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The Luke Harangody era has ended for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
On Thursday, the Cavs waived the 6-7 forward out of Notre Dame and signed 6-8 forward Kevin Jones out of West Virginia.
Besides getting an inch taller, what did the Cavs get out of making this move?
Mainly, they let go of one player they decided they had seen enough of in order to get a look at player they would like to learn more about.
Harangody has a big NBA body, and he had some good moments with the Cavs. A former Big East Player of the Year, Harangody was selected by the Boston Celtics in the second round of the 2010 NBA Draft.
He played in 28 games for the Celtics during the 2010-2011 season before being traded to the Cavs, where he finished the season and played in 21 more games. Harangody played an average of 19 minutes per game with the Cavs that year and averaged 6.2 points and 4.2 rebounds per game.
Last season, Harangody played in just 21 games, but got 1 start. He averaged 2.9 points and 2.5 rebounds per game.
The forward had some good games with the Cavs, including when he scored 18 points against the New York Knicks during the 2010-2011 season, but he had also had plenty of times when he looked below average.
The Cavs need to find players who will help them improve, and they determined that Harangody was not going to help the team move up.
Harangody has also been injured this season, which did not help his case very much.
Jones, meanwhile, was in training camp with the Cavs and was one of the last players cut.
He has played in three games this season for the Canton Charge (the Cavs NBA D-League affiliate) where he is averaging 27 points and 13.7 rebounds per game. Jones has also been shooting 54 percent from the field, while playing under a D-League contract.
Now that the Cavs signed him to a team contract, Jones will continue to play for the Charge. The difference is that the Cavs now officially have him on the roster, they will obviously be watching his progress, and he will have a good chance of getting minutes with the Cavs sometime during the season.
Jones showed in college that he can score and be a solid all-around player, and if he continues to play well in Canton he should receive an opportunity to prove himself in Cleveland. The Cavs bench has been disappointing so far this year, and Head Coach Byron Scott has stated that he needs more production out of his second unit.
Jones may get a chance to play with that second unit eventually, and if he can bring some energy and scoring to the floor while also contributing on defense, he could turn out to be one of the players who helps the Cavs move up.
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