Cavs: Playing Keep or Cut with players on back end of roster

Playing Keep or Cut with Cavs players: Damyean Dotson

The New York Knicks drafted former Houston guard Damyean Dotson with the 44th pick in the 2017 NBA Draft, and he spent three seasons in The Big Apple. His best season came in 2018-19, when increased opportunity provided him with 40 starts, and he averaged 10.7 points per game.

Then the Knicks drafted RJ Barrett and signed a collection of wings, pushing Dotson not only out of the starting lineup but ultimately off the roster. He signed as a free agent with the Cleveland Cavaliers last offseason, with his second season non-guaranteed.

Without delving into his off-court past, Dotson has proven to be a hard-working guard who competes on defense and is willing to shoot. The problem has been that he doesn’t make the shot enough; his field goal percentage has decreased each season he has been in the league, and he is a below-average shooter at 34.6 percent for his career, and just 28.9 percent last season.

If Dotson isn’t a knockdown shooter then he isn’t an NBA player, unfortunately. He doesn’t bring some high-level lockdown defense or passing ability. He is a fine player to toss into a game for a handful of minutes a night to complete a rotation, but those types of players are readily available on the free agent market, and many of them have a higher upside than Dotson.

Verdict: Cut