Cleveland Cavaliers: The Julyan Stone Project

Outside of Phoenix Suns’ restricted free agent Eric Bledsoe, and the debatably retired Ray Allen, we’ve reached the point of the summer that all of the high impact free agents have already made commitments for the upcoming season.

Despite currently having 16 players under contract, the Cleveland Cavaliers still have ample opportunity to add their roster, whether on fully or partially guaranteed contracts, or non-guaranteed camp invites.

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Their roster currently looks as follows:

PG: Kyrie Irving, Matthew Dellavedova, John Lucas III
SG: Dion Waiters, Joe Harris
SF: LeBron James, Mike Miller, James Jones,
PF: Kevin Love, Tristan Thompson, Dwight Powell, Malcolm Thomas, Erik Murphy
C: Anderson Varejao, Brendan Haywood, Alex Kirk

But for Cleveland, three of these players are unlikely at best to make the final roster.  John Lucas III, Malcolm Thomas, and Erik Murphy all have non-guaranteed contracts for next season, and will likely be traded or waived before the start of the season.  This freedom effectively leaves the Cavaliers exploring their options for additional players.

Ray Allen is the obvious first target in this regard, but the Cavaliers are clearly looking long and hard at all available candidates in an attempt at being as deep as possible, while still maintaining flexibility moving forward.

Which is exactly why reports have surfaced that the Cavaliers are scheduled to workout Julyan Stone, formerly of the Denver Nuggets and Toronto Raptors.

Assuming that Lucas and his $1.6 million salary are removed from the roster before opening night, the Cavaliers could use Stone for added point guard depth.

Stone has already worked out for the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers, and is also rumored to have interest from the Sacramento Kings.

Having just appeared in 47 games through the first three years of his career, Stone remains an intriguing prospect; and at 25 years of age, Stone brings impressive measurements for his position.  Being 6’6″ tall, with a reported 6’7.25″ wingspan, Stone exceeds both the height and length of likely starting shooting guard Dion Waiters, giving him exceptional size to defend opposing point guards.

But if Stone is going to make an NBA roster, it will have to be on the strength of his defense.  Offensively speaking, Stone is extremely limited, albeit having so far been in limited minutes (he has averaged only 7.0 minutes per game over his career).

Since going undrafted in 2011, Stone’s stats have done little to impress.

Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 9/8/2014.

With a player efficiency rating of just 6.6 last season, Stone shot just 41.2 percent from the floor, 25 percent from long distance, and a startlingly poor 66.7 percentfrom the free throw line.  Simply put, Stone is a bit of an offensive mess.

If it weren’t for his length and athleticism, Stone would not be receiving further consideration for an NBA contract after his seasons to date.  But that’s just the point … length and athleticism is enough when coupled with youth.  These things alone are enough to entice teams when looking for a third string point guard, and are exactly what might bring Stone to Cleveland.