The Cleveland Cavaliers will enter the 2022-23 NBA regular season with arguably the most talented roster that the franchise has boasted in the post-LeBron James era. Up and down the lineup, there is talent at nearly every position.
However, that does not mean that there isn’t space for a diamond in the rough to shine through. Through the Cavs’ first two games in the NBA’s Las Vegas Summer League, one player who has really impressed is R.J. Nembhard.
Through the first two games, the Texas Christian University product has looked like a true NBA player. He’s averaging an impressive 19.5 points per game on 48.9 percent shooting from the field. He’s also averaging 3.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game.
According to a recent report, the Cavs see a bright future for Nembhard and believe that he has the potential to be an important depth piece for the team.
“Sources have continued to tell Right Down Euclid that the Cavaliers believe Nembhard has the potential to be a two-way point-forward that can be a quality depth piece,” wrote Evan Dammarell. “But, with the overabundance of established wings ahead of him, along with the recent signings of Raul Neto and Ricky Rubio, it’s tough sledding for Nembhard to crack Cleveland’s rotation. The thing is, that’s totally fine and shouldn’t shut down Nembhard being a factor in J.B. Bickerstaff’s rotation. Instead, it just makes things even more interesting for the Cavaliers.”
Having a glut of talent at any position is a great problem for any NBA team. Just a couple years ago, the Cavs were putting forth one of the worst rosters in basketball. They hovered at or near the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings for multiple seasons.
Now, the Cavs are looking to make some serious noise and become one of the elite teams in the East.
For Nembhard, he’s going to have to continue to really impress if he wants to earn consistent playing time with the Cavs this season. Only time will tell if he can accomplish that goal.
