Deng Adel is going to be an unrestricted free agent this summer, and although he is very young, the Cleveland Cavaliers should not try to bring him back and should give someone else a flyer.
The Cleveland Cavaliers will have time next season to give young players a flyer in regards to two-way deals and/or 10-day contracts, because it’s hard to envision the team realistically competing for an Eastern Conference postseason berth.
Although Cleveland was more respectable when Kevin Love was healthier and when he played considerable minutes post-All-Star break, it’s unclear whether or not that will translate next year, let alone if Love can stay healthy (he only appeared in 22 games in 2018-19, per Basketball Reference).
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Given that sort of thing, Cleveland should give other young players a chance to show if they can pop in limited time on a two-way or 10-day deal, and perhaps bring them back if they really do well or show a unique skill set offensively or defensively.
While he is only 22 years old, I don’t believe Deng Adel fits that mold for the Cleveland Cavaliers, and they shouldn’t try to bring back in 2019-20, on a two-way deal that is.
The 6-foot-7, 200-pound wing, who was reportedly signed in January to a two-way deal shortly after Cleveland reportedly waived Jalen Jones, who occupied one of the team’s two-way roster spots before that with Jaron Blossomgame as the other, did not seem to show much, and while he didn’t have a ton of chances, I just don’t see the Cavs as a good fit or him and vice versa.
Adel was only active in 19 games and played an average of 10.3 minutes in those contests (per Basketball Reference), and in those, he posted 1.7 points on just 38.9% effective field goal shooting, including a 26.1% hit rate from three-point range.
Adel did not get much of a chance to show what he can do in a role with a real minutes-share, and the roster situation doesn’t bode well for his minutes it seems.
With the Cleveland Cavaliers bringing in two rookies this year (which even though there will likely be hefty luxury tax penalties, they will likely do so) to join a roster that already has 11 players under contract (per Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor), and even with some of those players potentially being traded, as five will be expiring after next season (per Spotrac) and J.R. Smith‘s contract being a huge trade chip, as we’ve hit on often due its partial guarantee and full counting toward trades, the roster spots will likely be filled for trade purposes, anyhow, so it’s really unclear as to where Adel’s minutes will come from.
Additionally, Fedor would say in the aforementioned article (which was basically a set of Twitter mailbag responses) that of the four players set to be free agents this summer (those unrestricted will be Adel, who Cleveland seemingly will definitely not extend a two-way qualifying offer to, Marquese Chriss and Nik Stauskas, and David Nwaba, a player that could be restricted if Cleveland extends him a qualifying offer), Nwaba has the “best chance to stick.”
That means likely, even with trades potentially on the horizon (as Tristan Thompson, Jordan Clarkson, Matthew Dellavedova, Brandon Knight and John Henson are all expiring after next year, per Spotrac), Cleveland’s roster will have one open roster spot open if Nwaba comes back, which I believe he should, as he’s proven to be the team’s best perimeter defender when healthy and has some defensive versatility, so even though Cleveland could bring Adel back on a two-way deal, it’s hard to see him showing a ton of promise for when he would play with Cleveland.
Although Adel has shown some mid-range pull-up ability off the bounce with Cleveland’s G-League affiliate, the Canton Charge, it’s difficult to see him getting off those sort of looks off on a regular basis against quality defensive NBA 2’s and 3’s, and with Adel shooting only 32.3% from three-point land in G-League play (per Basketball Reference’s G-League statistics), he does not bring a floor-spacing element to Cleveland’s bench, so I’m not sure he’d really get run anyway.
Adel has decent defensive instincts both on and off the ball, but although his positional awareness is alright there, he does not seem to have the help and/or weak-side defensive potential of Blossomgame, who would have impressive hustle blocks due to anticipation and great effort a number of times when given run, which is a nice element brought to the game from a two-way player, and perhaps Cleveland could have that or better floor-spacing from another two-way player and/or undrafted free agent alongside Blossomgame occupying one of the two two-way spots.
I don’t realistically see Adel having a non-two-way spot on the roster, anyhow.
Along with that, Adel’s more slender frame makes it difficult to see him guard NBA wings regularly, and definitely not NBA 4’s, and if Cleveland has extensive injuries again like last year, Adel would likely have to do that some (he actually played the 4 47% of his minutes last year, too, per Basketball Reference) which wouldn’t work.
Adel may have a future in the NBA if he keeps working hard, which I’m sure he is, and that’d be cool to see things work out that way for him, but I don’t see that for him on the Cleveland Cavaliers.
They shouldn’t bring him back via free agency, but maybe if he really keeps adding to his game, another NBA squad can find use for him.