Will Cherry: A Cleveland Cavaliers Season Preview

The Cleveland Cavaliers will be embarking on what many hope will be a historical season. The season kicked off on October 30th at home against the New York Knicks. The Cavs have added a number of big name players but, as LeBron James stated recently, this squad is all about team. So in preparation for the season we at King James Gospel will provide you a player profile and season preview for each of our Cleveland Cavaliers.

Name: Will Cherry

Position: Point Guard

Age: 23

Height/Weight: 6’1″ 181 pounds

Jersey #: 5

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Twitter Account: Follow Will Cherry on Twitter (@willcherry5)

Last Year: (With the Canton Charge of the NBA D-League) 11.6 PPG, 3.7 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 1.4 steals, 44.7% shooting, 33.3 3P% and 70.7% FT

Role On Cavs: Third-String Point Guard, Energy Guy

Strengths: Excellent defender, elite athlete who gets to the basket and to the free throw line

Weaknesses: A bit undersized, somewhat of a tweener, not a strong outside shooter

The Season Will be a Success for Will Cherry if: He is able to solidify a spot for himself in the NBA and provide much-needed perimeter defense and instant offense when called upon.

The Season Will be a Failure for Will Cherry if: He winds up playing the entire season in the D-League, putting him no closer to his NBA dream.

Narrative: One has to feel a bit sorry for A.J. Price. After a solid preseason with the Cavaliers he was cut just two games into the season. That being said, switching from Price to Cherry for the third point guard spot makes sense for the Cavaliers. While it is unlikely that Cherry makes much of an impact this season, he brings several traits that could benefit this team at A.J. Price does not. The most important trait is Cherry’s defense. A two-time Big Sky Defensive Player of the Year for the Montana Grizzlies, Cherry averaged an impressive 2.3 steals per game during his college career. He first became noticed by scouts for his lockdown defense on Damian Lillard during Lillard’s final year at Weber State, earning Lillard’s admiration. The next season he held future Rookie of the Year Michael Carter-Williams to just four points during the Grizzlies’ first-round loss to Syracuse in the 2013 NCAA Tournament. On a Cavaliers team in which Matthew Dellavedova is the only plus defender among rotation guards, having Cherry in reserve makes sense.

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If Kyrie Irving or Dion Waiters misses any time due to injury, the Cavaliers are likely better off having Dellavedova and Cherry making an impact on the defensive end than having A.J. Price (he of 38% career field goal percentage) trying to generate offense while playing alongside LeBron James and Kevin Love. On the offensive end, Cherry has shown the quickness and leaping ability to get to the basket at will. He was extremely impressive while playing for the Cavaliers and Coach David Blatt in the Las Vegas Summer League, averaging 12.8 ppg. on .521 shooting to go along with 4 rebounds and 3 assists. Cherry’s quickness and ability to get to the rim provide an interesting contrast to Dellavedova’s ball movement and shooting. Finally, Cherry is five years younger than Price and adds more youth to the end of the Cavaliers’ bench. All-in-all this looks like a nice, if relatively minor signing for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

What are your expectations for Will Cherry this season?