Daily Links for Sept. 13: Signing developmental wings is good for the Cleveland Cavaliers

The first sip

The odds are against Justin Powell being good and sticking in the NBA. He’s undrafted and bounced around colleges before coming to the pros. He was a top-100 prospect coming into college, but not someone necessarily projected to be a pro one day. It wasn’t even clear if he would enter the draft this year before he kept his name in.

But Cleveland signing him (seemingly to an Exhibit 10 deal, but unclear) is still good process. He’s a 6’6” wing who can shoot, who can pass a little bit and who has the frame of what an NBA wing looks like in 2023. There are reasons he didn’t get drafted — struggles to create his own shot, just an ok athlete, iffy shot selection — but the outline is there. And in a league where teams need wings and need to try and develop them, this is worth a shot at a low cost.

Think of it this way: Signing Max Strus is good, but so is trying to develop the next Strus that will cost way less against the cap.

Read this

He’s still a villain to most, but a cool story about Dillon Brooks playing big for Team Canada

Links of the day

Note that the details are gruesome. But more information on what Kevin Porter Jr. allegedly did to his girlfriend.

Draymond Green is looking ahead to next season and has eyes on two more titles

The Thunder are getting a new arena that will keep them in OKC through 2050

Is this a sign of things to come in the WNBA MVP race?