Cavs highlight Kevin Pangos’ deep shooting, playmaking in EuroLeague

I’m not going to suggest that the Cleveland Cavaliers‘ recent signing of Kevin Pangos should have fans of the Wine and Gold jumping for joy. Pangos has been playing in Europe since his collegiate career at Gonzaga ended in 2015.

When it comes to the lead guard/primary playmaking outlook, Darius Garland is Cleveland’s present and future of that position, and I’d expect him to take another leap in his third season. He had 17.4 points and 6.1 assists per outing last season, and knocked in 39.5 percent of his three-point attempts.

Along with Garland, I would still think that offseason trade acquisition Ricky Rubio should be a crucial playmaking presence, and he should bring stability to Cleveland’s backup 1 position. Rubio is not close to the scorer/shooter of Garland, but he has had 9.1 assists-per-36 minutes for his career, has outstanding vision, can push pace and he’s still an impact defender.

From there though, while I’m again not saying that he’ll be having a significant role, I do understand the Cavaliers’ signing of Pangos, who should provide playmaking depth if needed. It was via two-year, team-friendly deal and only the first year is fully-guaranteed, in which he’ll make $1.7 million.

And to that depth point, even with the outlook being uncertain at this point for how much he might be in there, Pangos could be an effective shooter in spurts for Cleveland.

A recent Cavs tweet in response to a EuroLeague tweet from April when he had a big game on Pangos’ marksmanship did show that sort of thing, to go with the playmaking to an extent as well. That should have Cavaliers fans a bit more familiar with the team’s rationale for his depth signing, also.

https://twitter.com/cavs/status/1438940949992837126?s=20

This Cavs tweet highlighted how Pangos knocked in plenty of deep balls and had his share of dimes in EuroLeague play.

Pangos is not a player that’s likely going to be a regular role in Cleveland’s rotation, as we noted, but he could be an upgrade at this point, at least for a depth signing, over say, Matthew Dellavedova. Dellavedova had injury struggles in recent seasons, and while his passing acumen/vision is undeniable, Pangos is a legitimate shooter, and is a good passer in his own right.

He’s been a quality job in that realm in his last two stints with FC Barcelona of Spain a few seasons ago, for instance, and last season, as the above Cavaliers tweet stated, he was third in the EuroLeague last season in assists per outing. That was with 6.7 for his most recent club there, in Zenit St. Petersburg of Russia.

For them, he truly excelled, and last season, he was named First-Team EuroLeague with 13.5 points and those aforementioned nearly 7 assists per outing. And again as touched on by the Cavs, he led the EuroLeague last season in threes made with 89.

Although I wouldn’t expect much PT for him, one would think that Pangos could potentially provide some triples here and there as a floor spacer, and possibly on-ball in pick-and-roll, albeit on low volume.

Across his leagues in Europe, he has knocked in his share of triples, in any case, and has hit 41.7 percent from deep there, so in some spurts at times for Cleveland, that could aid the team.

Regardless, the 28-year-old Pangos has been a more than capable playmaker in Europe since his graduation from Gonzaga, has established himself as one of the better lead guards in EuroLeague in recent seasons, and seems like a decent depth pickup.

His play in preseason for the Wine and Gold, which kicks off on Oct. 5 at the Chicago Bulls, could be something, in particular, to watch as well.