Casey Prather headed back to NBL
Casey Prather heads back to the NBL after the Cleveland Cavaliers’ latest moves.
Small forward Casey Prather, one of the Cleveland Cavaliers Summer League standouts, has headed back to Australia to play for the NBL’s Melbourne United. He had spent the past two seasons playing for the NBA’s Perth Wildcats.
(Quote transcribed by Roy Ward of the Brisbane Times):
"“Cavaliers Summer League coach Damon Jones praised Prather’s defensive work against Golden State Warriors guard Patrick McCaw but the team opted to sign veteran forward Jeff Green and use their two-contracts on other players.”"
Throughout Summer League, Prather showed off his upper-end athleticism, three-point stroke and aptitude for perimeter defense. Prather also showed a great basketball IQ with his ability to facilitate and make solid timely drives.
He shot 37.5 percent from three on his way to averaging 9.0 points in 20.8 minutes per game. While he only averaged 0.8 steals per game, he had a defensive rating of 89.7 that was indicative of his stifling defense on the perimeter (via RealGM).
With the 2017 NBA Finals still a fresh memory for many Cavs fans, Prather’s physique and defensive abilities looked like they could be particularly useful against the Golden State Warriors, albeit it in a limited role. Prather, at 6-foot-6 and 208 pounds, would be able to spell J.R. Smith and LeBron James from their defensive duties on the wing and, with his speed, he looked like he could even hold his own against Stephen Curry. He certainly held his own against second-year guard Patrick McCaw in the Cavs’ Summer League exhibition game against the Warriors, a Warriors fan favorite with a knack for filling up the stat sheet.
In addition, with the last two seasons of Iman Shumpert’s inconsistent contributions on both ends, Prather looked like a suitable three-and-D replacement should Shumpert have been moved.
Alas, with the additions of Jae Crowder and Cedi Osman to wing depth that already included Kyle Korver, Richard Jefferson and Iman Shumpert, there was scant chance that Prather could make the regular season roster – which currently stands at 17 players, two more players than the number of players allowed. Though those two players could have been signed to two-contracts that effectively made them employees for both the Cavs and their NBA G-League affiliate Canton Charge, forward John Holland was signed to a two-way contract instead. Now there’s only one remaining contract and it will likely go to Kay Felder, especially with the durability concerns of the three point guards in front of him.