Kabengele could help provide some immediate big man depth for the Cavs
Secondly, if the Cavs were to sign Kabengele soon, he could help provide some immediate big man depth.
Jarrett Allen has missed Cleveland’s last three games due to that stated concussion and Kevin Love just came back from his calf injury complications after returning shortly post-All-Star break. His most recent absence was due to a recent scan “showing scar tissue breaking up,” for reference, per a report from Fedor.
From there, regarding 4’s/5’s, Larry Nance Jr. could reportedly miss each of Cleveland’s three upcoming games on their next road trip due to a “mystery” illness, per Fedor. Fedor did not say it was anything COVID-19-related, though.
Anyway, while the Cavaliers have again gotten solid play from Wade, and we’ll see if Love can keep being active in the near term, and Isaiah Hartenstein has shown positive signs, a potential Kabengele signing would be an understandable move for depth.
Now, Kabengele did have 4.2 fouls per-36 minutes in his G League season in 2019-20, and fouling was somewhat of an issue for him in college at FSU, but in spurts, he could help the Cavs in terms of providing rotational rim protection still. Between him and Hartenstein, that is, really.
Albeit Hartenstein has had major fouling problems, of course, but to aid Cleveland, particularly with Allen banged up, Kabengele could help the Cavs’ efforts for coming games if needed.
Moreover, if the Cavaliers were to take a flyer on the 23-year-old Kabengele, who could have some real stretch big/two-way capabilities if given the chances in the near future, that’d be a wise move.
Kabengele could provide some occasional post-up production for the Cavs in spurts, too, and at a solid 250 pounds, but also a player that moves and plays angles well, is a nice offensive rebounder. Those sort of things could give Cleveland energy, in turn, along with the rim protection/possible catch-and-shoot viability.
But we’ll have to see ultimately what plays out/if Stevens and/or two-way Brodric Thomas perhaps are signed to one and/or both of the two open roster spots, conversely. Although, I would expect the Cavs to probably leave one of the standard roster spots open for the rest of 2020-21.