The Cleveland Cavaliers found a "brilliant" undrafted free agent to add to their program.
Alright, that was a bad dad joke based on Xaivian Lee attending Princeton before finishing his collegiate career at Florida. Even so, it fits -- Lee could be a sneaky good addition to a two-way contract or to begin his professional career with the Cleveland Charge.
Before the sounds of the second round of the 2026 NBA Draft had finished echoing through the upper reaches of Barclays Center, the Cavaliers had made their first post-draft move. They agreed to terms on an Exhibit 10 contract with four-year guard Xaivian Lee.
Cavaliers signed Xaivian Lee
Unsurprisingly, Lee went undrafted on Wednesday night. The Athletic's Sam Vecenie had Lee ranked 96th in this class, and only 60 players were drafted. It would have been quite the shock if a team had spent a draft pick on him.
Instead, he was available for the Cavaliers to come in and scoop him up. Lee is 6'2.5" tall and weighs a slight 178 pounds, hardly a surprise to anyone who watched him get knocked around at Florida. He is not bringing NBA size to the equation.
He does bring scoring punch, as he averaged 17 points per game in his final two seasons at Princeton. He had a smaller role on a stacked Florida team last season, but he still led the team in assists and averaged 11.6 points per game.
The problem with Lee's game is that he cannot really shoot. He is a career 32 percent shooter from 3-point range, and last year he infamously hit only 29.2 percent for a Florida team starved of accurate shooting.
His free-throw shooting is fine, if not exceptional; he shot 78.9 percent from the stripe for his college career. That suggests that he may not totally be without touch; his 2-point finishing game also suggests that. If the Cavaliers' training program can correct his shot, perhaps Lee has a chance in the league.
Cavaliers make the most of undrafted free agents
Beggars can't be choosers when it comes to undrafted free agents, but occasionally a team can strike gold. Just last year, undrafted players such as Dylan Cardwell, Caleb Love, Ryan Nembhard and Baz Mmbeng had standout moments. Bigger names such as Austin Reaves and Naz Reid went undrafted in recent years.
The Cavaliers are certainly no strangers to mining the ranks of the undrafted to find quality contributors. Dean Wade, Max Strus and Nae'Kwon Tomlin all went undrafted in their respective drafts, and Sam Merrill went with the last pick in the draft. Cleveland is not scared off by a lack of draft equity.
Can they mold Lee into something useful? Time will tell. But they have to take swings somewhere, and Lee could challenge for a two-way slot if he can make a name for himself in Las Vegas in a few weeks.
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