Cavs’ expectations shouldn’t be high, but Moses Brown could stick

Moses Brown, Dallas Mavericks. Photo by Chris Gardner/Getty Images
Moses Brown, Dallas Mavericks. Photo by Chris Gardner/Getty Images

It hurt for the Cleveland Cavaliers when it was revealed early this week that Jarrett Allen fractured his left middle finger, and was going to be sidelined indefinitely. Allen is dealing with a quad contusion as well, with both injuries reportedly occurring in Cleveland’s win over the Toronto Raptors this past Sunday.

It did seem that the Cavaliers could very well look to add a depth 5 that could be viable, to some degree, in stretches with Allen sidelined, and in that realm, Cody Zeller appeared to be a potential target. The same went for Moses Brown, too, to that point, just as our own Josh Cornelissen previously suggested, as one possible target.

Along those lines, it wasn’t shocking that Cleveland, in turn, reportedly signed the aforementioned Brown to a 10-day contract mid-week, as our own Justin Brownlow hit on. Brown last played for the Dallas Mavericks this season, playing pretty minimally, and was mostly ineffective prior to him being waived in February. He did show some positive things, though, with more opportunities last season with the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Obviously, Brown having been available after he was waived in early February by Dallas played into this, and it’s apparent that the 22-year-old has a ways to go in his development. That’s on the offensive end, in particular, as he’s not going to offer much there.

That said, while expectations are not exactly lofty, per se, for Brown when he is with the Cavaliers, as is the case with most 10-day signings, it does seem that he could be a guy that sticks. I could very well foresee Brown receiving a second 10-day after this concludes, and from there, it wouldn’t be necessarily surprising if he was given a rest-of-season deal.

That’s with it being reportedly uncertain if Allen will return this regular season, and in Brown’s case, it’s because he should provide an active presence on the interior on both ends, in spurts, feasibly.

Expectations for the Cavs shouldn’t be high, if you will, but Brown could definitely stick.

We did not see Brown in Cleveland’s loss at the Miami Heat on Friday, other than garbage time minutes in the last few in that one, and I can’t say I expected much on that front, if any.

For Brown, I would think that with Allen sidelined, it might behoove the Cavaliers to give him some play at the 5 for a shot altering/rotational rim protecting presence, though.

I’m not suggesting that he’ll have a significant minutes-share, but to help Evan Mobley out a bit, or have Mobley at the 4 with him at the 5 in spurts would be sensible. Ed Davis will still play some spot minutes, sure; however, at this point, the 22-year-old Brown can provide some energy for Cleveland in rotational 5 minutes, and at least with his size, is more of a legit shot alterer than Davis.

Now, I’m absolutely not putting Brown in the class of Mobley or Allen in that regard, for clarification.

But last season, he did demonstrate some of that ability with the Thunder, with 1.8 blocks per-36 minutes on a very young team, and could help Cleveland not concede quite as many easy interior looks as they have in recent games. Aside from Mobley, the Cavaliers don’t have much in the rim protection department right now, and it’s opened up too many open opposing three-point looks as a result playing off that, as a counter.

Granted, with Brown, he is raw, and he’s had 4.1 fouls per-36 minutes in 79 career games, a bit with the Portland Trail Blazers as a rookie on a two-way deal, and the last two seasons, when he was playing some with the Thunder and Mavs, albeit sparingly for Dallas. The Mavs originally acquired him via trade from the Boston Celtics during last offseason, for reference.

On the plus side, Brown averaged 8.6 points, 8.9 rebounds and 1.1 blocks in 21.4 minutes per game in 43 appearances with OKC, in which he started 32 of those games. In addition, while he is limited offensively at this point, he could still help from a screening perspective, way more so than Mobley, and he’d be a capable lob threat.

And last but not least, even with his limitations, Brown has been a great rebounder, particularly defensively, in his play, as Cornelissen demonstrated in a recent piece. For his career, Brown has had 14.7 boards per-36 minutes, which, even with the small sample size, is nothing to sneeze at, and the Cavaliers without Allen undoubtedly need help in that area.

Moreover, although the expectations shouldn’t be high, necessarily, Brown could definitely be a player that sticks around with Cleveland, I’d think, and could eventually be signed via rest-of-season deal.