Cleveland Cavaliers Waive Three Players

The Cleveland Cavaliers waived three players on Saturday.  It is possible all three of them will end up on the franchise’s team in the NBA Developmental League.

Forward/center Michael Eric, forward Kevin Jones, and guard D’Aundray Brown were waived in order to get the roster down to the limit of 15 players. All three players are rookies.

Cutting those three players answers a few questions for the Wine and Gold, but many questions remain as Cleveland prepares to open the season on Tuesday. One big question will be over who will play in the back court.

Point guard Kyrie Irving, last season’s NBA Rookie of the Year, will start and play a lot, and he will likely be backed up by Donald Sloan and Jeremy Pargo. Heading into the preseason, it was not clear if Sloan and Pargo would both make the opening day roster.

Sloan played well when called upon last season, but then the Cavs traded for Pargo in the off-season.

The other guards on the roster are rookie Dion Waiters, veteran Daniel Gibson and free-agent pick-up C.J. Miles, who can also play on the wing at small forward. Gibson and Miles are both proven scorers and will be needed in the lineup. And as the No. 4 pick in the draft, Waiters will be counted on to contribute and should be given plenty of playing time.

Head Coach Byron Scott will have plenty of decisions to make with the guards, and it will be interesting to see the different combinations he uses in the back court.

It will also be important to see how well Eric, Jones and Brown potentially develop for the Canton Charge–if they all end up there.

Eric, a 6-11 center/forward out of Temple, has great size and ability, and he has the chance to develop into an NBA player.

Jones, a 6-8 forward, was an outstanding player at West Virginia. He hit several big shots during his college career, could end up with the Cavs or another NBA team later in the season or in the future.

The Cavs must have already seen something they like in Brown, a 6-4 guard out of Cleveland State. Brown did not open training camp in Cleveland, and the Cavs just signed him on Thursday.