Cavs Insider

New Cavaliers Forward D.J. Burns Explains Why He Chose Cleveland

After going undrafted several weeks back Burns decided to join the Cavs summer league roster

Spencer German

N.C. State star D.J. Burns meets with the media as a member of the the Cavaliers summer league roster days before games begin.
N.C. State star D.J. Burns meets with the media as a member of the the Cavaliers summer league roster days before games begin. / Spencer German
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NC State star D.J. Burns had hoped to hear his named called at last month's NBA Draft. When it wasn't Burns had the opportunity to choose his destination as he attempted to chase his NBA dream.

He settled on the Cleveland Cavaliers. After holding a pre-draft workout with the franchise it felt like the right fit for his style of play.

"I think the way that they play kinda matches how I play, the way that they use their bigs to their strength," Burns explained at the team's final practice before heading to Las Vegas. "That's something that I've always had in coaches and that was something that immediately stood out here."

It's been an eventful offseason for Burns since bursting into stardom during the NCAA Tournament as he helped lead the Wolfpack on a run to the Final Four. In his preparations for the draft Burns worked out for a number of teams and reportedly dropped 45 pounds from his college playing weight of 275 pounds.

It was done with the goal of being even more agile, particularly as he prepares to defend NBA level players. The summer league will serve as the first opportunity for Burns to show off his transformation on the basketball court.

"I knew once our season [at NC State] was over we were gonna have to hit that immediately. There was no doubt about that," said Burns. "It's kinda hard to change your whole diet in the middle of the season. You've been playing a certain way all year it's hard to just change all of a sudden.

"[Now], it wasn't too hard to change. All about timing."

The Cavaliers open up summer league play out in Vegas against the Magic on Friday. With his new found stardom, there will certainly be a lot of eyes on Burns in the coming weeks as he looks to earn a spot on the Cavaliers roster, or at the very least with the G-league, Cleveland Charge.

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Spencer German

SPENCER GERMAN

Spencer German is a contributor to the Northeast Ohio cluster of sites, including Cavs Insider, Cleveland Baseball Insider and most notably Browns Digest. He also works as a fill-in host on Cleveland Sports Radio, 92.3 The Fan, one of the Browns radio affiliate stations in Cleveland. Despite being a Cleveland transplant, Spencer has enjoyed making Northeast Ohio home ever since he attended college locally.Β 

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