A few notes on the Cavaliers summer league team, which completed its week in Las Vegas with a meaningless 1-4 record:
* I really like Jawad Williams and really think he may be able to help the team next season. Williams is a natural scorer and a guy who seems to improve with each season. He's not a lethal shooter, but he is 6-foot-9 with good range and a fairly quick release.
* Williams bounced between the Cavs' inactive list and the D-League last season, scoring at will in the minors. He knows how to free himself for shots and is pretty smart with the ball. He led the Cavs summer team in scoring (14.0 ppg) despite starting just one game.
* This isn't to say Williams is the ultimate swingman or will be a Mickael Pietrus-type off the bench next season. But he is making a case to make the team and become a possible contributor.
* The Cavs signed Miami free agent Jamario Moon to an offer sheet on Sunday, and I have no idea if the Heat will match. My guess is, they will. While Moon will never be an All-Star, he is a good athlete who plays hard, a very good role player who will play meaningful minutes no matter where he goes. For what it's worth, he's also a former member of the Harlem Globetrotters.
* I'm still holding out hope the Cavs will sign Matt Barnes if Moon goes back to Miami. Barnes isn't a great defender (to say the least), but he is very athletic with long range on his high-arching jumpers, and is capable of erupting for 20 points when given the minutes. With Shaquille O'Neal clogging up the middle, Barnes could stretch the defense -- and unlike shooters such as Wally Szczerbiak or Daniel Gibson, he can really finish off the fast break.
* Depending on what happens with Moon, Barnes or other potential veteran signees, I expect there to be an underrated training camp battle between Williams, Tarence Kinsey and perhaps rookie second-round pick Danny Green. All three displayed an ability to slash and score in Vegas. Kinsey averaged 12.8 points, including a high of 22 against Washington. Green isn't as explosive as the other two (although he did score 16 on 5-of-7 shooting in the summer finale), but is already probably the best defender of the group.
* Either way, with veteran shooting guard Anthony Parker having joined the team, minutes will be hard to come by for Kinsey or Green in the backcourt. But it will be nice to have one of them (if not both) on call in case of an emergency.
* Brian Windhorst of the Plain Dealer wrote a detailed report on Cavs first-round pick Christian Eyenga that bears repeating. "Much of the time, Eyenga was the quickest player on the floor (in Vegas)," Windhorst wrote. "With his long strides, he often beat every player down the court even when recovering from a defensive position. Had any of his teammates realized it, he probably could have had a dozen leak-out buckets in the five games, but it seemed like it took the whole week for them to notice it."
* Windhorst added, "He has a moderately developed post game and appears comfortable going to the block, even showing a hook shot with both hands. In that regard, he's significantly more advanced than James was at the same age."
* In other words, this kid could be something special some day. And if nothing else, Eyenga was a risk worth taking for GM Danny Ferry with the No. 30 pick.
* The other guy I really liked in summer league was undrafted free agent rookie Leo Lyons, a 6-9 forward out of Missouri. Lyons is another guy with good agility who averaged 7.6 points and shot a whopping 64 percent from the field in just 14 minutes per game. Lyons is a longshot to make it with youngsters like J.J. Hickson and Darnell Jackson already in front of him, not to mention Anderson Varejao and perhaps Joe Smith. But he has the type of potential that may make him worth stashing away in the D-League for a year or two.
* Finally, this has nothing to do with the Cavs, but you may want to check out Chris Tomasson's story on ProBasketballNews.com about the insanity that took place with New Orleans star Chris Paul over the weekend. Tomasson once covered the Cavs for the Akron Beacon Journal, and interviewed Paul last week, when Paul told him he thought he could be traded. A day later, Paul denied making the comments. Problem was, Tomasson had the whole thing on tape. Makes LeBron James and dunk-gate seem like not such a big deal.
Sam Amico is the editor of ProBasketballNews.com and a frequent contributor to STO and The Cleveland Fan.
