Cavaliers: Deng Adel will reportedly be signed to a two-way deal

The Cleveland Cavaliers will be adding another to the two-way contract list this season, with the latest reportedly being Deng Adel.

According to Shams Charania of Stadium and The Athletic, the Cleveland Cavaliers are reportedly now going to give yet another player a two-way deal, that being wing Deng Adel. He will be the other current two-way guy on the roster, joining Jaron Blossomgame, who was initially traded to Cleveland from the Austin Spurs for a former Cavs’ two-way player, John Holland (per an official press release). In a corresponding move, Cleveland will reportedly waive the previous other two-way player in Jalen Jones, per Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor.

Jones averaged 5.1 points on 41.9 percent shooting, to go with 2.1 rebounds and 0.6 steals in 13.4 minutes per game in 16 appearances for Cleveland, per Basketball Reference. He was decent as a catch-and-shoot specialist, shooting 35.7 percent from three-point land on 1.8 attempts per game, but Blossomgame seems to have had more of an impact, with his presence being felt on the offensive glass, and as a solid catch-and-shoot player himself.

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Blossomgames’ team and individual defense was better than Jones, though, as Blossomgame’s good instincts have enabled him to provide the Cavs with a respectable 8.0 rebounds, 0.7 steals and 0.5 blocks per 36 minutes, per Basketball Reference.

That being said, according to Fedor, Jones “did nothing wrong,” but it was a matter of two-way prorated days nearing a close for the wing. The NBA gives two-way players up to 45 days with their NBA teams, but that’s prorated based on the date of their signing. Jones had 34 days with the Cavs, and as Fedor noted, “those were almost up.”

Plus, with the deadline being Tuesday for NBA teams to sign players to two-way deals, Cleveland chose to take another flyer on the ex-member of the Toronto Raptors G League affiliate, the Raptors 905, who will have 22 days with the Cavaliers, according to Fedor, “based on the timing of Adel’s deal.”

In 25 appearances with the Raptors 905, Adel averaged 13.0 points on 51.5 percent true shooting, along with 5.4 rebounds and 2.6 assists in 31.6 minutes per game, per NBA.com’s G League stats. He had a nice net rating of plus-6.2 as well.

Deng is a player who has shown he can create off the bounce in the G League, and he displayed that ability throughout his three-year career at Louisville. He’s not the three-point specialist Jones was for Cleveland as a catch-and-shoot player, but has more potential as a driver and in creating for himself in the mid-range area.

He is a streaky perimeter shooter, but can get hot in spurts, and uses jab steps well initially off the catch to create space and get into a rhythm hop. In transition, he could definitely help out the Cavs, too, as he often can be seen gliding through the lane when he gets in the open floor and finishes at the rim.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are obviously a sieve defensively, and I’m not sure where Adel fits in that regard. He’s 6-foot-7, yes, but his slender 200-pound build doesn’t project well in being able to reasonably guard slashing 3’s, let alone 4’s. He has good quickness and is more athletic than Jones, but given how many guards Cleveland features, I’m not sure what a feasible plan is for Adel other than as a player who is defending mostly spot-up threats.

Ideally, the Cavs could stick him on opposing point guards to put some size on them to prevent penetration, but with how horrendous Cleveland’s defensive pick-and-roll schemes have been, that’s probably putting a lot on Adel’s plate.

This is likely far from the last roster move the Cavaliers will be making in the coming weeks, but for now, it’ll be interesting to see what Adel can bring as the other two-way.