Moses Brown being brought back by Cavs would be sensible in FA

When the Cleveland Cavaliers initially signed Moses Brown to a 10-day deal, and then a second 10-day late in this past season, it was for a short-term add for depth. Jarrett Allen at the time was sidelined with a fractured finger, and the signing of Brown then was a sound call.

It was pretty late in the season, so the Brown signing wasn’t going to be a particularly notable one. He has bounced around in his career, too, to that point.

In his first two NBA seasons, Brown was on two-way deals as a rookie with the Portland Trail Blazers and then Oklahoma City Thunder, who then traded him last offseason to the Boston Celtics. Boston would then trade Brown roughly a month-and-a-half later to the Dallas Mavericks, who he played sparingly for until February, when he was waived.

Now, Brown did benefit from meaningful minutes with the Thunder in the 2020-21 season, though, and while he had his share of play in the G League prior to Cleveland, then with OKC, he had 8.6 points, 8.9 rebounds and 1.1 blocks in 21.4 minutes per outing. Oklahoma City would then sign him to a four-year deal, albeit with it team-friendly and non-guaranteed for the years following the rest of his season then.

In short, as we noted, he was eventually waived by Dallas in February, and he was eventually signed to two 10-days by Cleveland and the Cavs would give him a two-way deal following that. From there, he was signed via rest-of-season deal, and this offseason, will be a free agent, in which they’ll have his restricted, non-Bird rights.

Him potentially being brought back at roughly on a $2.1 million, minimum deal, which would be qualifying offer in that case would seem reasonable, though. For insurance and some spot minutes, I’d be fine with the Cavaliers doing that this offseason.

Brown being brought back by the Cavs would be sensible in free agency.

In 14 games with Cleveland in the regular season’s closing stretch, Brown had 6.4 points and 5.3 rebounds in 12.6 minutes per outing.

The Cavaliers potentially bringing him back wouldn’t be a splashy move, but on the cheap, him being a guy that could be playable insurance as a depth 5 in spurts would be a sensible signing.

Plus, in some spot starts in the regular season, he could fill in some. He did have 12.4 points and 11.8 rebounds per outing in five starts near the end of the regular season with the Cavs. In fairness, though injuries didn’t help, Cleveland was 1-4 in those games, and Brown is not a guy that you want regularly playing over 20 minutes.

I understand that Brown has a ways to go, and on the offensive end, he’s not going to be able to create his own offense much if at all currently. The looks come from pick-and-roll lobs, pocket passes or from cuts, generally.

However, I would get the Cavaliers keeping him on the team, as he is a 7-foot-2 guy that can have some value in spurts as an energy player, and he has shown flashes with Cleveland and OKC as a player to give more time. He can also provide some rim protection in rotational minutes, and while he’s not a switchable big and limiting fouling is an area he’ll need to work at, he does well as a rim runner and he’s a great rebounder when he’s in.

So, needless to say, although Brown needs further development, and I’m not disputing that, for a player that can be a de facto third 5, with Evan Mobley/Kevin Love essentially playing some backup 5 anyhow it seems, Brown being back would be a sensible move. He wouldn’t cost much, as we noted, and at least maybe down the road with others and the team helping him grow in other areas, he could improve and we’ll see from there.

Brown will still only be entering his age-23 season next year, too, for what it’s worth. But time will tell if he’s around with Cleveland in 2022-23.