Cavs: What Sir’Dominic Pointer could provide during 10-day deal

The Cleveland Cavaliers reportedly signed wing Sir’Dominic Pointer to a 10-day contract on Wednesday; here’s what he could provide in spot minutes for the Wine and Gold.

The 10-day deals for guards J.P. Macura and Malik Newman expired on February 21 with the Cleveland Cavaliers, as Hoops Rumors’ Luke Adams noted. Considering that, Cleveland needed to make a move soon, as neither of those players were signed to a second 10-day deal, either.

As Adams highlighted on Tuesday, NBA teams are only able to have less than 14 players on their roster for up to two weeks, so essentially, the Cavs needed to “add at least one player by this weekend.”

Cleveland reportedly obliged, as the Cavaliers made a 10-day signing on Wednesday.

It was first reported by Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor that Cleveland signed wing Sir’Dominic Pointer to a 10-day deal.

Pointer, who was originally a second-round draft pick back in 2015 by the Cavaliers out of St. John’s, is amid his third season playing for Cleveland’s G-League affiliate, the Canton Charge.

As Adams also touched on Wednesday, though, Pointer “has spent the last several seasons playing in the G League and in international leagues in Israel, Lebanon, and Hungary.”

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Furthermore, Adams then mentioned how Pointer’s draft rights were still held by the Cavs “up until last fall, when he signed his required tender and was immediately waived” by Cleveland.

Anyhow, I’d imagine even with the Cleveland Cavaliers no longer having his NBA draft rights, Pointer being familiar with the Charge/the Cavs organization was the key reason he’s been with Canton still this year.

This season, he’s posted 12.0 points per game on 57.9 percent true shooting, to go with 5.4 rebounds, 1.9 blocks and 1.8 steals per outing for Canton, according to Basketball Reference’s G-League statistics.

While he’s only listed at 6-foot-6 and 192 pounds, Pointer is a gritty player that could provide the Cavs with some decent minutes defensively in the team sense and on-ball on the wing in some matchups, and he is an improved catch-and-shoot three-point shooter, though that’s not necessarily his calling card.

In spot minutes playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers, I wouldn’t expect deep balls flying really from Pointer, but he does cut well.

Pointer, again, however, has very good defensive instincts off the ball and will get his share of blocks as a primary defender, too, and he could help give head coach J.B. Bickerstaff and the Cavaliers some occasional minutes here and there as a heady 27-year-old, though his 4.6 fouls per-36 minutes this season have been less than ideal. At any rate, I’m okay with aggressive fouls.

Albeit on the plus side again, similarly to Alfonzo McKinnie (who is dealing with reported plantar fasciitis in his left foot), Pointer is a quality rebounder. Also, with Andre Drummond (out Wednesday versus the Boston Celtics) dealing with a reported calf strain and Tristan Thompson still dealing with a reported left knee injury (and questionable versus Boston), Pointer helping on the boards in potentially some spot minutes would be an added lift.

In addition, perhaps Pointer could provide the likes of Cedi Osman and/or Kevin Porter Jr. some relief, or play alongside Darius Garland (who is out Wednesday due to a left calf strain), or Collin Sexton in spot minutes as a defender with quality feel. Pointer is also a good finisher at the rim, as Cavs two-way guard Matt Mooney would attest to, and Pointer can definitely can throw it down with authority in transition and/or off of cuts/putbacks, too.

Moreover, this has to be rewarding for Pointer, who actually just played in the Charge’s 108-106 double overtime win earlier today over the Wisconsin Herd, the Milwaukee Bucks’ G-League affiliate.

Plus, as Forbes‘ Evan Dammarell essentially pointed out, this 10-day deal for Pointer is an encouraging sign in regards to the organization’s player development staff.

Along with that, as the aforementioned Fedor hit on, this is the “sixth” player to be called up from the Charge to the Cavaliers during this 2019-20 season. Clearly, Cleveland general manager Koby Altman and the front office are giving the Canton players call-ups, but there’s not been much in terms of meaningful looks thus far.

Anyhow, enjoy this, Sir’Dominic! You’ve earned it.