Training Camp Battles

Training camp for NBA teams is still over a month away, but the Cleveland Cavaliers have recently signed a flurry of players to come to camp. In all likelihood, the team will only carry 14 players on full NBA deals, leaving the final main roster spot open due to luxury tax issues and to possibly help facilitate a trade during the season. With 13 players already on guaranteed contracts, that leaves one spot up for grabs, along with a second two-way deal to go alongside forward Dean Wade. Today we look at each of the training camp invitees, what they bring to the table, and their chances of making the roster.

Sindarius Thornwell

The only player of the five signed to a full NBA deal (albeit unguaranteed), Thornwell seems like the favorite to capture the 14th roster spot. A 6’5″ with a 6’10” wingspan and solid strength and motor, Thornwell has quietly been one of the better defensive wings in the league over the past two seasons in limited minutes. He has also developed a reputation as a great locker room guy, as evidenced by the amount of enthusiasm his former Los Angeles Clippers teammates showed for his signing with the Cavaliers.

The problems that keeps Thornwell’s minutes are on offense. Other than finishing in transition and the occasional drive and dunk in an open lane, he hasn’t shown much on that end. His assist-to-turnover ratio is barely better than even, he shot just 20% from deep last season, and he has attempted less than one free throw per game for his career. Considering he shot under 40% from the field in four years at South Carolina despite a stellar senior season, it’s hard to see the soon-to-be 25 year old developing into a major offensive threat.

Still, a little development on that end might be enough. Thornwell did shoot a respectable 37% from deep during his rookie season with the Clippers. Although is was on just 0.8 attempts per game, that was after he shot 39% on threes during his senior season of college. If he can get to even 35% on stand still threes and work as an off-ball cutter, that could be enough to not only make the final roster, but possibly earn a spot in the rotation, where he would likely be the Cavaliers’ best perimeter defender. Thornwell seems like the heavy favorite to make the team, but we were saying that about Isaiah Taylor a year ago.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WepntLoNTDc&t=36s

J.P. Macura

The only other player on this list with real NBA experience, Macura is a 6’5″ shooting guard who spent last season on a two-way contract with the Charlotte Hornets. While he only played two games with the Hornets, Macura played 30 games for the Greensboro Swarm, where he averaged 16.4 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 1.4 steals, while shooting 36.8% from three on over six attempts per game. Macura moves well without the ball and gives good effort on the defensive end, but isn’t an elite athlete. He does fit the profile of the kind of shooter the Cavs seem to be focusing on. Macura was also the first of the players on this list to sign with the team, despite averaging just 3.3 points per game for the Hornets in Summer League play. While that may not make him a favorite for a roster spot, it does show that the Cavs like him a bit, and may want to keep him on at least a two-way deal if they think he can flourish in John Beilein’s system.

Marques Bolden

Now this is the type of guy a two-way deal is meant for. Bolden is a former McDonald’s All-American and top 20 recruit who never quite found his footing at Duke. Stuck behind the likes of Marvin Bagley, Wendell Carter Jr., and Harry Giles, Bolden mostly played limited minutes during his first two seasons of college before averaging 19 minutes a game as a sometime starter this past season. That still isn’t a huge role, and shows the lack of faith Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski had in Bolden. After he spent summer league with the Cavaliers, coaches John Beilein and Antonio Lang have both mentioned that they feel Bolden’s game is more suited for the NBA than it was for college. At 6’11” and 250 pounds with a 7’5″ wingspan, the 21 year old Bolden has elite size and athleticism for his position. He has shown that he can both roll hard to and protect the rim, making him a prospect in the mold of DeAndre Jordan, Andre Drummond, and Tyson Chandler. Unfortunately for Bolden, he is much worse on the boards than those players This makes him a bit more comparable to Willie Cauley-Stein, but without the plus passing ability. Bolden will likely never be as good as any of those players, and Ryan Hollins may be the most accurate comparison, but the blueprint of a useful modern big man is there. If the Cavaliers feel like Bolden is a project worth taking on exclusively, then a two-way deal makes sense for them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wFhco-cJv8

Malik Newman

Like Bolden, Newman was a McDonald’s All-American and highly ranked high school prospect who never quite hit his stride in college and spent this past summer league with the Cavaliers. After playing his freshman year at Mississippi State, Newman sat out a year after transferring to Kansas. His lone season at Kansas was successful, as Newman averaged 14.2 points, five rebounds, and 2.1 assists while shooting 46% from the floor and 41% from three. He was named Big 12 newcomer of the year and Big 12 Tournament MVP, and scored a career high 32 points in leading Kansas past Duke in the 2018 NCAA Tournament. Unfortunately for Newman, he lacked the size of a shooting guard, the ability to create of a point guard, and was an overall defensive negative, causing him to not be selected in the 2018 NBA Draft. After going to training camp with the Miami Heat, Newman spent the first half of last season with the Sioux Falls Skyforce before being traded to the Canton Charge. While in the G League, Newman put up decent scoring numbers, but was a poor defender and didn’t bring much else to the table. At this point, it’s hard to see the Cavaliers giving a roster spot to Newman when they already have Darius Garland, Collin Sexton, Jordan Clarkson, and Kevin Porter Jr. under contract. In all likelihood, Newman will be paid for his time in training camp as a bonus for playing for the Charge.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9JrcICqdL8

Levi Randolph

Shooter in the house! Randolph will spend training camp with the Cavaliers for the second straight year, and not much has changed. He’ll be 27 by the start of the season, so it isn’t fair to call him a prospect. However, it is fair to call him a shooter. Between his time playing overseas and in the G League, Randolph has shot at least 39% from three in each of the past four seasons, including 45% last season on 4.3 attempts per game for the Canton Charge. At 6’6″ with a 6’10” wingspan, Randolph has good size for a shooting guard, but lacks the high level of athleticism most NBA wings have. This is a particular concern on the defensive end, where Randolph has never been a plus player. Given his age and history with the organization, it’s likely Randolph’s in camp so that the Cavaliers can pay him a bonus and make sending him to the Charge financially worth whole for him. Still, the outline of a solid role player on the wing is there.

Bonus: Jaron Blossomgame

As of the time this was written, Blossomgame hadn’t signed with the Cavaliers, but he also hadn’t signed anywhere else either. That might not seem significant, but Blossomgame spent Summer League with the Cavaliers despite not receiving a qualifying offer and being unable to play due to injury. A two-way player for the Cavaliers last season, Blossomgame showed promise as a defender, and a nose for the ball around the basket, both as a finisher and on the boards. The knock on Blossomgame is that he’s a bit of a tweener, lacking the size of a power forward and the shooting and ball handling ability of a small forward. While that may be true, Blossomgame has shown that he can defend both positions fairly well. Like Thornwell, Blossomgame’s future likely depends on his ability to develop his outside shot. If he can, he may have a real future as a rotation player in the NBA, if not, he’ll probably settle in as a situational defensive specialist. While Blossomgame has limited upside and will turn 26 before the start of camp, he has shown that he has NBA talent, and for a team like the Cavaliers, keeping a cheap, athletic defender on the roster on either a minimum or two-way deal makes a lot of sense.

While Thornwell seems like the heavy favorite for the Cavaliers’ 14th roster spot and the second two-way contract looks like it will come down to Macura or Bolden, nothing is set in stone. For a team that is rebuilding like the Cavaliers, they have to work to find talent wherever they can, including among the fringe players they invite to training camp. While it’s unlikely that any of these players becomes a long term piece for the Cavs, stranger things have happened in the NBA.