Cleveland Cavaliers sign Olivier Sarr to two-way contract

The 7-foot, 240-lb. French big man is a two-way player again. 

After sitting out with a left Achilles tendon rupture last season, the Raptors 905 season was his comeback season. The injury didn’t seem to impact him as he continued to prove that he is a lob threat, shot blocker, and a mobile big on both ends of the floor. He has recorded six double-doubles this season.

Against the Grand Rapids Gold recently, he aggressively took the ball to the hoop rather than resorting to a dribble hand-off.  He told me, “Mentally, there’s no block or anything” when it comes to the fear of re-injury. 

Most importantly, he’s shot 40% (54-136) from downtown as a 905er this season on 3.5 attempts per game. In his NBA career, he has shot 37% on less than one attempt per game. But 3-point success in the G League doesn’t always translate to the NBA with faster closeouts, so whether he gets 3-point reps in with Cleveland remains to be seen. 

Lastly, Sarr has been a part of winning organizations – he helped his OKC Blue team win the G League title and spent his comeback season with an excellent 905 organization under Drew Jones. 

He is the second Raptors 905 to be called up after Julian Reese.