Will Cavs GM David Griffin Make More Moves This Offseason?

After a historic season, GM David Griffin continues his creative ways of adding talent to the defending champion Cleveland Cavaliers.

During the NBA Summer League, no two players stood out more than Jordan McRae and Kay Felder for the Cavaliers.

Jordan McRae is signed to a minimum contract and Griffin hopes he can contribute off the bench in a variety of roles. The question is with Cavaliers rookie point guard Kay Felder.

Kay Felder was drafted #54 overall by the Cavaliers and has impressed in his rookie experience in Summer League. The only negative about Felder is his size at 5-foot-10.

We wonder why the Cavaliers have not signed the young point guard, though.

It has been an interesting offseason, with the acquisition of Mike Dunleavy Jr. from the Chicago in a salary-clearing move by the Bulls and with the recent signing of center Chris (Birman) Andersen.

David Griffin has had a number of things he had to get done while still watching for those hidden gems that could be brought in on the cheap. He had to negotiate a contract with head coach Tyronn Lue that was never accomplished during the season when then head coach David Blatt was fired to promote Lue from associate head coach to interim head coach.

Lue was given a 5-year, $35,000,000 contract that was well worth the time it took to accomplish.

While we still wait for LeBron James and J.R. Smith to re-sign with the team, Griffin has meticulously taken care of the task of re-signing any free agents from the 2016 championship team. He just re-signed forward Richard Jefferson to a 2-year, $5,000,000 deal that was accomplished using a portion of the Mini-Midlevel Exception.

There has been little known interest in shooting guard J.R. Smith from opposing teams, but the consensus is that he will re-sign with the Cavaliers (just as Tristan Thompson experienced the same situation last season).

So why no contract for 2nd-round draft pick Kay Felder?

It could be possible that the Cavaliers are trying to wait out the market for free agent point guards and possibly bring in a Norris Cole/Mario Chalmers type of veteran and sign them to a minimum contract.

While it would be nice to see how the rookie point guard will do in the NBA, a season at the Cavs D-league affiliate Canton Charge could do Felder well, giving him that season to adjust to the speed of the NBA game.

The Cavaliers have to replace what they are missing with the departure of Matthew Dellavedova. They are looking for a defensive player that can help facilitate for the 2nd unit while adding a few three-point shots and an occasional drive to the basket to keep the defenses honest.

Ironically, Felder projects to be very similar to Dellavedova in his first year. He’s tenacious, a good defender, and a very capable facilitator. Just like Delly, he needs to work on his three-point shot. Look how in year-three Dellavedova’s three-point shot was falling at 40% clip. If he is capable of doing the same, he could be a key piece moving forward.

Yesterday the Cavaliers waived forward Dahntay Jones, which almost cements that McRae and Felder will be on the roster.

Look for the Cavs to sign Felder to a multi-year non-guaranteed contract.

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