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Cavaliers forward Lauri Markkanen is entering the NBA’s health and safety protocols today and will miss tonight’s game against Portland at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
In eight games played, and eight starts, Markkanen is averaging 12.9 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game.
The Cavs are a solid 4-4 so far this season.
Cleveland Cavaliers forward Kevin Love will enter the NBA’s health and safety protocols today and will miss tonight’s road game against the Charlotte Hornets.
The Cavs are a respectable 3-4 to start the season. Their leading scorers so far are Collin Sexton at 17.3 points per game, Ricky Rubio at 14.0 ppg, Evan Mobley and Darius Garland each at 13.4 ppg, and Jarrett Allen and Lauri Markkanen each at 11.7 ppg.
Love has come off the bench for all seven games so far and in 20.7 minutes per game is averaging 9.9 ppg and 7.3 rebounds per game.
The Cleveland Cavaliers have exercised the fourth-year (2022-23) contract options on Darius Garland and Dylan Windler and the third-year (2022-23) option on Isaac Okoro.
Garland (6-1, 186) was the No. 5 pick in the 2019 NBA Draft by Cleveland and owns career averages of 14.7 points, 2.1 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 0.95 steals in 31.9 minutes over 117 career games (113 starts) with the team. Last season, the Vanderbilt product received three votes for the NBA’s Most Improved Player award after recording career highs in points (17.4), rebounds (2.4), assists (6.1, 18th in NBA), steals (1.22), minutes (33.1), field goal percentage (.451) and three-point percentage (.395). Additionally, Garland was one of only four players in the entire NBA to post at least 17.0 points, 6.0 assists, a .390 clip from three and a .840 mark from the foul line in 2020-21, joining Damian Lillard, Kyrie Irving and Kyle Lowry. He became the quickest in franchise history to reach 200 career three-pointers (107 games), achieving that mark with his fourth trey in a win over Chicago on April 21. So far this season, Garland is handing out a career-best 9.0 assists per game, which ranks third in the NBA, while also averaging 14.0 points and 2.3 rebounds in 30.8 minutes per contest.
Windler (6-6, 199) was selected as the 26th overall pick by the Cavaliers during the 2019 NBA Draft after a four-year career at Belmont. He has appeared in 34 career games with the Cavaliers, holding averages of 4.7 points and 3.1 rebounds in 15.2 minutes. Last season, he averaged 5.2 points and 3.5 rebounds in 16.5 minutes over 31 games after missing his entire rookie campaign in 2019-20 due to a left lower leg stress reaction. From Dec. 23 to Feb. 24, Windler led the Cavs in three-point percentage at .418 (23-55) and had a stretch of nine consecutive three-pointers made without a miss (Feb. 23-24), becoming the first Cavs rookie to accomplish that feat in 20 years and was the longest by any Cavs player since Kyrie Irving in 2015.
Okoro (6-5, 225), the No. 5 pick by the Cavaliers out of Auburn in the 2020 NBA Draft, is averaging 9.5 points, 3.1 rebounds and 0.90 steals in 32.1 minutes over 71 career games with the team. An NBA All-Rookie Second Team selection last season, Okoro (646 points, 62 three-pointers, 62 steals, 24 blocks) became just the third rookie in franchise history to record at least 500 points, 50 threes, 50 steals and 20 blocks in a single season, joining LeBron James (2003-04) and Kyrie Irving (2011-12). The 20-year-old led all NBA rookies in minutes per game in 2020-21 while also ranking in the Top 10 among rookies in steals per game (sixth), points per game (eighth) and assists per game (10th). His 32.4 minutes averaged was the highest by a Cavs rookie since LeBron James in 2003-04 (39.5) and the most by any NBA rookie since 2017-18 (Ben Simmons 33.7 and Donovan Mitchell 33.4).
The Cleveland Cavaliers have signed forward Ed Davis, Cavaliers General Manager Koby Altman announced today from Cleveland Clinic Courts.
The Cavs today also signed guard Justin James (6-7, 190) to their 2021 training camp roster.
