Report: Cavs hosted workout for three more guards
The Cleveland Cavaliers have worked out three more guards ahead of training camp.
According to The Athletic’s Michael A. Scotto, the Cleveland Cavaliers worked out three guards — Kobi Simmons, Brandon Paul and Rodney Purvis — on Thursday.
The Cleveland Cavaliers brought in free agents Tyler Ulis, Kobi Simmons, Brandon Paul and Rodney Purvis for a workout today, The Athletic has learned.
— Michael Scotto (@MikeAScotto) September 6, 2018
Scotto would also mention that former Phoenix Suns point guard Tyler Ulis, a 5-foot-10 floor general, would workout for the Cavs. However, it was already known that Ulis and four other players worked out for the Cleveland Cavaliers this week.
A 21-year-old who went undrafted in 2017, the 6-foot-5 Simmons is a tall and athletic point guard with an advanced dribble and an affinity for attacking the rim in both the halfcourt and transition. He also possesses decent court vision though he’s more of a scoring-minded lead guard.
At this point in his young career, his biggest weaknesses are jump shooting (he shot 32.7 percent from three in college and 28.2 percent from three last season).
However, there’s genuine hope that he can improve as a three-point threat. He shot 36.1 percent from three in the G-League last season, 36.4 percent from three in 12 games as a starter for the Memphis Grizzlies last season (per basketball-reference) and 35.0 percent from three in Summer League this offseason.
Simmons averaged 6.1 points, 2.1 assists and 0.6 steals per game for the Grizzlies last season and 15.1 points, 3.9 assists and 1.0 steal per game for the Memphis Hustle, their official G-League affiliate, as a two-way player.
He scored at least 10 points on seven occasions last season, including a 20-point outburst against the Detroit Pistons (per basketball-reference).
Paul is a player some Cavs fans remember from last year as he was on the Cleveland Cavaliers’ Summer League squad and averaged 14.3 points, 5.0 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 2.3 steals per game on a true shooting percentage of 56.6 in that showing.
A former teammate of Cavs swingman Cedi Osman with Turkey’s Anadolu Efes, the 6-foot-4 Paul is an athletic and intelligent shooting guard with a confident shooting stroke and outstanding defensive effort.
Paul signed with the San Antonio Spurs last season and averaged 2.3 points per game on a true shooting percentage of 50.4. He would score 10 or more points in five games and gather at least 3 steals in four games (per basketball-reference).
Having gone undrafted in 2013 and taking the journeyman’s route through the Summer League, G-League and signing with international teams, Paul’s rookie season was last year. However, he’s currently 27-years-old, which puts him squarely in his athletic prime.
Purvis is a 6-foot-4 guard who went undrafted in 2017. Athletic and a solid defender who doesn’t shy away from scoring the ball, Purvis’ downfall has been his inability to knock down threes at the NBA level.
He shot 36.3 percent from three in college and 39.4 percent from three for the NBA G-League’s Lakeland Magic but 25.0 percent from three for the Orlando Magic last season and 25.0 percent from three for the Orlando Magic’s Summer League team in the offseason.
Should he be able to show he’s a consistent marksman, he has a fair chance to stick on the Cleveland Cavaliers roster because he can play both guard positions.
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With these three workouts, it looks like the Cleveland Cavaliers have done their due diligence as they look to fill out or transform their training camp roster.
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If I had to pick just one of the guards, I would sign Simmons because of his youth, size, athleticism and playmaking potential. Colson, a standout at Notre Dame, is a player I would sign too. Neither he or Dekker are great shooters as small-ball power forwards but Colson is a better defender and looks like he can be a low-post force against the right matchups.