Fayetteville Acquires Mateen Cleaves
Published on January 21, 2006 under NBA G League (G League)
Fayetteville Patriots News Release
GREENVILLE, S.C., January 21 - The Fayetteville Patriots have acquired point guard Mateen Cleaves from the NBA Development League available player pool. Cleaves is expected to be in uniform when the Patriots host Roanoke tonight at the Crown Coliseum.
A veteran of both the NBA and the D-League, as well as a former NBA first-round draft selection, Cleaves was waived by the Seattle SuperSonics on January 4 after playing in 19 games and averaging 9.3 minutes, 3.4 points and 1.7 assists. In 159 career NBA games with Detroit, Sacramento, Cleveland and Seattle he is averaging 11.4 minutes, 3.8 points, 1.9 assists and 1.1 rebounds.
The Pistons made Cleaves the 14th overall pick in the 2000 NBA Draft after he led Michigan State to NCAA national title and was named Most Outstanding Player in the 2000 NCAA Tournament. Twice named the Big 10 Conference Player of the Year, Cleaves is the all-time leading assist man in Michigan State history with 816.
This is Cleaves second stint in the NBA D-League. He played 42 games for Huntsville (now Albuquerque) in 2003-04, averaging 29.4 minutes, 13.7 points, 4.3 rebounds and 5.9 assists.
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