Davis (6-9, 225) appeared in 23 games (seven starts) for the Minnesota Timberwolves during the 2020-21 season, averaging 2.1 points and 5.0 rebounds in 13.0 minutes. Over 11 NBA seasons with Toronto, Memphis, L.A. Lakers, Portland, Brooklyn, Utah and Minnesota, Davis has played in 691 games (103 starts) and holds career averages of 6.2 points on .566 shooting from the field and 6.6 rebounds in 19.6 minutes. Additionally, Davis has played in 33 postseason games, averaging 3.2 points and 4.6 rebounds in 11.8 minutes. Davis was originally drafted out of North Carolina as the No. 13 overall pick in the 2010 NBA Draft by the Raptors.
James appeared in 36 games during the 2020-21 season for the Sacramento Kings, averaging 3.9 points in 8.6 minutes. James was drafted No. 40 overall in the 2019 NBA draft by the Kings after spending four years at University of Wyoming.
The Cleveland Cavaliers waived center Mfiondu Kabengele and guard Brodric Thomas, Cavaliers General Manager Koby Altman announced today from Cleveland Clinic Courts.
Kabengele (6-9, 250) appeared in 16 games during the 2020-21 season for the Cavaliers after signing his first 10-day contract with the team on April 10, 2021, his second 10-day on April 21, 2021 and a multi-year contract on May 1, 2021. Kabengele also appeared in 23 games with the Los Angeles Clippers last season.
Thomas (6-5, 185), who signed a Two-Way contract with the Cavs on September 15, 2021, signed his first Two-Way contract with Cleveland on February 24, 2021 and played in 32 regular season games (one start) for Cleveland and Houston last season. Thomas also played in six games with the Cleveland Charge, the Cavaliers’ exclusively owned and operated NBA G League team.
The Cleveland Cavaliers have signed center Tacko Fall and guards Mitch Ballock, Kyle Guy and R.J. Nembhard to their 2021 training camp roster.
Fall (7-6, 310) played in 18 games for the Boston Celtics last season, averaging 2.6 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.11 blocks in 7.6 minutes. The third-year center went undrafted in 2019 after a four-year collegiate career at the University of Central Florida (2015-2019).
Ballock (6-5, 205), who spent four years at Creighton University (2017-2021), recently played in four games for the Philadelphia 76ers during the 2021 MGM Resorts NBA Summer League in Las Vegas.
Guy (6-1, 170) played in 31 games for the Sacramento Kings in 2020-21. The third-year guard spent most of his rookie campaign in 2019-20 with the Stockton Kings of the NBA G League, appearing in 37 games (29 starts) while averaging 21.5 points (seventh-best in G League), 3.4 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 1.1 steals in 36.9 minutes.
Nembhard (6-5, 200), an undrafted guard out of Texas Christian University, competed in four contests for the Miami Heat in the 2021 MGM Resorts NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, where he averaged 7.0 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 15.7 minutes.
The Cleveland Cavaliers have signed guard Denzel Valentine.
Valentine (6-5, 218) appeared in 62 games (three starts) for the Chicago Bulls this past season, averaging 6.5 points and 3.2 rebounds in 16.7 minutes. He scored in double figures on 21 occasions, including a career-best seven straight double-digit scoring performances from Feb. 3-15. Over four NBA seasons, all with the Bulls, Valentine has played in 232 regular season games (45 starts) with career averages of 7.4 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 19.8 minutes. His 342 three-pointers rank 13th all-time in Bulls franchise history. Additionally, Valentine played in four postseason games for Chicago in the 2017 NBA Playoffs.
The 27-year-old guard was originally drafted by Chicago with the No. 14 overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft after a four-year career at Michigan State, where he became the first player in school history to be named Player of the Year by the Associated Press during his senior year. Valentine also earned college player of the year awards from the NABC, USA Today, Sports Illustrated, NBC Sports, and Basketball Times while garnering a unanimous First-Team All-American selection in 2016.
The Cleveland Charge of the NBA G League, downtown Cleveland’s newest professional sports team playing home games at Cleveland State University’s Wolstein Center, announced today that Dan Geriot has been promoted to become the fifth Head Coach in Charge team history.
Coach Geriot joins the Charge after spending the last six seasons in various roles on the staff for our own Cleveland Cavaliers.
“This is a very exciting day for the Cleveland Charge and I’m looking forward to having someone of Dan’s experience and innovative approach step in as head coach of this team,” said Charge General Manager Brendon Yu. “During his tenure with the Cavaliers, Dan displayed a unique ability to build strong relationships with players and assisted with their overall development both on and off the court. I’m confident that he will be able to bring that same passion and commitment to the Charge.”
