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Eyenga Will Make Impact
July 24, 2010 By Greg Antoon
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The Cleveland Cavaliers have signed guard/forward Christian Eyenga to a contract, Cavaliers General Manager Chris Grant announced yesterday. Per league and team policy, terms of the contract were not announced.
Eyenga, 21, was the Cavaliers' first round selection (30th overall) in the 2009 NBA Draft. He averaged 3.9 points on .561 shooting and 2.0 rebounds in 12.0 minutes in 29 regular season games during the 2009-10 season with DKV Joventut Badalona of the Spanish League. The Spanish League is widely regarded as the second-best domestic league in the world behind the NBA. In 11 EuroCup games, the 6-foot-5 guard/forward posted averages of 3.4 points on .444 shooting and 1.2 rebounds in 9.7 minutes per game.
Eyenga is expeceted to make an immediate impact for the Cavs in 2010-11. His athleticism and skills make him an interesting option off the bench for new Head Coach Byron Scott. "I am happy to be here in Cleveland and excited to play with the Cavaliers this season," Eyenga said. "This is a great opportunity for me and I look forward to playing for Coach Scott and learning from him, our coaches and my teammates."Grant and the rest of the Cavaliers management team is eager to see what he can do with a full training camp ahead of him in October. "We're looking forward to having Christian continue his development on the court here with Coach Scott and our team," said Cavs General Manager Chris Grant. "He has worked hard and we were very encouraged by his recent performance in summer league."
A native of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Eyenga most recently played in all five games of the 2010 NBA Summer League with the Cavaliers, reaching double figures in each of the games. In five games (all starts), he averaged 11.4 points on .435 shooting, 4.2 rebounds and 1.0 block in 29.2 minutes per game. He looked very comfortable playing alongside Cavs starting power forward J.J. Hickson. At times, he even outplayed Cavs 2nd round pick from last year, shooting guard Danny Green.
Look for Eyenga to initialy come off the bench for the Cavs in his rookie season. However, he has the talent and ceiling of an NBA starter in the future.
