Cavs sign Elijah Hughes to Exhibit 10 contract

Hughes was acquired by the Cleveland Charge on October 7th and is expected to spend the season with them.

It was announced on Wednesday via Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report that the Cleveland Cavaliers have signed G/F Elijah Hughes. According to Chris Fedor of cleveland.com, this will be an Exhibit 10 deal. This was made possible due to Zhaire Smith and Jacob Gilyard being waived.

This would mean that Hughes will be with the Cavaliers for the remainder of training camp and the preseason. When the preseason is over, Hughes will likely join the Cleveland Charge in the G League.

The Charge recently acquired Hughes in a trade on October 7th. The trade resulted in the Wisconsin Herd receiving a 2025 Charge second-round draft pick and the NBA G League returning player rights to Sam Merrill. Merrill’s returning player rights would only matter if he isn’t on an NBA team.

Hughes at 26 years old profiles as a 6’5 guard whose strengths are in off-ball movement and creating shot opportunities off the catch. Hughes last played in the NBA in the 2021-2022 season for the Utah Jazz and the Portland Trail Blazers.

Thus far Hughes is averaging 2.9 points and 1.2 rebounds per game in his limited time on the floor in the NBA. For the Herd last season, Hughes averaged 10.6 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 2.4 assists in 45 games.

It is more likely than not that Hughes will spend the season with the Charge and they will work to develop his raw skill set. With the offense Kenny Atkinson is hoping to run with free movement and spacing, there could be some roadmap for Hughes to reach the NBA once again.