Heading into the 2021-22 season, the Cleveland Cavaliers had both of their two-way spots to fill, realistically, as the team had one left before they waived Brodric Thomas earlier this week.
With that in mind, it was a matter of time before the Cavs were set to fill one and/or both of those spots with other develomental guys, and they ended up doing just that on Saturday.
Per a report from Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium, Tacko Fall, who was a training camp signing initially, was signed/converted to one of the team’s two-way spots. And as far as the other two-way, that’s going to fellow camp invite RJ Nembhard, per a report from Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com.
The Cleveland Cavaliers are signing 7-foot-6 center Tacko Fall to a two-way contract, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium. Fall earned deal out of Cavaliers training camp.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) October 16, 2021
#Cavs are signing RJ Nembhard to their second two-way contract, sources tell @clevelanddotcom
— Chris Fedor (@ChrisFedor) October 16, 2021
This was in-line with a report from JD Shaw of Hoops Rumors that stated that Nembhard was expected to fill one of those, for further context.
The Cleveland Cavaliers are expected to convert guard RJ Nembhard to a two-way contract, @HoopsRumors has learned.
— JD Shaw (@JShawNBA) October 16, 2021
As an aside, Cleveland will reportedly be waiving camp invites Justin James, Kyle Guy and Mitch Ballock, per Fedor, but the inclination/hope is for those three to play for the Cavaliers’ G League affiliate, the Cleveland Charge.
So with two-way deals going to Tacko Fall and RJ Nembhard, #Cavs are waiving Justin James, Kyle Guy and Mitch Ballock, sources say. But the plan — and hope — according to sources, is for all three to play for the Cleveland Charge.
— Chris Fedor (@ChrisFedor) October 16, 2021
Fall and Nembhard were reportedly noteworthy performers in camp, so the Cavs clearly see both as worthy of two-way deals.
The Cavs signing Fall via two-way is about him being a developmental 5 that I’d assume if needed, can be a capable interior presence defensively for a few spurts in time playing for Cleveland.
In his first two seasons, he played sparingly with the Boston Celtics on a two-way deal, but last season, did prove to be an impactful interior defender and his otherworldly 8-foot-4 wingspan makes a difference in spurts defensively. Now, Cleveland has a ton of bigs at this point on its roster, including free agent addition Ed Davis, albeit in mostly a mentorship role and his deal is non-guaranteed.
That said, Fall did have 5.3 blocks per-36 minutes in 19 appearances with the Celtics last season, so perhaps he could be a candidate for Cleveland to convert to a standard deal at some point this season. He could be a viable rolling threat/putback player and screener at 7-foot-6 in spurts if needed here and there, when it comes to the other end, meanwhile.
Clearly though, Fall (25) will likely get far more meaningful time with the Charge this season, with the Cavaliers having Jarrett Allen, Evan Mobley and Davis, among other bigs.
From there, Cleveland signing Nembhard via two-way was from a developmental guard/wing standpoint, and with Nembhard showing some on-ball abilities in his past couple of seasons with TCU.
He did show some encouraging playmaking signs last year, too, for what it’s worth, and while it’s difficult to say for now, maybe he could be more viable than Thomas offensively with more growth in time with the Charge.
The 22-year-old had 15.7 points per contest with TCU as a senior last season, in that realm. And though I wouldn’t expect him to be getting much playing time with Cleveland, them taking a two-way flyer on a wing that could be a potential depth player regarding the 2/3 is understandable in this sense.
We’ll have to see if either ends up being a viable rotational contributor at some point down the road and/or if injuries call for some minutes for either with the Cavs on occasion, anyway. But as noted, they’ll mostly be getting minutes with the Charge, which could help the growth of both, however, and more so Nembhard.