Cleveland Piggybacking Off Memphis Grizzlies’ Developmental Projects

Over the past couple of months, the Cleveland Cavaliers have quickly scooped two of the Memphis Grizzlies’ roster trimmings.

It did not take long for former Memphis Grizzlies guard Andrew Harrison to find a new NBA home. It was seven days to be exact.

Harrison proved a lot in a lost season as a member of the Grizzlies in 2017-18. With Mike Conley being shut down just weeks into the schedule, Memphis called upon Andrew to be their floor general in 46 starting opportunities.

Though he was not quite Mike Conley, Andrew Harrison proved that he belonged in the NBA. This theory translates to the Cleveland Cavaliers’ interpretation of the deal the former Kentucky guard recently signed with them.

Per ESPN‘s Adrian Wojnarowski, Harrison is currently placed on a two-way contract. This is in no way something that discredits the hard work Andrew has taken to get to this point in his NBA career. A guaranteed deal with the Cavaliers is in his near future once he completes the 45-day requirement.

For now, this is a bit of cost savings for Cleveland. Plus, they get to “try out” the potential within Andrew Harrison’s game. It should be comforting to the former Grizzly that the Cavs have no intentions to actually send him on a G-League assignment.

Plus, Harrison received a combined 27 minutes in Cleveland’s last two games, which is already more of an opportunity that he received in the first two weeks of the season with the Memphis Grizzlies.

The tables have turned for Andrew. He went from being the youngster receiving lessons from many of the Grizzlies’ veterans to now being a mentor himself. Cleveland has been critical of its first round Draft pick, Collin Sexton, and it is clear that they needed an additional veteran guard to steer him and the in the right direction.

Regardless of the good that Andrew Harrison will do for Sexton and the Cavaliers, it is unlikely that Cleveland will be competitive in the 2018-19 season. Through 13 games, they sit at the bottom of the Eastern Conference with a 2-11 record. At this point, their team just wants to remain competitive in games even if they will not come away with many victories.

Perhaps the biggest headline of the NBA offseason was the departure of LeBron James — for a second time — from his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers. Though some formidable names remain on the Cavs’ roster, nothing was going to be quite the same as the “King James” days.

It is the beginning stage of Cleveland’s latest rebuilding effort. Collin Sexton looks to be a solid point guard prospect, but Andrew Harrison is just 24 years of age and has demonstrated continuous improvement in his short professional career.

As their club continues to find young gems, especially in the backcourt, it is interesting to see how they continue to audition former Memphis Grizzlies developmental projects.

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Aside from Harrison, the preseason schedule featured the name of Kobi Simmons on the Cavaliers’ roster. Simmons was a one-year Grizzly and really shined as an undrafted NBA rookie. He appeared in 32 total regular season games, including earning a starting spot in 12 different occasions. Regardless of the Grizzlies’ record, that is an impressive feat by any undrafted player.

Simmons was cut just days before the start of the 2018-19 regular season. He was not what the Cavaliers were looking for at that moment in time, but he made them think long and hard before they had to make a decision. He, too, did not last many days on the free-agent market following his departure from Memphis before the Cavs added him to their training camp roster.

Opposing teams are taking notice of the Memphis Grizzlies’ roster trimmings, so the Grizz must be doing something right. Or rather, if these youngsters pan out post-Memphis, the Grizzlies must be doing something terribly wrong.

While it is clear Memphis’ Front Office made the right decisions when they severed ties with Jordan Adams, Wade Baldwin, and Deyonta Davis, the verdict is still out on Kobi Simmons and Andrew Harrison.