Cavs: 2 goals for B/R’s suggested FA target Wes Iwundu

Cavs goal #1 for Iwundu: Establish himself as the team’s best defensive wing

Iwundu could have a key impact for the Cavaliers, firstly, in his work in primary defense against 2’s and 3’s.

Iwundu sits and slides well to deter driving threats from the perimeter, and in pick-and-roll coverage, he does a heck of a job of getting skinny to maintain matchup integrity and shut off driving gaps. Iwundu placing in the 89th percentile in primary PnR ball handling coverage in 2019-20, per Synergy Sports, shows that capability.

Plus, his lateral quickness enables the 6-foot-6 Iwundu to bother pull-up threats, and his 7-foot-1 wingspan also really aids him when it comes to closeouts to catch-and-shoot threats, too. He takes the right angles to navigate through off-ball screens to be in the right spots to deter those looks as well, which is something Cedi Osman, for one, currently needs to improve on.

That length and his quickness factors into Iwundu being able to recover if needed at times as well to alter shots on the interior on a number of occasions as well, which could help Cleveland’s defense.

So looking at next season, aside from Alfonzo McKinnie, who likely won’t be playing a ton of minutes game-to-game, and is on a non-guaranteed deal next season onward, Cleveland is in large part, limited when it comes to quality on-ball wing defenders. The jury’s out on Dylan Windler in that realm, though off-ball, I believe he could make his presence felt.

In any case, a noteworthy selling point for Iwundu as a suggested free agent target for the Cleveland Cavaliers is his perimeter defender against 2’s and 3’s. And he could very well establish himself as the Cavs’ best defensive wing if they were to land him/Orlando didn’t match, which would play into him playing a considerable amount of minutes in games I believe.

The second goal would be involving Iwundu’s shooting.