Less than two weeks after the Cavaliers Championship parade wound through the streets of Cleveland, Director, Player Development and Summer League Head Coach, Phil Handy, and his staff were busy putting Wine and Gold’s Summer League squad through the paces in Las Vegas.
This trip will be the Cavaliers’ 12th straight trip to the annual invitation in Vegas. Cleveland and Washington are the only two franchises to participate every year since its inception back in 2004.
Two summers ago, the Cavaliers, all of Northeast Ohio and most of the basketball world were focused on a team with a new head coach who’d never paced the NBA sidelines, the No. 1 pick in that June’s Draft and the potential return of the game’s greatest player to his hometown team.
That player did return to his hometown team – and dramatically delivered on his promise to bring a title to Cleveland – but the other two people from that summer story are gone. And now the tale takes another turn, as the Cavaliers now face the task of defending the Championship for the first time in franchise history.
With Cleveland’s first game slated for Friday night at Cox Pavilion, here’s a quick primer on what to look for as the Samsung Summer League tips off …
* The Cavaliers roster players that’ll earn the most attention heading into this weekend’s game are Jordan McRae – who signed with the Wine and Gold late in the season and was impressive enough to earn a deal moving forward – and Kay Felder – who the Cavs acquired from Atlanta for cash considerations on Draft night.
McRae signed a 10-day deal on February 28 and made the most of his rare opportunities – highlighted by his 36-point outburst against Detroit in the regular season finale. McRae appeared in only two postseason contests, but he hit all four shots he attempted when he hit the floor.
The 5-9, 175-pound Felder was taken with the 54th pick in this June’s Draft after leaving Oakland University as the Horizon League’s all-time assist man. As a junior, Felder was the first D-I player in 20 years to average over 23 points and six assists in a single season – finishing in the nation’s Top 5 in both categories.
The Cavs Summer League squad will also feature a duo from last year’s Canton Charge squad – Sir’Dominic Pointer and Michael Stockton.
Pointer, who the Cavs tabbed with the 53rd pick out of St. John’s last June, averaged 6.9 points and 4.5 boards with the Charge last season. Stockton, son of the Utah Jazz legend – has played for Utah and OKC’s Summer League squads and averaged 8.4 points and 4.7 assists for Canton.
Stockton and Felder will both be competing in the backcourt with former Kentucky standout DeAndre Liggins, who was one of the D-League’s top assist men and was named Defensive Player of the Year in two of the past three seasons.
Other players rounding out Cleveland’s roster in Vegas include …
* Kenny Gabriel, the former Auburn star who competed in the Final Four Dunk Contest in 2012 and won a dunk contest at the 2015 Turkish Basketball League’s All-Star Game wearing a ski mask. Gabriel has also played in Israel, Cyprus, New Zealand and Greece.
* Forward Raphiael Putney is also well-traveled – having played in Australia, Malaysia, Venezuela and Saudi Arabia before being named a D-League All-Star this past season with Rio Grande.
* Forward Aaron Brown attended St. Benedict’s Prep in New Jersey – which produced J.R. Smith and where Tristan Thompson spent a season playing alongside Samardo Samuels – before moving on to Boston College, where he dropped 28 points on Louisville this past season.
* On that same Boston College squad, guard Eli Carter led the team in scoring, assists, steals, field goals made, 3-pointers and free throws made, ranking third on the squad in rebounding.
* Big man Eric Jacobson played in 129 games for Arizona State and was actually taught the game by his mother, who was a member of the 1982-83 ASU squad that lost to Cheryl Miller’s Trojans in the Sweet 16.
* Diamon Simpson played four seasons at St. Mary’s College and left as the Gael’s all-time leader in rebounds (1130), blocked shots (239), steals (174) and free throws made and attempted (470/777).
* Between Diamon Simpson, Raphiael Putney and Sir’Dominic Pointer, the Cavs definitely have a trio with some cool monikers. But when it comes to this year’s Summer League’s All-Name team, they’re probably only in the middle of the pack – trailing Brookyln’s Beau Beech, Charlotte’s Goodluck Okonoboh, New York’s Souleyman Diabate, Sacramento’s Duje Dukan, Utah’s Bangaly Fofana, Philly’s Maodo Lo, Denver’s Axel Toupane and OKC’s Boubacar Moungoro.
* Summer League has some unique rules. Players are allowed 10 personal fouls in pre-tournament games. There’s a two-minute overtime period and if the game goes to double-OT, it’s sudden death. The first team to score wins.
Each team will play three opponents to start Summer League. At that point, tournament play begins.
The Cavaliers will start out against the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday evening, 6 p.m. EST, at COX Pavilion. On Saturday, they take on Brooklyn (4:30 p.m. EST) at the Thomas & Mack Center before closing out the opening round against Minnesota on Monday night (8:30 p.m. EST) again at Thomas & Mack.
From that point, the tournament begins on Wednesday afternoon. Round 2 takes place on Thursday and the consolation round comes on Friday. The quarterfinals are on Saturday, with semifinals on Sunday and the title game going down on Monday, July 18.
