'Minivan' Georges Niang brings levity to Cavs`

INDEPENDENCE — While he was a member of the Utah Jazz, forward Georges Niang swooped in for a dunk in practice that drew some good-natured teasing from his teammates. "You can imagine how ugly it looked," Niang said. "When we got to the locker room, Jazz teammate Donovan Mitchell said, 'Oh, man, what was that?'" When Mitchell dunks, Niang said it reminds him of a Ferrari. "I need a couple laps around the block to get warmed up, kind of like a minivan," Niang told his teammates, which caused an eruption of laughter in the Jazz locker room. "It kind of stuck," he said. "They made up T-shirts." The minivan was born. Niang, who signed a three-year, $26 million deal with the Cavaliers in the offseason, is the master of self-deprecation. "I like to make fun of myself all the time," the 6-foot-7, 235-pounder said. Niang, 30, won't be entering the NBA's Slam Dunk Contest anytime soon. In fact, he rarely drives to the basket. He was a target of the Cavs for one reason: His ability to shoot 3-pointers. That's something he does extremely well, as evidenced by his career .403 percentage from behind the arc. He's shot .400 or better in each of his last five seasons. Niang was drafted by the Indiana Pacers in 2016 out of Iowa State and played one season there before being waived and forced to the G League. He finally found a home in Utah in 2017, where he joined forces with Mitchell. Niang played four seasons with the Jazz and the last two in Philadelphia before rejoining Mitchell in Cleveland. The Cavs' All-Star guard played a role in convincing him to park the minivan in downtown Cleveland in a series of phone calls during free agency. Mitchell was reluctant to speak in detail of those conversations and feared that the league office would frown on them. "I've known Georges since my rookie year," Mitchell said. "There wasn't a day I didn't call him just to say, 'Hello.' I don't want (the NBA) to get on me for that. Obviously, it worked out. "All I did was make the phone call. The interest was already there. We got something brewing here, something special. Georges and Max (Strus) want to be a part of that." Niang, whose father was born and raised in Senegal, said free agency happened fast. "It was kind of crazy," he said. "Free agency starts and things start to happen. The thing that drew me to Cleveland was the winning culture they are starting to build. They have a young, core group. They have stars that are young. The trajectory of this team looks like they are going to winning for a long time. I want to help be a part of that. "They indicated that shooting was a need for them, and that's something I can do. I've played in blue-collar cities before. That's where I feel I fit (in). It was a mutual love at first sight." From afar, while playing against the Cavs, he saw a team that played hard every night. "Each offseason they are taking steps to continue to get better," Niang said. "I'm just happy I can help be a part of that building process of winning a championship, not just making the playoffs." Cavs president of basketball operations Koby Altman said he believes Niang and Max Strus both play with an "edge." Niang said both Strus and himself have been underdogs their whole careers. Niang was a second-round pick and Strus wasn't even drafted. "He's had to work his way up," Niang said. "He's made a nice career for himself. I look at my journey as somewhat the same." Niang said he's adopted that edge after facing so much adversity early in his career. "When you've been told no, cut, and told you're not good enough so many times, you play with a nastiness," he said. "I take that edge in everything I do on the court. I would say I'm a pretty nice guy off the court. "I try to bring that edge every day because I remember what it was like with people telling me I wasn't good enough. I'm never going to let them take that away from me. That's why I have that nastiness and edge." But he also has his nickname that Mitchell said, "needs to stick." "Hopefully, somebody gives him a deal for that, some car dealership," he said. Contact Bob Finnan at rfinnan30@gmail.com. Follow him @BobCavsinsider on X.