Cavs: Naz Mitrou-Long making his case for the other two-way contract

Naz Mitrou-Long has been a consistent performer in NBA Summer League play for the Cleveland Cavaliers, and is making his case for their other two-way spot going into next season.

Depending on how the J.R. Smith situation works itself out, as well as whether the Cleveland Cavaliers and David Nwaba agree on a contract, the Cavs are seemingly slated to have either one or two open roster spots and some open minutes, and it appears Naz Mitrou-Long could be their other two-way player to begin next season.

NBA teams are each permitted to have two players on two-way contracts, who split time between the G-League and NBA, in addition to their 15 man roster. The Cavs are a good opportunity for a two-way player to get some serious minutes and earn an NBA more full-time deal.

Big-name free agents were never on the Cavaliers’ radar as they progress through their rebuild, and reportedly this offseason, in particular.

The most likely options for those one or two roster spots will be young, cheap players, likely on minimum-contract deals, according to Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor, and one of the team’s two-way spots is yet to be filled for 2019-20 thus far.

It is not out of the realm of possibility that there could be a contributing member of the Cleveland Cavaliers on their summer league roster right now.

Naz Mitrou-Long, a soon-to-be-26-year-old guard who had a cup of tea in the league with the Utah Jazz as a two-way player, has made the most of his Summer League opportunity.

Mitrou-Long, who played collegiately at Iowa State, was a feated three-point shooter for the Cyclones but has demonstrated has can also be a facilitator, and clearly grew in that area playing as a two-way player with the Jazz, but mostly their G-League affiliate for two seasons, in the Salt Lake City Stars.

In the Salt Lake City Summer League, Mitrou-Long had 4.0 assists per night (in a three-game sample size, per NBA.com); in Las Vegas Summer League (also a three-game sample size), Mitrou-Long has posted 6.7 assists per contest. Only three players have averaged more in Vegas.

He has also demonstrated he can score in a number of ways, and not just from long distance. In the six games, Mitrou-Long has put up 15.0 (in SLC) and 16.0 points per night (in Vegas), which led and currently leads the Cavaliers in both places (per NBA.com).

If these numbers are enough to earn him that two-way contract remains to be seen.

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The Cavs have a little bit of a log-jam at the guard position with Collin Sexton, Jordan Clarkson, Matthew Dellavedova, Brandon Knight and the newly-drafted Darius Garland and Kevin Porter Jr., but there should be an opening for a playmaking guard who can play in a reserve role as a distributor.

Cavs assistant coach Antonio Lang noted to Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor that Mitrou-Long’s solid play certainly hasn’t hurt his chances but that Lang doesn’t make the final decision. Lang especially noted that Mitrou-Long has demonstrated he’s more than an off-the-catch shooter, and that Mitrou-Long is now “great in pick and roll.”

The Cleveland Cavaliers find themselves with one open two-way slot after reportedly using one slot on Dean Wade (per an official team press release). Naz Mitrou-Long would make a lot of sense, despite the perceived depth at the combo guard position.

Clarkson could find himself in trade conversations and counting on Knight and Matthew Dellavedova (who could be in trade conversations as well as they are also expiring after next season, like Clarkson) to play legitimate minutes could be a tricky proposition, considering they are veterans that would be taking valuable run from younger guards.

Mitrou-Long is still an unknown commodity in the NBA, but he has demonstrated his work ethic. He also was a prolific shooter in his college days.

His solid 38.0% from beyond the arc in college (per Sports Reference) was slightly hampered by his freshman year, in which he did not get consistent playing time, but his two-year clip of 35.9% from deep on 8.2 attempts per game with the SLC Stars (per Basketball Reference’s G-League statistics) was reassuring, anyhow.

Mitrou-Long has definitely made his case for another two-way contract or potentially a minimum deal with his play in the Las Vegas and Salt Lake City Summer Leagues. Whether that is enough to make it remains to be seen, but he’s certainly not decreased his chances.