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Amidst the chaos of whatever is going on with The Decision 2.0, it's been hard to focus on anything else. Twitter is constantly being lit aflame with crazy rumors, false reports, and speculation regarding whether LeBron James is coming back to the Cleveland Cavaliers, or staying with the Miami Heat. Considering reports have stated that LeBron is leaving from Vegas this weekend straight to the World Cup final in Brazil, we could be dealing with this for quite some time.
But, LO! On the horizon! Is that actual Cavaliers basketball I see??? Indeed it is, as the Cavaliers have convened in Las Vegas for the beginning of Las Vegas Summer League. This has somewhat been placed on the back burner, but is still quite important. The Cavaliers have a good amount of players on their Summer League Roster who should play for the team next season, including top overall draft pick Andrew Wiggins.
The Cavaliers will be facing the Milwaukee Bucks, who have second overall draft pick Jabari Parker.
Who: Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Milwaukee Bucks
When: 8:00PM ET
Where: Cox Pavillion -- Las Vegas, Nevada
How Can I Watch: Online at NBA Summer League Live
Music:
Y'ALL ACT LIKE YA FORGOT ABOUT SUMMER LEAGUE
The Cleveland Cavaliers have plenty of players who are of interest in Summer League. A far cry from last year's roster that was really just Dion Waiters, Tyler Zeller, and a bunch of fringe guys who no one knew of,* this year's roster features your pick of young talent: Wiggins, Matthew Dellavedova, Anthony Bennett, Joe Harris, Carrick Felix, and Dwight Powell, among others.
*BUT DELLY!, you cry; Dellavedova averaged 2.8 points per game in LVSL last year, and made his big impression during fall camp. I can't reasonably count someone Justin Harper outplayed as a person of interest.
Andrew Wiggins is clearly the marquee member of the squad. This will be the first action that the former Jayhawk will be seeing since being selected first on June 27th, and it's against the guy the Cavs picked him over. Wiggins will be spending a lot of time on the floor with Parker, which is the big draw to this matchup. Even if they won't necessarily be guarding each other, it will still be fun to have a direct comparison that I'm sure absolutely no one will overreact to. Wiggins will likely spend a lot of time matched up with Giannis Antetokounmpo instead, and that's probably even more intriguing, given Mr. Alphabets' similar skills and athletic ability to Wiggins.
Anthony Bennett is perhaps the most intriguing player on the team, however. The Cavs listed Bennett's weight at 243 lbs in their roster release, well below the 260 lbs he was playing at last season. He looks in better shape than he did even at UNLV, and it's easy to get excited about his prospects for improvement. He'll likely be the one matching up with Parker for stretches, so it's important to remember that Bennett's defense is going to be tested tonight, and if he looks bad, to not overreact to it. Conversely, he should be able to get plenty of points against Parker on the offensive end for the same reason, so that's exciting.
Matthew Dellavedova will also be interesting, but for a different reason. We know Delly's strengths; he's a good defensive player who brings a lot of intensity and a streaky but talented shooter. However, this Summer League roster appears constructed in a way that makes Delly one of two point guards on the roster, which could mean a lot more Delly playing on-ball than we were used to last season. With the trade of Jarrett Jack, that might be very necessary. I'm very excited to see Delly play his college position again.
The Milwaukee Bucks will mostly be relying on Jabari, Giannis, and Nate Wolters, and do not have anywhere near the NBA-level talent that the Cavs' roster should. However, they should be fun because of those three enough. The Bucks' roster is big, with many centers and power forwards, and features a few interesting prospects that include 2nd-round pick Johnny O'Bryant, as well as Cavs' Summer League alumnus Kenny Kadji.
Fear the Sword's Fearless Prediction - Parker outscores Wiggins, but Wiggins has a better overall game, and Twitter freaks out about it. Bennett looks fairly average. Delly torches Wolters. The Cavs win, 77-70.