According to Cavs coach Mike Brown, he’d like to keep everyone on the training camp roster. But as Jodie Valade writes in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, cuts are coming and can’t be delayed much longer. The Cavs currently have 20 players and need to get down to the league maximum of 15 before the start of the regular season.
The delay is tied to injuries and the Cavs’ D-League affiliate Canton Charge. Neither Andrew Bynum (knee) or Tyler Zeller (appendectomy) have a set return date, and Jarrett Jack and Carrick Felix are also out. Also, the last three training camp cuts go directly to the Cavs’ Canton team if they haven’t previously played in the D-League, as long as they clear waivers and agree to sign D-League contracts. So, the Cavs are trying to be smart and keep those players around to develop.
Valade notes that forward Henry Sims and guard Matthew Dellavedova are expected to make it through the final cut, though.
Here are some more notes from around the Central division tonight:
- Valade and Mary Schmitt Boyer opine, in a tweet, that Alonzo Gee should be the Cavs‘ starting small forward after outplaying Earl Clark all preseason.
- After scoring 32 points in 32 minutes against the Pacers on Friday night, Bulls players tell Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times that Derrick Rose is better than ever.
- Bulls Swingman Jimmy Butler said, “I think [Rose is] all the way back and more.”
- Gravelly-voiced coach Tom Thibodeau is amping up the intensity at Bulls‘ practices writes K.C. Johnson at the Chicago Tribune (subscription only) despite an undefeated record in preseason play so far.
- Thibodeau tells Cowley Bulls rookies Tony Snell and Erik Murphy have “a long way to go,” to crack the rotation.
- Larry Sanders tells the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Charles F. Gardner that he has “spent a lot of quiet time, meditation, listening to classical music or gospel music…” as well as speaking with God in a effort to calm his emotions. Sanders led the NBA with 5 ejections while helming the defensive paint for the Bucks last season.