It wasn’t the most notable signing in the world when the Cleveland Cavaliers added guard/wing Denzel Valentine last week via two-year deal. That was via team-friendly deal, and for this upcoming season, Valentine’s contract is partially-guaranteed, with the second season to that being non-guaranteed.
Valentine was an unrestricted free agent, and whether it be injury woes, a lack of consistency, coaching/organizational change, or a combination, things didn’t pan out for him with the Chicago Buls the way both sides would’ve hoped. He is talented, but was underwhelming, as KJG’s Josh Cornelissen expressed.
Even taking that into account, Valentine has shown that he can be a quality rotational player if he’s in-rhythm and can regularly be available. He missed all of 2018-19 because of ankle surgery, and in the past two seasons, he was seemingly in then-head coach Jim Boylen’s doghouse in 2019-20 and last season, there were ups and downs.
Valentine hasn’t nearly been able to regain the form he had in 2017-18, which has been his best NBA season to date, when he had 10.2 points per outing and hit 38.6 percent from three-point range. The past two seasons, after his 2018-19 was wiped out, it’s been somewhat rocky, and in relation to his deep shooting, the clips have been only 33.6 and 33.1 percent for him.
That said, even with some streakiness inevitable, a change of scenery for the Michigan State product could maybe reinvigorate him in a rotational role where he’d likely play mostly at the 2/3.
And with that in mind, aside from potentially being a floor spacing presence in the traditional sense, mixed in with some movement shooting at times, he could aid Cleveland in one area, in particular. That’s if he can get a rhythm down/stay healthy.
Valentine could help the Cavs off the bench as a pick-and-roll player at times.
I’m not suggesting that with the likes of Darius Garland, Ricky Rubio and Collin Sexton involved, that Valentine would be getting a bunch of pick-and-roll work. I get that; that was just to lay that out there first.
He did show in bench opportunities with the Bulls that he can create for himself and get to quality looks off-the-bounce in those situations though, and for a lift here and there, I could see the same being the case with the Cavaliers.
In some possessions throughout games, Valentine could be a meaningful wing PnR scorer in stretches at the 2 or 3 for Cleveland, given that he can generate space with his handle to create shots. In addition to the pull-up game, Valentine is capable in PnR operation in converting on floaters, a la Garland.
I wouldn’t necessarily expect Valentine to be getting to three-point looks a bunch in PnR operation in bench spurts/stretches, but he can knock some of those down if his primary assignment doesn’t get over or bigs are laying back. Granted, in regards to triples, I’d expect those to come much more so off-ball for Valentine, if he gets his opportunities off the bench.
Moving past the scoring element in this sense, the former Bull can initiate ball reversals/corner looks for others as a counter at times in the PnR, too.
I wouldn’t expect him again to be a key playmaking presence in that way, with Garland and Rubio, especially in mind, however, Valentine could help Garland or Sexton get some more off-ball opportunities at times, which could give Cleveland/them a lift.
Plus, Valentine could hit some lobs here and there to the likes of Jarrett Allen, Evan Mobley or if he were to make the roster, potentially camp invite Tacko Fall, albeit not in a notable volume for Fall, clearly.
In any case, even with it not being at a volume of Garland or Sexton, and not nearly Rubio, given his still impressive primary playmaking abilities, Valentine could potentially be a solid PnR initiating option off the bench for Cleveland.
Now, the scoring is still the key here, circling back.
I recognize it was only 1.6 possessions per outing last season, but on a frequency of 20.9 percent, he did place in the 60th percentile in PnR scoring situations, per Synergy Sports. The season prior, though it was only in 36 appearances, he did place in the 77th percentile in that category on a frequency of 32.0 percent, again per Synergy.
But if Valentine can stay healthy (he reportedly is at this juncture), which is a big if admittedly, he can help the Cavs in the PnR area from a rotational standpoint, which I don’t discount.
We’ll have to see if the 6-foot-4 guard/wing, who will turn 28 in November, can find a role earlier on, of course. And ideally, it’d pay off for him to knock down triples at a more respectable clip than he has off-ball in the past two seasons, provided the chances were to arise.