Cavs waive Tacko Fall, sign Brandon Goodwin to two-way deal

Throughout this season, we’ve seen Tacko Fall get some spot minutes with the Cleveland Cavaliers, and he’s had five starts in the G League with the Cavaliers’ G League affiliate, the Cleveland (formerly Canton) Charge. With the Charge this season, Fall has had 18.6 points, 12.0 rebounds and 3.4 blocks per game, and his 7-foot-6 presence has been very formidable in those instances.

One didn’t expect much from Fall in play with the Cavaliers, though, and for most two-way 5’s, and with him not being a shooting threat outside of 5-6 feet, and with the lack of mobility, him getting waived at some point wouldn’t have been shocking. On the year, he’s been decent on the interior defensively, thanks largely to his enormous frame and wingspan, but fouling and limitations offensively didn’t make him viable in meaningful minutes with the Cavs.

Also, with the Cavaliers having such strong play from Jarrett Allen, and others being able to fill in some in spurts for Cleveland, such as Ed Davis, it seemed feasible that Fall, despite being a fan favorite, could be waived. It was understandable for Cleveland to potentially find a way to keep Brandon Goodwin, who was recently a 10-day hardship signing, around, as a rotational playmaker.

And along those lines for both, it was recently reported by Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium that Cleveland waived Fall and signed Goodwin to a two-way deal.

This is a solid move by the Cavs, involving Goodwin.

Goodwin sticking around with Collin Sexton and Ricky Rubio out for the season and for some playmaking insurance behind Rajon Rondo seems to be sensible.

Goodwin, who has had some experience in recent seasons in meaningful games via two-way deal with the Atlanta Hawks, has given Cleveland some solid play in his minutes with the Cavs in a few games this week, leading to him having 7.3 points and 4.7 assists in three appearances.

In Cleveland’s win over the Indiana Pacers last Sunday, albeit a still shorthanded Pacers, Goodwin did have 7 points and 5 assists. And against his former Hawks, a club he was on a two-way deal with prior to signing a non-guaranteed deal during 2020 before eventually being waived, he had 13 points, 6 assists and 4 rebounds in his first outing, and can give Cleveland some of a playmaking lift with some driving capabilities in rotational burn.

His late turnover in Cleveland’s close loss to the Memphis Grizzlies was a rough moment, but generally, this is a decent move to keep him around perhaps for the rest of the season, and with Rondo turning 36 next month, it’s solid to have some insurance there behind Darius Garland.

Also in that regard, it’s apparent that Goodwin is probably more viable in some spurts than Kevin Pangos, who has largely struggled in meaningful action when needed this season for Cleveland. I think Cleveland recognizes that as well, clearly.

In any case, for the 26-year-old Goodwin, some time with the Charge this season can help get him some more meaningful action. And with Goodwin previously a bit with the Memphis Grizzlies during preseason in 2018, when J.B. Bickerstaff was their head coach, that reportedly has helped Goodwin be on the same stage within the Cavs’ system.