Cleveland Cavaliers: Kay Felder And Eric Moreland Are Becoming Quite The Tag Team

With the way that Kay Felder and Eric Moreland play together now, the Cleveland Cavaliers should explore bringing in the duo as a second-unit tag team as early as next season.

Point guard Kay Felder and center Eric Moreland have become quite the tag team with the Canton Charge, the Cleveland Cavaliers’ exclusive NBA Development League (NBADL) affiliate team.

When it comes to looking at the future for the Cleveland Cavaliers, one name is fixated on. Felder. The 5-foot-9 rookie has bounce, swagger, scoring ability and the potential to be what Isaiah Thomas has become five years after being drafted by the Sacramento Kings.

In NBADL play, Felder is averaging 29.9 points, 6.0 assists and 1.5 steals per game. He’s shooting 46.7 percent from the field and 36.4 percent from three-point range.

He’s explosive and has tremendous ball-handling ability and, now, it seems like his size is irrelevant. He has made mistakes but they aren’t because of his size. Defensively, nobody tries to attack him because they see him as a liability. He’s even shown the ability to play off-ball.

While Felder has performed decently when he plays with the Cavs, averaging 15.3 points, 5.0 assists and 1.6 steals per 36 minutes, he’s been inefficient. Once he gets his shooting percentages of 38.9 percent shooting from the field and 31.8 percent shooting from three-point range closer to his NBADL averages, he’ll be well on his way to regular rotation minutes with the Cavs.

Right now, he’s finding out how to convert from inside the arc despite his size by using his ball-handling, changing his speeds in the halfcourt and putting his body on defenders as he drives inside. He’s getting his shooting stroke right.

However, he’s also learning how to use screens to get himself enough space to get off shot from the outside. The same screens he uses to be a menace in the pick-and-roll, a player capable of taking it himself or dropping it off to a big man for a big flush inside.

Screens set by Eric Moreland.

Speaking of those Sacramento Kings, the ones that let Thomas go, they made another personnel mistake in letting go of center Moreland. Moreland, whose development in his first two seasons was impacted by various injuries, has come on strong in his first significant stretch of basketball since college. He’s averaging 13.0 points, 12.1 rebounds, 2.7 blocks, 2.7 assists and 1.7 steals per game. He’s shooting 56.0 percent from the field.

Named a NBADL All-Star for the Canton Charge this season, Moreland has shown a skillset that would make Lou Alcindor blush.

You can catch him posting up, shooting a jumper, blocking shots, defending out on the perimeter, handling the ball in the open court, stripping ball-handlers as they head to the tin and finding the open man in the halfcourt. All in the same game.

You’ll also see him playing the pick-and-roll perfectly on either end. On the defensive end, he has no problem zoning up on screens. He times his defense of the pick-and-roll perfectly, standing with a pterodactyl-like wingspan to prevent the ball-handler from passing to the screening big and forcing him to swing the ball to the side. Moreland is then capable of getting back to the big man and letting the rest of the perimeter rotate and find a man.

That type of defense will help a player like Felder, whose size sometimes allows him to slip screens with ease but other times stops him dead in his tracks. That’s why Felder’s off-ball defense is also important.

Offensively, Moreland sets solid screens that clear out a lot of space for Felder. His finishing ability and athleticism make him a big threat around the rim so as he rolls, defenders go with him. He’s also proven to be able shoot from the outside (which isn’t the case for Tristan Thompson or Larry Sanders), so defenders have to decide if they even want to leave him. If they don’t Felder is capable of taking the ball all the way to the rim and will either try to finish at-the-rim or find the open man.

Looking ahead at how the Cleveland Cavaliers can add young talent to the team over the next few years, they will have the ability to retain Derrick Williams (a versatile forward) in free agency this summer, Cedi Osman (a three-and-D swingman) will make the jump to the NBA next season and the Cleveland Cavaliers have a first-round pick in 2018. In 2018, the Cleveland Cavaliers are also expected to reevaluate Sir’Dominic Pointer (a developing scorer and versatile defender), the 53rd pick in the 2014 NBA Draft.

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At most, that leaves the Cavs with Felder, Osman, Pointer and Williams as the young guns on the team. That is, unless the Cleveland Cavaliers are also looking to use their NBA Development League affiliate, the Canton Charge as a domestic draft-and-stash program.

In that case, there are two more players that the Cavs should have interest in, Jonathan Holmes and Moreland. Holmes is a stretch-four with decent athleticism and a high basketball IQ. You’ll never see him make many mistakes on the court.

Moreland, as previously mentioned, is a highly skilled big man who’s formed a terrific tag team with Felder when both are on the floor for the Canton Charge.

The duo has developed great chemistry in the open court and in the pick-and-roll. While the Cleveland Cavaliers have Thompson and Sanders on the roster, by the time Felder is ready to take over as a backup point guard Sanders could be nearing 30-years-old and an impending free agent. It’s not a guarantee that the Cavs would re-sign him. However, Moreland would be 27-years-old and on his first contract.

Moreland’s skillset will also make him a bigger threat in the pick-and-roll. His length and scoring ability is better than Thompson’s. He’s more polished as a scorer than Sanders, whether that shot attempt comes from the inside or outside.

In ways that a quarterback and wide receiver build chemistry and timing, so will a point guard and a center.

Think about James and Zydrunas Ilgauskus or Anderson Varejao. Think about Chris Paul and DeAndre Jordan. Think about Russell Westbrook and Steven Adams. Felder, who will be the floor general for the second unit, could see a lot of floor time with Moreland.

The chemistry Felder and Moreland are building now could be invaluable in the future.

How do you think Kay Felder and Eric Moreland have looked thus far while playing for the Canton Charge? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section or Twitter @KJG_NBA.