Cleveland Cavaliers showing serious interest in little-known Euro prospect
The Cleveland Cavaliers have been showing real interest in Arturas Gudaitis.
According to Lithuanian basketball journalist Donatas Urbonas, the Cleveland Cavaliers have expressed serious interest in 24-year-old Arturas Gudaitis, a little-known center who plays for the EuroLeague’s Pallacanestro Olimpia Milan. Gudaitis is currently averaging 10.2 points, 6.7 rebounds and 0.9 blocks per game while shooting 70.5 percent from the field and 72.7 percent from three-point range. He has an offensive rating of 145.0 and a defensive rating of 108.3.
Cavaliers invited Arturas Gudaitis to come to Cleveland this summer for the try out. Olimpia big man told he knew that Cavs were interested in him before trading for his rights. Gudaitis said that Cleveland representatives will visit him in Milano in two weeks.
— Donatas Urbonas (@Urbodo) February 22, 2018
Gudaitis was selected with the 47th overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft (by the Philadelphia 76ers) and his draft rights (which were traded to the Sacramento Kings in a month after he was drafted) were acquired by the Cavaliers in the three-team trade that brought George Hill and Rodney Hood to Cleveland. The Cavaliers traded 23-year-old Euro prospect Dimitrios Agravanis, another big man, in the process.
That the Cleveland Cavaliers have such interest in the young big man, enough to invite him to Cleveland to try out for the team, is noteworthy.
For one, the Cavaliers’ weakest position is possibly center. Furthermore, Gudaitis’ age falls right in line with the youth movement the Cavaliers are suddenly invested in. Lastly, the Cleveland Cavaliers already have a couple of young big men they’re invested in with 25-year-old Larry Nance Jr. and 22-year-old Ante Zizic.
Gudaitis is a mixed bag from the available information on him. On the one hand, he has the potential to be a perimeter threat based on initial scouting reports that pegged him to be a face-up power forward. In the New Age of basketball, traditional big men have fallen by the wayside as teams have started to prefer big men with the ability to stretch the floor.
The best big men in the game (Anthony Davis, Joel Embiid, DeMarcus Cousins) are all players who can stretch the floor with an outside jumper.
However, Gudaitis seems to have taken his game inside nearly exclusively as of late. That’s not necessarily a problem, as it’s unlikely he’s completely lost his outside touch. Yet, it’s something to acknowledge as it may result in Gudaitis having subpar performances from the perimeter early on. For right now, Gudaitis game is that of a low-post scorer and pick-and-roll finisher. In both of these instances, Gudaitis’ mobility and footwork make him a legitimate scoring threat.
As far as the feel he has as a playmaker, all reports indicate a player who has as much difficulty making plays for himself as he has for others. He can put the ball on the floor but he doesn’t possess the passing ability or offensive awareness needed to create for others. However, this could be, in part, due to Gudaitis not picking up the game until he was 14-years-old.
Defensively, Gudaitis isn’t an elite rim-protector but he has a 6-foot-10, 255-pound frame with strong, broad shoulders. With his solid athleticism, mobility and the fearlessness needed to contest a lot of shots at the rim, Gudaitis certainly has the potential to be a consistent interior defender. That’s especially true when you take into account his length and strength on the low-block as well.
Does Gudaitis make the team in the 2018-2019 season? He has a solid chance but he also has solid competition. This story has a bit of a Sasha Kaun feel to it, though, and perhaps he’ll don the Wine and Gold next season as a two-way player or on their 15-man roster. He and Zizic are the only big men on the Cavaliers roster who would be able to deal with the strong and burly big men found on opposing rosters.