The Cleveland Cavaliers Summer League team won the championship by defeating the Houston Rockets 99-78 Monday night in Las Vegas. They went 4-0 in the regular season to qualify for the playoffs and beat the Brooklyn Nets in the semifinals.
As can be expected from the champs, there were quite a few players that showed out for the Cavaliers. Let’s go through a few.
No First-Rounder, No Problem
Emoni Bates was the big name for the Cavaliers coming into this summer. Bates was a high school star that fell in the NBA draft, allowing the Cavaliers to pick him late. He played about as well as could be expected, making second-team All-Summer League. Bates averaged 17.2 points per game on 44/40/100% splits. He was able to hit tough shots and maintain great efficiency from three on a healthy 7.5 attempts per game. While poor decision-making came up, he also wasn’t as bad in passing and defense as advertised. Considering most late second-rounders don’t sniff the NBA, Bates showed at least his shooting should allow him a chance in the big leagues.
Sam Merrill was the star of the summer squad, scoring 20.4 points per game. He shot a scorching 44.6% from deep on a bonkers 11.2 attempts per game. Merril has been around long enough to know his flaws often outweigh his positives on an NBA court, but the Cavaliers needed much more spacing last year. While they have signed a lot of shooting this offseason, Merril makes sense as an end-of-the-bench guy that can come in and take some corner threes.
Big Man Production
It wasn’t just the wings that played well for the Summer League champs, either. Isaiah Mobley had a good run, scoring 17.8 per game on nearly 50% from the field. The three-point shooting wasn’t what you’d want, considering that was a point of emphasis for him, but as a backup big Mobley seems like he has some potential. He rebounded well and has real playmaking skills, dishing 4.5 assists per game.
It’s also worth noting that his two best games were in the Summer League playoffs, so he was still able to thrive against what should be the best teams out there. Mobley has real limitations, but the backup big spots are wide open. The recently signed Damian Jones is pretty much it, and Mobley showed enough to get a chance.
The Best of the Rest
Kevin Cox/AP
While those three were undoubtedly the stars, there were quite a few other players that showed a little something. Pete Nance intrigues as a stretch five, something the Cavaliers could use. Again, the big man’s depth is rather low. Sharife Cooper has been a lower-league star since he’s been drafted and got off to a blazing start. While he did peak with 27 points in the first game, he averaged 13.5 points on good efficiency. If the Cavs need an undersized spark plug guard, he’s a good option.
Craig Porter Jr. likely earned himself a two-way contract somewhere. He scored 12 efficient points per game while also nabbing 7.3 boards and leading the team with 5.3 assists. The rebounds, in particular, are impressive, given his size. That’s a nice all-around game, and he could excel as a backup guard.
Speaking of all-around games, Luke Travers continues to contribute in every way, just like he did last year. He rebounds, passes, gets blocks at an incredible rate, and he ended up leading the team in +/-. Unfortunately, he still doesn’t have a scoring skill to rely on yet. If he can’t score in the summer, it will only be worse in the NBA. He’s still young and is likely to go back to Australia, but if he can develop just one way to score, he could be looking at a similar skillset to countryman Josh Giddey, who’s a very exciting young player.
Who Makes It?
With Merril already on the roster, Mobley, Bates, and Porter Jr. look the most likely to crack the actual Cavs’ roster this year, whether on an actual contract or a two-way. Mobley played well and is in what looks to be a position of need on the team. Porter showed an all-around game that is more necessary from the backup guard spot. Bates showed excellent shooting, which is always valuable. Cooper’s skills just aren’t needed on the Cavs, Travers can go and develop more in the NBL, and Nance is intriguing, but nothing more yet.
Travers and Bates have the highest ceilings of them all, and with development, they look like they can be contributors on a playoff team one day. For second-round draft picks, that’s all you can really hope for, and it must be said the Cavs front office has assembled a nice little team. Both in terms of quality now (enough to win the chip) and in terms of upside, with no small number of intriguing players.
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Patrick Yen is a contributor on Back Sports Page. He has written for NBC, SB Nation, and a few more websites in his four-year sports journalism career after graduating from Ohio State University with a B.A. in History. He has been the Back Sports Page beat writer for the Philadelphia 76ers and now the Cleveland Cavaliers. Patrick was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania but moved to Columbus, Ohio, early in his life and has lived there ever since. You can find more of Patrick on Twitter @pyen117.
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