Brandon Weeden: Greg Little is like Justin Blackmon
May 30, 2012While We’re Waiting… Cavaliers picking fourth, Chisenhall staying and LaPorta struggling
May 31, 2012The Cleveland Cavaliers will select fourth in the 2012 NBA Draft, per the outcome of Wednesday night’s NBA Draft Lottery held in New York, New York.
Finishing the 2011-12 season with a record of 21-45, the Cavs — represented by Nick Gilbert, son of team owner Dan Gilbert, as well as a variety of Cleveland sports celebrities — had a 13.8 percent chance of landing the top overall spot, won by the New Orleans Hornets under their new ownership. The Cavaliers, winning a coin toss earlier this spring, were afforded the position to be no worse than sixth-overall. New Orleans was on the losing of said coin toss.
The Cavaliers were winners of the 2011 NBA Draft Lottery, despite having only 3.5 percent odds of doing so via a draft selection acquired from the Los Angeles Clippers, and decided on using said pick to acquire Duke point guard Kyrie Irving, the 2011-12 NBA Rookie of the Year. With the fourth-overall pick that very year, the Cavs selected Texas power forward Tristan Thompson.
Selecting fourth, the Cavaliers will be faced with the decision of addressing their weaknesses at the shooting guard and small forward positions with the best-remaining player or bolstering their front court with UConn’s Andre Drummond. DraftExpress currently pegs the Cavaliers with Florida shooting guard Bradley Beal. The team has already begun the workout process and will likely play host to a variety of top-tier players in the coming weeks.
“With the draft picks and flexibility that we currently have, this is an exciting time for our franchise,” said Cavaliers General Manager Chris Grant. “Tonight was a very positive step in the process and we are going to add more good players to our foundation.”
The Cavaliers will also draft 24th, 33rd and 34th.
[Related: Michael Kidd-Gilchrist on the Cavaliers is the Stuff of Dreams]
71 Comments
You have a gaping hole.
he’s a stat stuffer. he fills up all categories, which is why he is highly sought after. he was not a great outside shooter at Florida, no. he was a very good mid-range shooter though.
i was higher on J.Lamb partially because of the defensive ceiling nearly all year long, but Beal won me over the last month or so of the season. i do worry about his lack of height, but i think he’s still a very good prospect.
agreed. and OKC was thought to have “reached” for Westbrook (and later Harden). you have to find the guys that you trust and not worry about what others think.
from all accounts here in TX, PJIII is a great kid. he hasn’t complained about the fact the offense doesn’t go through him all the time, etc. his character doesn’t worry me.
we’ll see on Barnes, but I don’t think our FO gets swayed with one article. most of these kids think about their brand (he just made the foolish mistake of mentioning it).
but, it’s another reason I love J.Lamb. kid gives full effort on the court, reportedly off the court, and effuses nothing but praise for teammates (even when Drummond was giving them 2 pts in their last loss).
that is the hope
no – it’s completely invalid from its inception.
Assuming the draft goes Davis, MKG, Beal, I wouldn’t mind taking Perry Jones and having him play SF at #4.
I just really want to stay away from Drummond.
I don’t mind having the fourth pick because we can still get a very good player. What bothers me is that by ‘winning’ the coin toss with the Hornets we missed out on the first pick.
Any team that agrees to trade back with us so we can get MKG would be crazy. Fortunately that team is picking second.
If we can’t trade up, I’d be fine with trading back a few slots for the right price and grabbing a wing like J. Lamb, who has the ideal physical traits to be an NBA 2 guard.
I think Lamb is a great dark horse for the 4th pick. We’ve also seen Grant isn’t afraid to “reach” a bit for a guy who fits our plan. Lamb seems to be exactly that kind of guy.
I know this isn’t the NFL, but how do we feel about moving down if that’s our guy? Do NBA teams even really do that?
yes, I have been accused of that hahaha
I think if the Cavs love Lamb and want to trade down to get him, there’s a good chance that somebody else also loves Lamb and would grab him. Like football, NBA draft boards are different for each team and usually way different than what the expert talking heads think. I think the Cavs would be better off just grabbing the guy they like at #4 and worrying about “reaching” in 2 years when the player has developed some.
I would trade down to Portland and probably no further. Are the Kings really taking Lamb? I’d take that risk if we got #11 back (or wait until #6 comes up as often happens for NBA draft trades)
yep, happens alot after the first few picks. usually guys moving up or down just a few slots (Brandon Roy, Crawford was one for us, Dirk and Kobe both famously were draft night trades, etc.)
The most important comparison to make is that Hasheem Thabeet played zero college as an 18 year old. That makes everything else a wash. If Drummond turned 22 in the middle of this last season, I would agree that you could compare the two, but the age difference is a huge, overwhelming, factor.
I feel that I’ve defended Drummond a lot more strongly than I wanted to here because so many people are ridiculously down on him. But the fact of the matter is you can’t just say college production = nba production. The game is a lot different.
no doubt. but when you see what sure looks like not trying during some games (great example is against Iowa State in the NCAA tourney), then you “take mental notes”
he’s young, he’s tall, he’s bulky. maybe we should nickname him the “plus sized model”
Again, if the chips fall perfectly for us, maybe we can give away a pick that is 50-50 to even make the rotation to get an upgrade we love. And that’s if Charlotte doesn’t want to see if anyone else can up the bid a bit.
Jacked, not bulky. There’s a key difference.
I saw a team that barely got any coaching, and a bunch of perimeter players who had no interest in feeding the big guy. I can understand how that can come off as not trying, but you put him in an ideal situation (say a quick point guard who loves to run the pick and roll) and get him some touches moving toward the basket, and you may suddenly find yourself with a big man who is dominating a game on both ends of the court.
In fairness, Eric Gordon didn’t shoot well in college either