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2020 NBA Draft prospect Devin Vassell would project as quality wing contributor early for Cavs

By Dan Gilinsky

Florida State Seminoles guard Devin Vassell (#24) looks to make a play. (Photo by Don Juan Moore/Getty Images)
Florida State Seminoles guard Devin Vassell (#24) looks to make a play. (Photo by Don Juan Moore/Getty Images) /
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Devin Vassell, Cleveland Cavaliers
Florida State Seminoles guard Devin Vassell (#24) shoots the ball. (Photo by Ryan M. Kelly/Getty Images) /

Vassell would bring pull-up shooting prowess to the Cleveland Cavaliers

In his sophomore campaign at Florida State, Vassell clearly had a key on-ball role, and though the Seminoles were predicated on balance, Vassell displayed his pull-up shooting ability.

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For the Cleveland Cavaliers, that should be taken plenty into consideration, as well, as Cedi Osman, the squad’s current starting 3 it appears, is fairly limited in that regard. Osman did nice a job last season on three-point attempts mostly in the spot-up realm, and hit 38.3 percent of his deep attempts overall, which was a healthy clip.

Osman’s on-ball creation and pull-up ability, in particular, is pretty limited as far as starting wings go, and Vassell could bring more of that element early on. Vassell is not going to blow you away with athleticism, as that’s a weakness of his, as Forbes‘ Evan Dammarell hit on.

But as Dammarell also noted, Vassell has an “overhead release” and “can get his own shot and is efficient with his touches.”

The 6-foot-7 Vassell would likely be playing mostly at the 3 for the Cavs, and would bring another highly capable pull-up shooter to the Cavs’ rotation, in a key bench role perhaps early and maybe fairly early on, could be a starting fit at the 3.

Having another polished pull-up shooter, in the mid-range area, in particular, as Dammarell seemingly alluded to, would be meaningful for the Cavs, and could add more in that realm such as with Collin Sexton. In terms of pull-up production in 2019-20, as FanSided’s Ben Pfeifer mentioned, Vassell hit a promising “49 long 2s” also thanks again in large part due to his “high release point,” to further add to Dammarell’s point.

So again to me, Vassell’s pull-up shooting polish and ability to hit looks off-the-bounce against set defenses is particularly relevant for the Cavaliers, who could use players with solid size as being more pull-up capable.

While his free throw hit rate of 73.8 percent wasn’t fantastic and Vassell’s 106 three-point attempts were “average,” both of which Pfeifer addressed, Vassell did still hit 41.7 percent of his three-point attempts in two seasons. That should bode well in terms of him as a floor spacer for Sexton, Darius Garland, Kevin Porter Jr. and others.

Plus, his pull-up prowess shown in his second season could potentially indicate Vassell could develop more in the pull-up three-point aspect, especially. In today’s league, players with that capability, at least when having some ability to have notable volume, you can’t have enough of, either. Vassell could bring added versatility to the Cleveland Cavaliers offense as a result, but also would mesh as an off-ball shooting piece.

Vassell and Dylan Windler, who could be a big-time shooter for the Cavs if he can be mostly healthy next season, as KJG’s Matthew Fagan detailed, could bring plenty of pop in stretches in minutes together at the 3 and 2 spots, too. Windler could seemingly be a starting 3 replacement at some point perhaps next season for Osman, too, for context, but the three could be a nice trio of 3 options, anyhow.

Next up, we’ll highlight the second way Vassell would project as a quality contributor for Cleveland early on if they selected him in the 2020 NBA Draft.