The Cleveland Cavaliers are still on the lookout for any potential players who could assist them in their pursuit of a championship. This search has taken them to an unlikely source in Louis Amundson.
Amundson would add another option for the Cavaliers at center/power forward, but has at best been a sporadic contributor during his eight-year NBA career.
But despite appearing in just 19 games last season (18 with the New Orleans Pelicans and one with the Chicago Bulls) and averaging only 9.7 minutes per game, the Cavaliers reportedly brought Amundson to Cleveland for a workout last week.
Louis Amundson worked out for the Cavs last week, source tells HoopsHype. Cleveland one of the teams he's considering for training camp.
— HoopsHype (@hoopshype) September 15, 2014
Cleveland already has 18 players who will compete for the final roster spots during training camp. Amundson would only add to David Griffin’s options for opening night.
There is no word on whether a contract has been offered to Amundson as of yet, but if the Cavaliers were to extend a contract his way it would likely be a partially guaranteed camp invite, with an opportunity to compete for a chance to make the team.
Over his career, Amundson has bounced around the league, having played with eight different franchises during his eight years in the league; spending time with the Phoenix Suns, Indiana Pacers, Golden State Warriors, New Orleans Pelicans (also appearing with them while they were the Hornets), Philadelphia 76ers, Minnesota Timberwolves, Chicago Bulls, and Utah Jazz. This includes being waived by both the Pelicans and Bulls last season alone.
At 6’9″ and 225 pounds, there is very little that Amundson contributes on the offensive side of the ball. He did manage to shoot 50 percent from the floor last season (16-of-32), but coupled this by shooting an atrocious 25 percent from the free throw line. Amundson was so poor from the free throw line that teams jumped at the chance to send him there, which meant the loss of offensive opportunities for his teams.
In fact, throughout his career, Amundson has failed to shoot better than 45 percent from the charity stripe in all but one of his seasons (2009-10 with the Suns).
Amundson did manage to shoot 65 percent from within three feet of the basket last season, but this is just another reminder of his limited offensive abilities. Coupled with his poor free throw shooting, this allows opponents the option to simply put him at the line if he is near the basket, and to willingly give him space when he is further away from the hoop.
The biggest positive that Amundson does offer is his rebounding. He not only finished last season with a total rebounding percentage of 17.1 (the same as Kenneth Faried), but for players who averaged a minimum of eight minutes per game, only Andre Drummond had a better offensive rebounding percentage than Amundson’s 16.6.
Amundson has also shown an ability to contribute some rim protection, a skill that will be needed for the Cavaliers. Out of players who played a minimum of nine minutes per game, Lou was the only one player who opponents failed to register a single field goal attempt at the rim against. This, along with his 2.1 blocks per 36 minutes, may be enough to give Amundson some serious consideration from the Cavaliers.
Due to his low minute usage, it is unlikely that Amundson could contribute much to the Cavaliers, but for an end of the bench player a team could do a lot worse than the savvy veteran.