2 things Cavs fans should want to see from Thon Maker in preseason
By Dan Gilinsky
Thon Maker should have a great shot to make the Cleveland Cavaliers roster heading into 2020-21.
I would think Thon Maker, who was recently signed to a training camp deal by the Cleveland Cavaliers, should end up making Cleveland’s roster heading into this next upcoming season.
Cleveland could potentially end up waiving Maker at some point before 2020-21 tips off, but he could feasibly be more of a realistic option for meaningful minutes than Dean Wade, for instance. Wade’s deal is non-guaranteed, and he did not play much last season with the Cavs, albeit he did plenty in the duration of his prior two-way deal with Cleveland’s G League affiliate, the Canton Charge.
So, perhaps, Wade could be waived before next season instead of Maker, essentially, if the Cavaliers were to want to have roster flexibility by not having a full max of 15 roster players. Albeit maybe Cleveland does go with 15 heading into 2020-21.
Anyway, Maker would seem to have a good chance of making the Wine and Gold, as a depth piece as a third 5, or a possible 4 option at times alongside either Andre Drummond or JaVale McGee, who was recently acquired via trade with the Los Angeles Lakers.
As a quick side note, per a report from Sam Amico of Forty Eight Minutes (formerly Amico Hoops) and OutKick, several opposing executives believe the due-to-be-expiring Drummond will be traded by Cleveland and could perhaps be moved before the tip off of 2020-21.
Although it didn’t seem to be a lock, for that to be the case, really, based on what Amico then stated from those exec’s, and I’d more so expect Drummond to stick around for a good chunk of next season. But for more clarity, you can view more regarding that here.
At any rate, with the Cavs preseason set to begin on Saturday versus the Indiana Pacers, who they’ll play twice at home, and then finish out with two games at the New York Knicks on Dec. 16 and 18, what should we want to see from Thon? That’s in general in preseason.
We’ll highlight two things Cavs fans should want to see from Maker in preseason here.
The first area of focus for Maker in preseason action for Cleveland has to do with the defensive end.