Update offered after Cavs draft pick suffers injury in Italy-Spain game

Italy picked up a EuroBasket win over Spain on Tuesday, but the win came at a cost. Cleveland Cavaliers 2025 draft pick Saliou Niang suffered a right ankle injury in the contest. He posted a double-double before he was forced to exit.

However, an injury update on Niang indicates that he won’t be sidelined for an extended period of time. The word is that Niang did not suffer a serious injury, though he won’t be suiting up for Italy when it takes on Cyprus on Thursday.

The Cavaliers drafted Niang with the penultimate pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, as he was taken with the No. 58 overall selection after he spent some time playing for the LBA’s Dolomiti Energia Trento.

Niang’s scoring numbers across 30 LBA games with Trento last season didn’t exactly jump off the page, as he averaged just 8.1 points per game. He has a lot of room for improvement on the offensive end and is still quite raw.

In fact, Niang arguably made more of an impact from a rebounding standpoint. The wing averaged 5.0 rebounds per game last season and a whopping 8.9 per 36 minutes. That could certainly be a strength for him, and so could his impact on the defensive end.

He boasts impressive physical gifts and athleticism, and the Cavaliers are surely hoping that he can parlay all of that into a long and successful career in the NBA.

It’s great that Niang’s injury isn’t too serious, but as a draft-and-stash guy, he isn’t likely to make an impact for Cleveland in the immediate future, as he was likely drafted with the team envisioning that he will need some time to develop before being NBA-ready.

While Niang likely isn’t going to be a majorly impactful player for the Cavaliers in the coming season, there’s a real possibility that he will be an important piece for the team down the line, so he will certainly be a name to keep in mind.