“Dan has been an integral part of my coaching staff for a little over two years and I’m extremely happy for the opportunity presented to him to lead the Charge,” said Cavaliers Head Coach J.B. Bickerstaff. “His work ethic and commitment to the organization confirms his desire to coach the game at the highest levels of competition. The continuity this move provides also creates a seamless transition across the entirety of our player development program here in Cleveland between the Charge and the Cavaliers. I’m looking forward to watching Dan help those young men achieve their basketball goals.”
Geriot has been a Cavaliers Assistant Coach since the 2019-20 season, where he was responsible for assisting and reporting directly to Cavaliers Head Coach J.B. Bickerstaff along with scouting upcoming opponents and presenting game plans, as well as the individual development for the frontcourt players. Geriot was previously an assistant video coordinator/coaching assistant with the Cavs from 2016-18 and was a seasonal video coordinator with the team for the 2015-16 championship season. Prior to joining the Cavs, Geriot was with Campbell University as an assistant coach from 2013-15 and was with Princeton University as an assistant coach from 2011-13. The Springfield, Pennsylvania native has a degree in political science and history from the University of Richmond, where he played four collegiate seasons and led the Spiders to two NCAA tournaments in 2010 (First Round) and 2011 (Sweet 16).
All four previous Charge Head Coaches have ended their tenure with NBA call-ups: Alex Jensen (Utah), Jordi Fernandez (Denver), Steve Hetzel (Charlotte), and Nate Reinking (Cleveland).
The Cleveland Cavaliers have signed guard Kevin Pangos, Cavaliers General Manager Koby Altman announced today from Cleveland Clinic Courts.
Pangos (6-2, 185) has spent the last six years playing professionally in Europe, most recently for Zenit Saint Petersburg of the VTB United League and the EuroLeague.
This past season in EuroLeague play, Pangos earned All-EuroLeague First Team honors after averaging a career-high 13.5 points, 2.1 rebounds and 6.7 assists in 29.0 minutes over 39 games (all starts). The 28-year-old shot .390 from beyond the arc and made the most three-pointers (89) in EuroLeague play, while ranking third in assists per game and 18th in points per game.
Over his international career, Pangos has also played for FC Barcelona (Spain, 2018-2020), Zalgiris Kaunas (Lithuania, 2016-2018) and Gran Canaria (Spain, 2015-2016) and was an All-EuroLeague Second Team selection in 2018, two-time LKL champion (Lithuania, 2017 and 2018), two-time King Mindaugas Cup winner (Lithuania, 2017 and 2018) and All-EuroCup Second Team selection (2016).
Following four college basketball seasons at Gonzaga University, Pangos went undrafted in the 2015 NBA Draft. With the Bulldogs, the Ontario, Canada native earned First Team All-WCC all four seasons (2012-2015), appearing in 142 total games (141 starts) with career averages of 12.9 points, 2.9 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.25 steals in 33.1 minutes. Additionally, Pangos was the WCC Player of the Year and a Third-Team All-American (AP, NABC, TSN) during his senior season and left Gonzaga as the only player in program history with more than 1,700 points, 500 assists and 150 steals and remains the Bulldogs all-time leader in three-pointers made (322).
The Cleveland Cavaliers have re-signed guard Brodric Thomas to a Two-Way contract, Cavaliers General Manager Koby Altman announced yesterday.
Thomas (6-5, 185), who signed his first Two-Way contract with the Cavaliers on February 24, 2021, played in 32 regular season games (one start) for Cleveland and Houston last season. He recently appeared in five games for the Cavaliers in the 2021 MGM Resorts NBA Summer League in Las Vegas and averaged 10.6 points, 4.2 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.4 steals in 25.7 minutes.
The undrafted guard from Truman State also played in the NBA G League in 2020-21, where he was named to the All-NBA G League Second Team and to the NBA G League All-Rookie Team. In six games with the Cleveland Charge (then Canton Charge), the Cavaliers’ exclusively owned and operated NBA G League team, Thomas averaged 21.3 points on .462 shooting from the field, including .462 (24-52) from three-point range, 6.7 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 2.17 steals and 1.17 blocks in 33.8 minutes. Prior to his stint with the Charge, Thomas appeared in eight games for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers and averaged 16.4 points, 7.8 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.62 steals and 1.12 blocks in 33.3 minutes.