Ryan Adams does Taylor Swift, plus teams pandering to women – WFNY Podcast – 2015-09-23
September 23, 2015Why I hate firing managers and thoughts from a sports trip to China: While We’re Waiting…
September 24, 2015It was not too long ago this offseason when the Cleveland Cavaliers had the fewest players signed under contract in the NBA. It was expected they would sign several many more players to training camp and non-guaranteed deals. That trend continued again on Wednesday with the Cavs signing 27-year-old forward Austin Daye to a one-year deal, as first reported by Yahoo Sports’ Shams Charania. Later, go-to Euroleague reporter David Pick clarified that Daye’s training camp deal is not guaranteed.
Daye, the No. 15 pick by the Detroit Pistons in the 2009 draft out of Gonzaga, has had an erratic NBA career thus far. His best season, back in 2010-11 with his original team, saw him average 20.1 minutes per game in 72 appearances. He averaged 7.5 points and 3.8 rebounds per contest that year. In the last four seasons since, he’s bounced around with four new teams — Memphis, Toronto, San Antonio and, most recently, Atlanta — and played only 152 combined NBA games. Atlanta had signed him to a multi-year deal, but waived him back in July to clear additional cap space.
The long and lanky forward only played two seasons for the ‘Zags, but certainly showcased flashes of potential. His 6-foot-11 frame, although not nearly filled out enough, seemed like a mismatch nightmare if he could keep improving upon his three-point range. Whether he has now bulked up enough to become an NBA rotation player remains to be seen. Pick mentioned how he signed with a European agent and is entertaining offers from overseas. Notably, of course, Daye also picked up a NBA Championship ring with the Spurs in 2014. He appeared in just one game during their playoff run.
Recent additions to the Cavaliers roster also include Quinn Cook, Jared Cunningham, Nick Minnerath, and D.J. Stephens. If you factor in Tristan Thompson to the fold, the team already has 14 likely guaranteed roster spots. Those last names: James, Love, Irving, Thompson, Mozgov, Smith, Shumpert, Varejao, Williams, Jefferson, Dellavedova, Jones, Harris, Kaun. The team previously stated it desires some mid-season roster flexibility — perhaps to use the Brendan Haywood and Mike Miller trade exceptions — so they might not necessarily add a final 15th man.
The addition of a player like Daye is something that most NBA teams do quite a bit. He won’t cost the Cavaliers any guaranteed money. But if the former first-rounder can show some signs of NBA-worthiness, then he could wiggle his way onto the roster eventually or perhaps onto the team’s D-League roster in Canton. There’s absolutely no downside to a signing like this.
2 Comments
why not??
He had a solid season 3 years ago and he’s still young… hopefully LeBron and the other vets can get him focused on doing a couple of things really well so he can fill a role.