Training camp is the dreaded experience that works (most) players back into shape, but it’s also an opportunity for the overlooked to make a team or for journeymen, possibly on the way out, to redeem themselves with a spot back in the league. This time before the season starts, too, is the moment hopes and dreams are in peak demand due to hyperbolic comments made at Media Day.
The Cleveland Cavaliers training camp has reportedly gone splendidly, aside from center Jarrett Allen hurting his left ankle. Still, an observation of note is that coach J.B. Bickerstaff defended his players’ reputations when probed on their absence of physicality in the spirit-crushing first-round loss to the New York Knicks.
“Our guys are physically and mentally tough,” said Bickerstaff. “Sometimes you run into people who are stronger than you. That’s the nature of this business…”
As practices have begun, word has spread that Ty Jerome, one of the traveling guards signed by the Cavs this summer, is turning heads. Bickerstaff says he makes the game easier for everyone else. He is the new recipient of a two-year, $5 million deal. Cleveland has two years to figure out how to work him into the rotation, and if this isn’t pre-preseason smoke, he’ll provide major assistance because the group is without the experience and leadership of Rick Rubio.
Others’ spots are not so secure. This year, in camp, former Cav Tristan Thompson, Sam Merrill, Sharife Cooper, Zaire Smith, Justin Powell, and Pete Nance, son of Cleveland legend Larry Nance, are competing for the last lockers.
We’ll begin with Thompson, Smith and Nance.
The reserve frontcourt is too thin, and because of his experience, Thompson will likely make the team, and if not, it’s only $200K down the drain for ownership. Recently, he assisted the Los Angeles Lakers in spot minutes during the 2023 Playoffs and was praised by Cavs president Koby Altman at Media Day for his toughness and motivational prowess.
Thompson’s calling card is defense and rebounding – skills that will always find a place in the NBA. He should match up well, defending slower-footed guards and young big men at close range. Offensively, he can still set powerful screens, getting others and himself open. As a vet who has won a championship, his voice will carry extra weight in the locker room as well.
Since getting drafted in 2018, Smith has logged 13 career games. Recovering from a broken foot and an allergic reaction kept him out most of his rookie year (2018-19), but between the Delaware Blue Coats (G-League affiliate) and the 76ers, he appeared in 17 games. The next season, he spent 28 of his 35 matches with Delaware. Smith is now on an Exhibit 10 deal with the Cavaliers.
At the NBA level, in his microscopic sample size, Smith is an inefficient scorer inside the arc, recording 44% of his baskets as a rookie. Unless he has shown up at camp as a completely transformed player, it’s not likely that a project to get back into the league gets a lot of time at guard. Not counting the starters, Caris LeVert and Isaac Okoro are more dependable options at shooting guard.
His name likely bought him a ticket to camp to show off his stuff, but the Cavaliers got an early glimpse of him at the 2022 Draft process before he elected to go back to school. He isn’t a skywalker like his brother or father, but he created separation at Northwestern and North Carolina with decent footwork and hard screens. Using this skill set at the post or elbow could unlock another dimension to his game as a dribble hand-off hub.
Nance is a throwback player who wants to post up opponents, getting them in foul trouble and taxing their bodies, banging down low. Further developing this in the G-league may not be a bad idea, considering, that drawing extra help in the post is the best way to create spacing.
Additionally, he was disruptive as a help-side shot blocker in his last two years at school, and after a defensive rebound, executed the outlet pass adequately. Since the frontcourt is thin, if he impresses at training camp, Nance might take a spot. It would be a great story if he were good enough to play real minutes as a backup power forward.
In 2021-22, Cooper averaged three minutes per game for the Atlanta Hawks as a rookie. Most of his action last year was for the Charge as its leading scorer (24.9) in 25 outings. In the G-League, he was a threat in isolation, but he wasn’t a strong finisher from 0-3 feet from the basket (57.6 conversion rate). The NBA average from that zone is 66.5% and defenses at that level are sharper.
Cooper would need to be a lockdown defender to thrive at the next level. It is unlikely that he will make the team.
Merrill is a career 37.5% shooter from deep in 41 games across three seasons. In college, he was very good at playing off the ball and did so as well for the Cleveland Charge, the Cavaliers’ G-League affiliate. In 22 regular season games with the Charge in 2022-23, Merrill was a drop coverage killer, averaging 18.4 points a night, taking 8.9 triples, and converting 44.1% of attempts.
His movement around the perimeter and cuts through the middle pressure a defense, but the tradeoff is his defense. Merrill is not a high-level athlete. He doesn’t possess the foot speed to stay in front of most ball handlers. He can be exploited and when put on the back hip of the offense, will require a Cavs teammate to leave his spot and help.
Merrill’s niche might be G-League standout.
Powell is a 6-foot-6 sniper in the halfcourt and on the break, shooting 41.9% from deep in three seasons between Auburn, Tennessee and Washington State. The gravity of his marksmanship could cause some hard closeouts by opposing defenses, allowing him to put the ball on the floor to get inside.
The former three-star recruit takes care of the ball well. In 2022-23 at Washington State, he had three times as many assists as turnovers, and defensively, he isn’t a zero – foot speed isn’t the issue but he would need to add strength to defend other guards and small forwards.
Powell is an intriguing enough prospect to keep around.
The Cavaliers should give Rondae Hollis-Jefferson a call after his performances for Jordan. He is a more impactful player than each of the guys mentioned above.
His feet are quick enough to defend smaller players, and he recorded 23.6 points per game at the FIBA World Cup.