Hawks Sign Antonius Cleveland to 10-Day Contract
By Dallin Duffy
With only 13 players on the roster after the trade deadline and subsequent buyout of Marco Belinelli, the Atlanta Hawks were forced to sign a player Thursday before being punished by the league for lacking a full team.
The Hawks did just that by signing undrafted rookie Antonius Cleveland to a 10-day contract.
First reported by Shams Charania of The Vertical, the guard/forward will be joining Atlanta’s squad on a ten-day contract.
Sources: The Hawks plan to sign guard Antonius Cleveland to a 10-day contract. Cleveland went to training camp with Golden State and spent time with Dallas in regular season.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 22, 2018
The 24-year-old was a member of the Portland Trail Blazers’ Summer League squad, racking up 5.8 points a game in 14.7 minutes per game in that time (per RealGM).
He then received a training camp invite with the Golden State Warriors, but never saw any action in Oakland. Cleveland did appear in six games for the Warriors’ G-League affiliate, The Santa Cruz Warriors.
The shooting guard was signed to a two-way deal with the Dallas Mavericks and appeared in 13 games averaging 6.2 MPG before being waived in December. He struggled offensively in his tenure in Dallas, scoring a total of ten points in those thirteen games.
It’s unclear how much playing time Cleveland will get, but he can play either the 2 or 3, and with the Hawks’ motivation to win at an all-time low, Coach Bud should be able to find him some minutes.
The Hawks have shown a knack recently of getting the most out of undrafted free agents, as Cleveland will be the 8th player on the roster who went undrafted out of college – headlined by starters Kent Bazemore and Dewayne Dedmon and reserves Malcolm Delaney and Tyler Cavanaugh.
With players like Andrew White (another undrafted rookie) and second-round pick Tyler Dorsey making the most of their chances this season, Cleveland is at least another young talent for the Hawks to throw at the wall to see if it sticks.
Next: Atlanta Hawks Mock Draft at the All-Star Break
Cleveland played his college ball at Southeast Missouri State University and was a big part of the team for years, averaging more than 29 minutes a game in each of his final three seasons. He is just the second player ever to make the NBA from Southeast Missouri State, along with Rich Eichhorst, who appeared in just one game back in 1962. Funnily enough, it was for the St. Louis Hawks.