Kyrie, James, Dion, Andy, Love, Thompson, Marion, Miller, Jones, Haywood, Delly, Harris
Likely roster spots (1): Powell (drafted and 6-11)

That leaves us two opening day roster spots and 1 has to be a center (Kirk and Thomas as of now appear to be competing for 1 roster spot if neither is moved). The other is likely going to be the player that JL3 and Murphy are inevitably traded for. I get the value that Ray Allen brings, but where is he going to get minutes on a team with Dion, Miller, LBJ and Marion (plus James Jones on roster) getting the SG/SF minutes?

Also, how amazing is it that in basically 2 months we've replaced Gee at SF with that group??

Harris and Powell will be in Canton. Nearly sure of it. They both looks awful in summer league.

 

[VAIN1]

In my opinion I would also prefer Miller to start. In the starting lineup Miller would be relegated to a jump shooter, but he is a Top 5 shooter in the league and gives the Cavs plenty of space on offense.

Waiters on the bench makes more sense because of his playing style. He can come off the bench and give Kyrie a breather and run the show. It gives him more of an opportunity to showcase his skills and he gives you immediate offense off the bench ala Ginobili or Harden with OKC. He will still get his normal minutes and play in crunch time, he just wouldn't start. It's not about if he is good enough to start, he clearly is, it's about his impact off the bench. He is used to that role as well because he came off the bench at Syracuse.

That sentiment has flaws from my perspective you limit yourself defensively but whats more he can start and still do the exact same thing with those young legs. Know what I mean? Why cease the development of a potentially premier high selected draft pick for as of now no reason when all things are compared as a total package.

Dion provides more then the shooting dimension ie a triple threat with young legs.

D offers more than Miller in all aspects of team ball which is why I prefer him starting. Plus that attitude is just what LBJ needs Kyrie was star struck when Bron came back Dion went at him like a man. I still wonder why it came out that Dion was his first contact as is speculated (could be KI just keeps his mouth closed better of course ) You would have thought he was the alpha dog savior of Cleveland born and bred.

The thing is 3 players on the court with driving, shooting, passing, & defensive potential means 3 triple threats for Love to be free to move where ever how ever and feast of dribble drive penetration. He could have a more monumental year than LBJ which I am sure sounds absurd to some. Yet easily possible and am hoping so as well.

JMHO