Cavs interested in Anthony Tolliver

What can Anthony Tolliver bring the Cleveland Cavaliers?

The Cleveland Cavaliers have expressed interested in signing free agent forward Anthony Tolliver.

The Cleveland Cavaliers interest in Tolliver is unsurprising. He’s not only a respected veteran who has been in the league for nine seasons. He’s a forward, with a lightning-quick jump shot, who has made 36.2 percent of his three-point attempts in his career and made 39.1 percent of his three-point attempts last season.

In the corners, Tolliver has made 39.5 percent of his threes for his career. He made 40.6 percent of his corner threes last season.

If signed, Tolliver would be a depth behind Kevin Love and Channing Frye. If Love or Frye is traded, he could step up and be a solid contributor to the second unit.

He’s a player who is sniper on catch-and-shoot threes, making 39.7 percent of his attempts in the 2016-2017 season. For comparison, Love made 39.4 percent of his catch-and-shoot threes and Frye made 41.6 percent of his last season.

What makes Tolliver a different player than Frye is Tolliver’s mobility. While Frye was unplayable against the Golden State Warriors because of his lack of mobility, Tolliver is capable of running around the court and making agile moves on the perimeter. That gives the Cavs a player they can put in their frontcourt against small lineups that provides spacing but doesn’t compromise their ability to switch pick-and-rolls (which would simplify the defensive responsibilities for the Cavs).

Tolliver ran at an average of 4.2 miles per hour last season (4.6 miles per hour on offense, 3.9 miles per hour on defense). Frye ran at an average of 3.9 miles per hours last season (4.2 miles per hour on offense, 3.5 miles per hour on defense.

Speaking of defense, while Tolliver isn’t known as a defensive stopper, he’s experienced, knows how to keep his man tagged in the pick-and-roll, does a solid job mirroring player movement and puts forth a lot of effort into contesting shot attempts. It’s telling that after nine seasons, Tolliver has never posted a negative number in defensive win shares. He had 0.8 defensive win shares last season and 7.5 defensive win shares for his career. This is due to Tolliver’s technique, effort and tangible traits.

Besides being a mobile player on the perimeter, Tolliver is a 6-foot-8 forward with a 7-foot-2 wingspan. That would be the longest wingspan of any combo forward on the team, including LeBron James and a wingspan as long as Frye, who is 6-foot-11. That comes in handy when it comes to putting a hand in the shooter’s face to obscure their vision.

The last thing about Tolliver to note will be his locker room presence. He won a Player’s Choice award for Best Teammate after the 2015-2016 season. During the highs and lows of a grueling, and at times boring, 82-game season, the Cavs will need a player who can both uplift them and keep them loose. Tolliver would seem to be that type of player.

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