LATEST UPDATE: Thursday: 11 AM
Source: Brandon Paul, a Summer League star, is signing with the San Antonio Spurs.
— David Pick (@IAmDPick) July 13, 2017
Wednesday: 12 AM
Source tells me #illini Brandon Paul left the Cavs due to so much basketball recently, not because a deal is imminent.
— Jeremy Werner (@JWerner247) July 12, 2017
Tuesday: 9:00 PM
Hearing summer league stand out Brandon Paul has left the Cavaliers summer squad, belief is he may have landed a deal.
— Steve Kyler (@stevekylerNBA) July 12, 2017
Tuesday: 12:45 AM
According to Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders, 26-year-old guard Brandon Paul is expected to sign an NBA deal.
Paul is averaging 15.6 points per game through seven Summer League games, four of which came with the Dallas Mavericks in Orlando and three of which came with the Cleveland Cavaliers in Las Vegas.
Pincus followed up on an earlier report from last week, in which he said Paul was close to landing a deal.
I hear guard Brandon Paul,26-year old who recently played in Turkey (and from Illinois) is close to landing an NBA deal . . .
— Eric Pincus (@EricPincus) July 5, 2017
His latest update was more encouraging for Paul’s NBA hopes.
I hear this but more so. Like done-ish https://t.co/f8dxTdXPUJ
— Eric Pincus (@EricPincus) July 11, 2017
That latest tweet was sent out roughly two hours after Paul erupted for a game-high 21 points, hitting 8-of-12 field goal attempts in the Cavs’ Summer League win over the Golden State Warriors on Monday night.
Brandon Paul poured in a game-high 21 PTS to help the @cavs defeat the @warriors! #NBASummer pic.twitter.com/LQkRTBacgQ
— NBA (@NBA) July 11, 2017
Paul, a 6-foot-4 shooting guard most recently played professionally in Turkey and was a standout at the University of Illinois, averaging 16.6 points per game in his senior year (2012-2013).
Interestingly enough, Paul played on the same Turkish professional club, Anadolu Efes as Cavs draft and stash prospect Cedi Osman, who is also expected to sign with Cleveland this summer.
Paul averaged 8.6 points per game in 2016-17, while Osman, a 6-foot-8, 22-year-old forward averaged 7.1 per game.
Their relationship wouldn’t be the main reason the Cavs would sign Paul, but it couldn’t hurt to have a familiar face alongside Osman as he’s likely to make a difficult transition from his home country to the NBA.
Paul would most likely sign a two-way contract and spend more time with the Canton Charge once the regular season starts, but given Cleveland’s willingness and desire to unload Iman Shumpert, it’s unclear how the depth chart will look at the shooting guard position when training camp opens in September.
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