Cavs rumors: Team makes flurry of additions via 2-way and Summer League contracts

After the 2019 NBA Draft concluded, the Cleveland Cavaliers agreed to a deal with undrafted free agent Marques Bolden of Duke, agreed to a two-way deal with Kansas State’s Dean Wade and agreed to a Summer League deal with Villanova’s Phil Booth.

The Cleveland Cavaliers and general manager Koby Altman/the front office had a busy night Thursday with the 2019 NBA Draft, and they ultimately acquired three players from that.

That included selecting Vanderbilt’s Darius Garland fifth overall, Belmont’s Dylan Windler 26th overall and then through a reported trade with the Detroit Pistons, Cleveland went all-in on a player they seemingly believed could be a big addition for their rotation in the coming years in USC’s Kevin Porter Jr. 30th overall.

As far as acquisitions by the Cavaliers of players that did not end up getting drafted, that was ultimately Kansas State’s Dean Wade via two-way deal, as was reported by Yahoo Sports’ Chris Haynes, and Duke’s Marques Bolden, as was reported by HoopsHype’s Alex Kennedy, and Cleveland signed Villanova’s Phil Booth to a Summer League deal, per The Athletic and Stadium’s Shams Charania.

In regards to Wade, he was a player that was a solid inside-out forward for K-State over a four-year career, and in those four years, averaged 12.0 points on 49.2% shooting, to go with 5.4 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game (per Sports Reference).

Wade is a player that showcased nice face-up ability and had craftiness in the mid-post area, while also progressing each year as an effective pick-and-pop threat, as evidenced by him shooting 38.6% from three-point range for his career (though it was only on a volume of 2.6 attempts per game, per Sports Reference).

That offensive scoring ability, which has shown to come both from his own creation and off-the-catch/rolls is something the Cleveland Cavaliers may be able to develop further on a two-way deal, and in relation to Wade potentially using that spot in 2019-20 more over 2018-19 two-way Deng Adel, I’m okay with it (and I would imagine Altman is, too).

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Nonetheless, it’s tough to see Jaron Blossomgame reportedly not get extended a qualifying offer, because he was a solid bench contributor when given opportunities, and would be a nice defensive rotation piece as the other player of the two-way realm alongside Wade.

The Kansas State product was an underwhelming rebounder in college and could have his share of problems on the defensive end of the floor at the NBA level, and likely against 4’s and 5’s, as Wade is listed at 6-foot-10 and 228 pounds (per Sports Reference).

In relation to Bolden, he did not have nearly the role Wade had in his collegiate career, but also, it wasn’t easy to grab a significant minutes-share at Duke, either.

Along with that, Bolden reportedly dealt with nagging injuries throughout his three-year career at Duke as well (per The Devil’s Den’s Adam Rowe), which couldn’t have helped (Wade had that issue in his last two NCAA tournaments, too, though, due to a reported foot injury, h/t ESPN’s Jeff Borzello).

That said, the listed at 6-foot-11 and 250-pound (per Sports Reference) Duke product showed glimpses of nice ability as a rim runner/finisher near the rim, and while playing 19.0 minutes per contest in 2018-19, averaged 5.3 points per game on 57.9% shooting, to go with 4.5 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game (per Sports Reference).

Bolden is not a shooting threat, realistically, though, and is limited offensively, so it’s unclear whether or not he can carve out a career in the Association in the near future. He is a solid interior defender, however, so perhaps that can happen for him in the right situation.

I would imagine that the Cleveland Cavaliers signed Bolden mainly in the undrafted variety as a summer league flyer, and maybe that’s worthwhile for something to come down the road.

Out of the three, Booth likely had the best collegiate career; in four seasons (not including the third, in which he only appeared in three games due to a reported left knee injury, h/t NBC Sports’ Philadelphia Staff) he averaged 10.2 points on 43.3% shooting and improved his three-point stroke along with the way.

Much like Wade, that improved perimeter shot was showcased more later on, as Booth knocked in 37.1% of his career triples overall (per Sports Reference), and was a solid ball-handling presence that proved to be a crafty scorer.

Booth was a clutch performer for the Wildcats, and proved to be able to be effective as a pull-up specialist as well, but his below-average explosiveness and athleticism could restrict the listed at 6-foot-3, 194-pound guard (per Sports Reference) some at the NBA level.

What can’t be taken away from him, though, is that Booth was a key contributor on two NCAA championship-winning teams, and I would think he could do well enough in Summer League play to get a training camp invite from a few NBA teams.

It was overall a pretty eventful Thursday for Altman and the front office, in addition to head coach John Beilein and the coaching staff, and of course, Cavs fans, at any rate.