Last season, I thought Isaiah Hartenstein was a pleasant surprise for the Cleveland Cavaliers in his time with them. He was a trade deadline acquisition from the Denver Nuggets, to go with two future second-round picks (one of which was protected) in exchange for JaVale McGee.
Hartenstein up until that point had not had much opportunity to fill much of a role game-to-game to begin his career with the Houston Rockets, that is in NBA action, not G League action. He did receive some spot minutes to give last season’s MVP Nikola Jokic a breather after signing with Denver last offseason, but he would eventually be dealt for McGee, who was a veteran pickup.
With the Cavaliers from that point, before he would miss most of Cleveland’s closing batch of games in mostly May because of a concussion, Hartenstein was making his presence felt with newfound opportunity. In 17.9 minutes per outing in 16 appearances with the Cavs post-deadline, he had 8.3 points, 6.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.2 blocks per contest.
It did appear that Hartenstein could be re-signed, given that the Cavaliers and him/his representation did have mutual interest after he declined his player option for next season, as far as the offseason. The Cavs did eventually decline his qualifying offer, but the two sides reportedly did have interest in a potential return, even with Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley involved.
That said, as the offseason progressed, it seemed less and likely Hartenstein would be back, and more recently, the Cavaliers ended up signing big Tacko Fall via training camp deal at the end of last month. And per a report from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski over the weekend, the LA Clippers signed Hartenstein via camp deal.
Although Hartenstein did show some very encouraging things with the Cavs on both ends, and I believe he could have a legitimate shot at having a backup 5 role with the Clippers, Fall could still have a case to make the Cavs and stick around. That’s as a depth 5, and neither would end up having an every game-type role anyway.
Cavs: He doesn’t have the skill set of Hartenstein, but Fall could be competent as a depth 5.
To get it out there, I’m not saying that Fall will definitely make Cleveland, who at this point has 12 players on guaranteed deals, or with Denzel Valentine’s case, that’s set to be partially-guaranteed for next season.
I’d imagine that Lamar Stevens, even with him non-guaranteed from here, should have a strong case for making the roster, particularly as a situational big wing defender. Maybe fellow non-guaranteed guy Dean Wade could stick around too, as he was a bright spot off the bench last season, and has stretch big abilities.
With Fall though, who was signed via Exhibit 10 deal, he could be a viable depth 5 for some spurts to fill in for the likes of Allen and/or Mobley, or perhaps Lauri Markkanen a bit.
He’s not Hartenstein, but Fall can still help the Cavs off the bench
No, Fall is not a player that has the post-up viability, let alone the secondary playmaking feel of Hartenstein, but defensively, at 7-foot-5 with an enormous 8-foot-4 wingspan, he is going to alter and/or deflect his share of shots if opportunities present themselves for him.
I get that it wouldn’t be in a considerable amount of action, and he played sparingly with the Boston Celtics in his first two seasons as a two-way contributor. Last season, he appeared in 19 games and averaged 7.2 minutes, of which he had 2.5 points and 2.7 rebounds per game, to go with 1.1 blocks.
However, Fall having a block rate of 13.7 percent in those 19 appearances and 5.3 blocks per-36 minutes did stand out, and he would affect drivers and/or rolling threats with his length in spurts for Cleveland, if Fall were to land a roster spot. He’ll gobble up boards, too.
On the offensive end, he wouldn’t be much of a factor shooting-wise, and would not be a spacer in the traditional sense.
But Fall could provide an impactful rolling presence at times, and at least in theory, in a few spurts per game, could help as a lob threat here and there for the likes of Darius Garland or Ricky Rubio. His screening could aid shooters off-ball such as Markkanen, Kevin Love or Dylan Windler to some degree, too.
Fall’s touch inside of 10 feet has progressed over time as well, which is somewhat similar to that of Hartenstein, as an aside. And like Hartenstein, Fall can generate putbacks.
Cavs: Fall could be a potential upgrade over Kabengele
Anyway, while we’ll have to see how Fall does in preseason, I do believe that he could be a competent depth 5 for the Wine and Gold, and although I’m not going to grill him here, I personally believe Fall could be an upgrade over Mfiondu Kabengele in that realm.
It was only Las Vegas Summer League, and I recognize that Cleveland’s lack of true point guard play didn’t aid him/others, but Kabengele struggled then, and it’s tough to project a potential role for him next season with the Cavaliers.
Kabengele is set to be non-guaranteed from here, too, and while he has provided some rotational rim protection in spurts, it’s not nearly that of Fall, nor he is the roller.
Moreover, though he’s not nearly the talent of Hartenstein, who has previously a second-round pick by Houston, Fall could at least potentially fill in as a viable depth 5 for a few spurts per game for Cleveland. So perhaps that could lead to him, if he performs reasonably well in preseason, land a roster spot.
But it’s seemingly up in the air if that happens currently, as camp is not underway just yet. Maybe a possible two-way deal ends up being more likely, or the 25-year-old Fall ends up accepting playing with the Cavaliers’ G League affiliate, the Cleveland (formerly Canton) Charge.
There’s one of those two-ways in-play, as Brodric Thomas landed a two-way again by accepting his qualifying offer for another one, per a report from JD Shaw of Hoops Rumors on Wednesday.