3 players the Cavs could sign with the MLE this upcoming offseason

No. 3: Jock Landale

Some people might not recognize this name, but he is the primary backup center for the Phoenix Suns behind Deandre Ayton. He is a great backup, in my opinion, and probably deserves a bit under the MLE in free agency. Jock Landale is putting up 6.4 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 1.6 offensive rebounds per night. Even more impressively, he is shooting 82.3% from the line as a center, which is always a good sight to see. Sure, he is shooting 20.5% from deep on 1.3 attempts per game, but Landale doesn’t need to be a floor spacer if he were to sign with Cleveland.

I may just be a big fan of Landale, but I do really like his game. He gives a lot of energy on both sides, and he is only 27 years old. I also do value advanced stats, and Landale’s advanced numbers do really speak about how underrated he is. He has a 16.7 PER, which is great considering this is only his 2nd year in the league. He has as +/- of +69, which is nice. Also, his superior, Ayton, has a +/- of -62, which isn’t appealing to see, if I were a Suns fan.

His offensive rating is 113.2 and his defensive rating is 104.8, which are impressive splits. Now, he isn’t the greatest rebounder for a player who is 6’11,” as he only gets 9.9 rebounds per-36 minutes. He is a solid offensive rebounder, although, when it comes to defensive rebounding, he isn’t as good as coaches would probably like him to be.

Personally, I do think Landale will re-sign with Phoenix, but if I were Koby Altman, I wouldn’t try to shy away from offering him a deal. Like I also mentioned, Cleveland’s current backup center is Robin Lopez, who hasn’t looked very playable this season, so Landale would definitely be an upgrade over Lopez.

All in all, I do think this next free agency period should be spent trying to beef up the Cavs’ bench, and the Mid-Level Exception/part of that seemingly should really help the Cavs sign a solid player to be their 7th or 8th man in the rotation.