Rookie guard/forward Christian Eyenga had a good time Monday at media day, but will he be a factor for the Cleveland Cavaliers this season is the question.

With the Cleveland Cavaliers opening training camp today, the one thing I look at is to see what first- or second-year players they have that may get sent down to play for the Erie BayHawks.

This year, the Cavaliers have a couple who may wind up spending time in Erie in second-year small forward Danny Green and rookie guard/forward Christian Eyenga out of the Congo.

Let’s look at Eyenga first.

He was the guy the Cavaliers picked in the first round of the 2009 NBA Draft,  but he decided to go back overseas and play in Spain. Didn’t feel as if he was ready for the NBA.

Not sure if he’s ready now, so I asked Eyenga point blank Monday at media day if he’d be open to getting sent down to the D-League.

“I’m open to it, but I want to make (the Cavaliers),” he said. “I’ve been working out to stay on the team and get some minutes. I know that they have the option to send me to the D-League, but I’m working hard to make the team.”

At 6-5 and 210 pounds, Eyenga has talent, but he didn’t average a lot of points (3.9 in 29 games for DKV Joventut Badalona) in Spain, but he’s athletic. So many would categorize someone like that as being raw.

So depending on how new Cavaliers coach Byron Scott uses him, Eyenga could be that energy guy off the bench or see his share of action in the D-League with the Erie BayHawks.

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The Cleveland Cavaliers will their summer league roster began playing in the Las Vegas Summer League beginning Tuesday. Going into his third season with Cleveland, power forward J.J. Hickson is scheduled to play as is forward Danny Green, who just finished his rookie season with the Cavaliers. 

The Cavaliers 2009 first-round pick, forward Christian Eyenga of the Congo, is also listed on the roster. The 6-foot-5 Eyenga didn’t play last season after deciding to remain overseas and play. 

The team also has some familiar names like Rashard McCants, who starred on the 2004 national championship for North Carolina and rookies Jerome Dyson of Connecticut and Manny Harris of Michigan.

Erie BayHawks coach John Treloar is also working as an assistant for the Cavaliers, who are an NBA affiliate of the BayHawks along with the Toronto Raptors.

 Two things to notice about the schedule is the Cavaliers play against the Miami Heat, who LeBron James chose to sign with instead of the Cavaliers earlier this week, and the Milwaukee Bucks, who have Darnell Jackson, a player Cleveland let go this past season. Jackson is scheduled to play for the Bucks this summer.

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Forward Christian Eyenga is going from the Congo to Cleveland.

The NBA affiliates of the Erie BayHawks – Cleveland Cavaliers and Philadelphia 76ers – made some selections tonight’s NBA Draft, which means one thing.

They may wind up suiting up for the BayHawks this season.

With the 30th overall pick, the Cavaliers chose Christian Eyenga out of the Congo. He’s 6-foot-6, 210 pounds, can play either guard or forward, but check out his stats.

Interesting.

The Sixers used the 17th overall pick to take UCLA  point guard Jrue Holiday.

With the D-League adding two teams in the eastern part of country in Portland, Maine and Springfield, Mass., Philadelphia become an affiliate of one of those two teams. Since the Sixers were so far away from Erie (6 hours), they didn’t develop the kind of the relationship with the BayHawks the Cavaliers did.

So talking about Philadelphia’s first-round pick playing in Erie may be irrelevant. If Philly and Erie remain connected, the chances of Holiday playing for the BayHawks are decent, but not great.

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