Brandon Paul leaves Cleveland Cavaliers Summer League to sign with Spurs, what it means for Cavs

Brandon Paul has left the Cleveland Cavaliers Summer League team and signed with the San Antonio Spurs. What does it mean for the Cavs?

According to basketball reporter David “Dubai” Pick, shooting guard Brandon Paul has signed with the San Antonio Spurs. Paul had played in seven games Summer League games this offseason; four with the Dallas Mavericks in the Orlando circuit and three with the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Las Vegas circuit.

He spent the past season playing with Cedi Osman and Anadolu Efes in the Euroleague.

While averaging 15.6 points, 5.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.7 steals per game while shooting 47.1 percent from the field and 39.1 percent from three-point range across seven games, Paul averaged 14.3 points, 5.0 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 2.3 steals for the Cavs’ Summer League squad while shooting 47.1 percent from the field and 31.6 percent from three-point range.

Paul possesses a smooth offensive game. With solid ball-handling and the ability to make pull-up jumpers if he doesn’t make it to the rim, where he has a quick leap to finish above the tin, he’s been an effective scorer not only throughout the Summer League but against players like the Golden State Warriors’ Patrick McCaw, a player who received minutes in the 2017 NBA Finals and was a rookie sensation in the eyes of the Warriors’ fan base throughout the 2016-2017 season.

Defensively, Paul’s ability to play his defenders close without fouling is accentuated by his tenacity and hustle. Against the most elite players in the NBA, Paul isn’t likely to stop them but will make it as hard as he possibly can for them to score. That’s a defensive trait that may not show up statistically but is admirable; young players making it to the NBA in the manner that Paul is, as a Summer League pickup, are the players that are grinders. Those grinders are players that you’ll need on your team at some point in the season.

Paul is a grinder who should be able to score effectively against second unit players and, if he’s anything like Jonathan Simmons, score effectively period.

Being able capable of making the tough jumpers as well as having the ability to consistently create space for himself to get off an in-rhythm field goal attempt is a bonus for the 26-year-old Illinois native.

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There will be irate Cavs fans, concerned about the Cleveland Cavaliers ‘losing out’ on Paul in what they feel has been a ‘dumpster fire’ of an offseason after adding the not-so-sexy names of Jose Calderon and Jeff Green to the team. In addition, with owner Dan Gilbert perceived to have missed out on a deal with former general manager David Griffin and former NBA Finals MVP Chauncey Billups for their leading front office position, fans in Cleveland have grown weary and impatient.

Or, spoiled.

However, while concerns about Calderon, Green and Gilbert have merit, Paul’s deal with the Spurs isn’t a gaffe by the Cavs front office. Basketball Insiders’ Eric Pincus mentioned that Paul was close to landing a deal a bit over a week ago:

That was before he played a minute with the Cleveland Cavaliers’ Summer League team and while it’s not explicitly stated that this is the same deal, it’s a reasonable conclusion that in an eight-day span Paul went from being close to landing an NBA deal to being signed by the Spurs.

In any case, in Paul’s absence, there will be three wings that will get a chance to show off their scoring ability: Casey Prather, Andrew White III and Sir’Dominic Pointer. White, like Paul, is a shooting guard while Prather and Pointer are small forwards.

During the Summer League, Prather has been 8.7 points per game on 39.1 percent shooting from the field and 42.9 percent shooting from three-point range in three games with the Cavs after averaging 11.6 points per game on 46.1 percent shooting from the field and 40.0 percent shooting from three-point range in four games with the Mavericks.

In three games, White has averaged 5.7 points per game on 46.2 percent shooting from the field and 50.0 percent shooting from three-point range. Pointer, who has played in two games for the Cavs during the Summer League circuit, has averaged 7.5 points per game while shooting 66.7 percent from the field and 50.0 percent from three-point range.

While all of them could play the three-and-D role, White is the most comfortable shooter, Pointer has the best defense and Prather has the best resume. It will be interesting to see if any of the three steps up as an iso scorer in Paul’s absence, as Prather has shown the most inclination to take opponents off-the-dribble.

In other news, according to The Verticals’ Shams Charania, the San Antonio Spurs have renounced their rights to shooting guard Jonathan Simmons and made him an unrestricted free agent.

The Spurs’ star of the 2017 Western Conference Finals averaged 15.3 points per game on 41.4 percent shooting from the field and 39.4 percent shooting from three-point range, taking it upon himself to make it as much of a series as he could against the Warriors with Kawhi Leonard out for the series. He showed a good ability to dribble into pull-up jumpers in the midrange and make shots from behind the line against the Warriors’ tough defense.

Perhaps the Cleveland Cavaliers would consider a sign-and-trade for Simmons, if it took them under the luxury tax apron after the transaction and prevented them from being hard-capped. For that to happen, it’s possible that both Iman Shumpert and Channing Frye would have to be traded, although the Cavs could possible get away with Shumpert being the only casualty in the deal.

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*All stats gathered from basketball.realgm.com