Getty Cleveland Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue.
The Cleveland Cavaliers aren’t done reshaping their roster ahead of the 2018-19 NBA season. While the team has spent the offseason attempting to rebuild after losing star LeBron James to the Los Angeles Lakers, they’ve made a few solid moves in the process.
Recently, as The Athletic’s Michael Scotto revealed, the Cavaliers have brought in guards Tyler Ulis, Kobi Simmons, Brandon Paul and Rodney Purvis for workouts.
It’s an interesting list of names, and each player is capable of playing a role for the team during the 2018-19 NBA season. Ulis, who played the first two seasons of his career with the Phoenix Suns, was released this offseason. He’s posted averages of 7.6 points and 4.1 assists over 132 career games.
Simmons is an interesting prospect who spent last season with the Memphis Grizzlies after playing his college ball for Arizona. Following a plethora of injuries, he finally got his opportunity to see playing time, averaging 6.1 points and 2.1 assists over 20.1 minutes per game in 32 appearances. Simmons had a few double-digit scoring games, including a 20-point, seven-assist game against the Detroit Pistons where he shot 7-of-10 from the field.
The final two names on the list in Paul and Purvis were undrafted free agents who received their NBA opportunity last season. Paul, who spent last season with the San Antonio Spurs, played overseas from 2013 to the end of the 2016-17 season before getting his chance. While he was with the Spurs for 64 games, he averaged just 2.3 points and 1.1 rebounds over nine minutes.
Purvis was named to the NBA G-League All-Rookie Team in 2018, as he averaged 20.5 points, 3.9 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.4 steals per game over 38.1 minutes. Injuries also gave him a chance at the NBA level with the Orlando Magic, and he averaged 6.0 points with 1.7 rebounds in 16 games. Purvis did hit double-digit points in three of those appearances.