Cavs: UDFA Chandler Vaudrin signs Exhibit 10 deal with CLE

The Cleveland Cavaliers ended up selecting USC big Evan Mobley #3 overall in the 2021 NBA Draft, and they could have a potential superstar in the near future with the versatile 7-footer in doing so.

Along with the Mobley selection, on Thursday evening, the Cavs reportedly traded Taurean Prince, a 2022 second-round pick via the Washington Wizards and cash considerations to the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for Ricky Rubio.

While we’d have to see if Rubio could potentially be around past next season, with him set to be expiring like Prince, Rubio should bring stability and legitimacy to the backup point guard spot for Cleveland next season.

Those two moves were thumbs up ones for Cleveland, although I would’ve liked to have seen the Wine and Gold add a second-round pick at some point, or maybe a late first via trade, but I’m not going to make a huge deal about it. Both Mobley and Rubio will be key impact players, and Mobley, as was expressed, could be a big-time guy for the Cavs that looks to be their long term franchise centerpiece, as KJG’s Zane Harris highlighted.

In terms of other news from Thursday, following the 2021 draft, and with the league set to have Summer League in action once again this season in Las Vegas, whereas last year it didn’t play out (COVID-19), the Cavs will be filling out their squad for that.

And per a report from Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor following the draft, Cleveland extended a Summer League invite to Winthrop guard Chandler Vaudrin. He signed an Exhibit 10 deal with the club, and will have a chance to show what he can do, and could maybe land a two-way contract. Jeremiah Martin reportedly accepted an invitation to play with the New York Knicks Summer League team, but he still currently is Cleveland’s other two-way player, along with Brodric Thomas.

Vaudrin’s playmaking is his calling card, and that was the rationale from the Cavs here.

With Vaudrin, he redshirted his first year at Winthrop in 2018-19 due to a transfer year then at the time, but in the past two seasons, his playmaking was often on display for the Eagles.

Vaudrin had 5.8 assists per outing in 2019-20 in his first year with them and had 6.9 assists per contest last season. He had 12.0 points and 7.3 rebounds per contest as well for Winthrop last season, in what was a senior season where he was the Big South Player of the Year, and he was a key reason why the Eagles made it to the NCAA tourney.

The vision for Vaudrin and craftiness with how he was able to hit cutters and make productive kickouts/ball reversals to shooters jumped out from his play with the Eagles, and that had to have been what the Cavs were seeing here. In Summer League play, I would think that Vaudrin should get some chances to handle lead guard-type duties, feasibly with Brodric Thomas getting some of that, too.

Granted, the 6-foot-7 Vaudrin, while he did hit 37.5 percent from three last season, only took 1.9 of those per game, and the shot for him is far from the cleanest stroke. He’s not realistically a pull-up threat, either.

His size against guards could enable him to get some baskets in the paint in Summer League though, and I’d expect him to get some pick-and-roll chances.

Regardless of whether or not Vaudrin does help his case for a potential two-way spot with the Cavaliers in Vegas, it is pretty cool that Vaudrin, a graduate of Lake High in nearby Uniontown, got this opportunity with the Cavs Summer League squad. He was a standout at Lake, and he spent his first two years of collegiate basketball playing for Division II Walsh University in Canton, as Josh Weir of CantonRep.com touched on.

So while I have my doubts about Vaudrin as a potential two-way guy for Cleveland, him getting an Exhibit 10 deal and at least being able to possibly develop further as a jumbo playmaker for the Cleveland (previously Canton) Charge in the G League this season is neat for him.

Those lead to a player getting a training camp invite, and they receive bonuses of up to $50,000 to sign with the Charge in this case in the event they’re waived. Per the newer CBA rules, Vaudrin would need to be with the Charge for at least 60 days to be eligible for that, for reference.

With his vision/passing instincts though, those might just lead to some highlights in Vegas; I wouldn’t expect him to really have a chance at playing minutes with the Cavs next season, however.

But the Cavaliers might have something of a long term play with the 24-year-old down the road via the Charge, even if that’s a true long shot.