It’s been a rough two months for the Cavaliers. They lost the NBA Finals to in five games, have had to deal with rumors about LeBron James leaving next summer, failed to land any significant help beyond an oft-injured Derrick Rose, and now Kyrie Irving wants to be traded.
While the Cavs appear to be falling apart — as much as a team that remains the favorite to win their conference can — their chief rival, the Golden State Warriors, couldn’t be doing better. They re-signed Kevin Durant, Steph Curry, and Andre Iguodala this summer, along with the additions of Omri Casspi and Nick Young to somehow manage to get deeper. They announced those signings, conveniently, early this week amid all the chaos in Cleveland, and the closest thing to failure the Warriors have faced this summer is Klay Thompson trying to dunk in China.
On Thursday, as the Warriors go about filling out their training camp roster, they signed a player formerly of Southeast Missouri State to give him a shot at making the squad this fall. Normally, this wouldn’t be newsworthy, but it is when Golden State signs someone by the name of Antonius Cleveland.
https://twitter.com/IanBegley/status/890630628667908097
It could very well be a purely basketball move. Cleveland had a nice Summer League showing with 5.8 points and 1.7 rebounds per game in just under 15 minutes per game as part of the Blazers’ roster. At SE Missouri State, he posted great numbers with 16.6 points and 5.2 rebounds per game, shooting 57.5 percent from the field and a robust 40 percent from the three-point line.
The 6’6 swingman could add depth to the Warriors’ wing situation, but it’s hard not to see this as, at the very least, an odd coincidence that Golden State would sign a player with the same name as their top rival who just so happens to be having the opposite of a good summer.
