No. 4: Khalifa Diop
Drafted with the 39th overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, Khalifa Diop spent this past year overseas playing for Gran Canaria. As a player, Diop is still extremely raw. However, he is only 21 years old, and will not be 22 until next year.
The Cavs already have their backup center in Damian Jones, but say Damian Jones got injured, who would be the backup center then? Georges Niang does not have the interior defense to be able to be the backup center, and everyone else on the roster cannot be the backup center, either.
That’s where Khalifa Diop can come in. He averaged 7.7 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 1.0 blocks per game in the Liga ACB, playing in 34 games. His team went 19-15 in those games, which is a decent record.
Granted, he played only 20.1 minutes per game in those games, but he still averaged 2.8 fouls per game. Per-36 minutes, that equates to 4.9 fouls, which is not pretty. If he wants to become a better player, his main focus as of now has to be on limiting his fouls and playing with verticality.
He isn’t a modern day big man, as he can’t shoot outside the paint very well, and he also isn’t that great at shooting free throws. He’s a career 56.6 percent free throw shooter, which also should be improved upon.
All in all, the Cavaliers still have more roster spots available if they do want to sign someone. Free agency isn’t over quite yet, so maybe there will be more signings soon.
With that in mind, maybe one of the players mentioned here could earn the 14th roster spot for the Cavs.