Charge exec on return to Canton: ‘Never say never’

Originally, Chris Spielman was supposed to be Monday's Hall of Fame Luncheon Club speaker. He canceled.

Then came a surprise announcement Bob Huggins would replace Spielman. Last Wednesday, he canceled.

The Club scrambled and got a speaker representing the Cleveland Cavaliers instead. It was Rocco Maragas, a former St. Thomas Aquinas quarterback who has been with the Cavs for 10 years and now is a senior vice president in charge of Cleveland Charge business affairs.

Maragas shared some observations about the Charge's parent club, the Cavaliers, who are headed into a playoff series against top-seeded Boston.

He said the organization's “phenomenal” medical staff is striving to bring back center Jarrett Allen after he lost two games of the Orlando series to a rib injury.

“We're hopeful,” he said. “We'll see what happens.”

Maragas was asked about hopes of keeping all-star guard Donovan Mitchell after his contract expires after the 2024-25 season.

“We really are going to do everything in our power to make that happen,” Maragas said. “You can never force anybody to say yes. You can make it really, really hard not to say yes.”

Maragas said the “culture” under owner Dan Gilbert is conducive to retaining Mitchell. He painted Gilbert as an exemplary owner, at one point noting, “When we won that NBA title, he met with every single employee to thank them.”

The Charge is the Cavaliers G League (minor league) affiliate. The affiliate arrived in Canton for the 2011-12 season and played at Memorial Civic Center

through the 2018-19 season.

The Charge has played in Cleveland since the 2021-22 season, housed a mile away from the Cavaliers arena in the 13,610-seat Wolstein Center. The Canton arena, with 4,000 permanent seats and space for about 1,000 temporary ones, was a more intimate setting.

For Charge purposes, the arena configuration covers 4,500 seats. The Charge season ended March 30. The record was 15-19.

“We went above 4,500 at least six times,” Maragas said. “We averaged 3,383, which was a Charge record.”

The Charge was thought to have been well supported in Canton. It was seen as an asset for Stark County, and there were some hard feelings over leaving. The Charge began playing in Cleveland after one season, amid COVID-19 issues, at a single site for all G League teams.

The age and future of the Civic Center, which opened in 1951, was a concern. There were internal discussions about possibly moving the Charge to an arena planned for Hall of Fame Village.

The imagined capacity was 5,000-plus. Years later the arena is still just a concept.

During a question-answer session, someone asked if there is a chance the Charge will some day return to Canton.

“I would say, never say never,” said Maragas. As to the Charge’s status in Cleveland, he said, “It’s working for now.”

Maragas didn’t get into the Cavs’ chances against the Celtics. He mentioned a few Charge players.

Sam Merrill, a 3-point threat off the bench for the Cavaliers, originally came to the Charge as the first overall pick of the 2022 G League draft.

Maragas recalled Merrill scoring big in a day game at Wolstein Center and then hustling over the Quicken Loans Arena, where he appeared in the night’s Cavs game.

Isaiah Mobley, older brother of Cavs starter Evan Mobley, has averaged 22.1 points and 9.9 rebounds with the Charge in the last two seasons. Isaiah, 24, is a 6-foot-8 power forward who was a second-round draft choice by the Cavaliers in 2022.

Charge forward Pete Nance, also 24, is the son of former Cavaliers star Larry Nance. He averaged 12.4 points and 7.6 rebounds in 16 games with the 2023-24 Charge.

Maragas was introduced by lifelong friend Antonio Hall, football coach at McKinley.

Hall played for McKinley and became an AllSEC lineman. Their relationship led to Maragas walking on at Kentucky after his Aquinas days.