Cavs: Kevin Pangos signing is for playmaking depth

The Cleveland Cavaliers hadn’t had the most noteworthy offseason in relation to free agency for a while there, which wasn’t necessarily shocking. As of late though, they have been fairly busy.

Cleveland acquired Lauri Markkanen via sign-and-trade from the Chicago Bulls nearly two weeks back, and even with them not being splashy signings, the Cavaliers have made two training camp signings.

Those included big Tacko Fall, then forward Tre Scott, per a report from Keith Smith of Spotrac, among other places, and the Cavs are reportedly expected to sign wing shooter Mitch Ballock via camp deal. That’s per JD Shaw of Hoops Rumors, who also reported how Cleveland signed RJ Nembhard on Wednesday.

In Scott’s case, he was on Cleveland’s Las Vegas Summer League squad, whereas Ballock was on the Philadelphia 76ers’ Vegas Summer League team, and he could possibly have a case for landing a two-way deal.

That’s with how Ballock, from an off-ball standpoint, could be a sensible developmental contributor, as he hit 39.8 percent from three-point land in a four-year collegiate career at Creighton. From there, Nembhard, a guard who was on the Miami Heat’s Summer League team, will also have a shot to compete for a two-way deal/roster spot, in theory.

Moving past the camp signings/Markkanen, it was rumored that the Cavs could still be on the market for a potential third lead guard, even with Darius Garland and offseason trade acquisition Ricky Rubio in the fold.

And in that realm, that was substianted, as Cleveland reportedly signed Kevin Pangos, who has impressed playing in the Euroleague, via two-year, $3.5 million deal. The first season, in which he’ll make roughly $1.7 million, is fully guaranteed; those reports were came via Bobby Marks of ESPN.

This Pangos signing by the Cavs is predicated on primary playmaking depth.

The 28-year-old Pangos, who played collegiately at Gonzaga, last played for Russian club Zenit St. Petersburg, where he had 13.5 points and 6.6 assists per contest in Euroleague play in 2020-21. As Chris Manning of Fear The Sword pointed out, Pangos was first-team All-Euroleague last season, too.

Previously, he was with FC Barcelona Lassa of Spain prior to that, Lithuanian club Zalgiris Kaunas, and to begin his European career (where he’s played since the Gonzaga days), Pangos was first with Spanish club Herbalife Gran Canaria.

As far as with the Cavaliers, one wouldn’t assume for Pangos to get consistent playing time, with Garland and Rubio handling the bulk of the primary playmaking duties to come. Garland, who had 17.4 points and 6.1 assists per game last season, appears to be Cleveland’s long-term answer at the starting 1, and in Rubio’s case, I do still believe he’ll be a key bench player/impact contributor for stretches.

Now, Rubio is set to be expiring and could possibly be a trade piece for the Cavs next season. I could foresee Rubio sticking around though, if the Cavaliers are making tangible progress and/or he ends up liking how things are shaping up/as a mentor to Garland/Collin Sexton.

That’s if Rubio/Cleveland were to agree on a reasonable deal next offseason, though, and perhaps he’d eventually sign with a different club. We’ll see there.

In any case, this Pangos signing was clearly about primary playmaking/lead guard depth, and the 6-foot-1 Pangos could be viable in that regard. As Manning noted, if Rubio were not back, maybe Pangos could be a competent backup 1 after next season as well, for what it’s worth.

The Gonzaga product is a heady playmaker that has, at least in Euro play, shown nice timing/feel for hitting lobs/cutters, and he could potentially create for himself in spurts off-the-bounce. And while you do read into it with a grain of salt, he has knocked in 41.7 percent from three in his European career and/or with the 2019 FIBA World Cup included.

But it’s uncertain as to how much we could see Pangos in action for Cleveland next season, for now.