2012 NBA Draft: Cleveland Cavaliers Select Dion Waiters, SG, Syracuse
June 28, 20122012 NBA Draft: Buckeye Jared Sullinger goes 21st to Boston Celtics
June 28, 2012According to pretty much everyone on Twitter and ESPN, the Cavaliers have acquired Tyler Zeller, the 17th pick in the NBA draft in exchange for the 24, 33, and 34th picks that the Cavaliers had remaining.
It seems a little bit strange to me that Dallas would want those picks. I understand they didn’t want to take on more salary. Our own TD suggests that they can draft European players who won’t need roster spots immediately.
Either way, you can add Zeller to the haul for the Cavs it appears. Kyrie Irving, Tristan Thompson, Dion Waiters and now Tyler Zeller appear to be Chris Grant’s best bet at building a core in his first two available years to give it a shot.
(Update: The league has confirmed the reported deal. The Cavaliers end up with Zeller with the Mavericks receiving Jared Cunningham, Bernard James and Jae Crowder.)
[Related: 2012 NBA Draft: Cleveland Cavaliers Select Dion Waiters, SG, Syracuse]
59 Comments
I like it I always liked Zeller but this kind of sheds some light on why Waiters was #4. I don’t know if he’s the SG I’d have chosen but I like the trade for Zeller. You still have Thompson/Varejao now resign Gee and proceed to free agency. People have to remember all the picks a year from now.
WAY TO GO CHRIS GRANT!!
NO NO NO NO NO .
FOR REAL!
there was so much on the board and we trade it all away for zeller.
NO
Big Z v 2.0? Coach Scott really wants to run.
I love this trade
Irving, Waiters, Thompson, Zeller…interesting. And we can play Gee at the 3 if he returns for next year. This team might be pretty decent, especially since we get to keep Anderson Varejao. It’s going to be interesting to see if Waiters proves he was worth the 4th pick.
Would much rather had Barnes and Zeller! I sure hope the Cavs didn’t out smart themselves. Only time will tell. I also would have traded it all for MKG or Beal as one player can make such a huge difference in the NBA.
There were guys but they moved up 7 spots and drafted a player at a position they haven’t had since the last time they had a UNC center. Zeller will start game 1 and be rock steady any other prospective big men would have taken 2-3 years just to develop. I like the move myself.
I’m much more pleased with this trade than I was with the 4th pick…
Zeller could lap Z twice did you see him play?
love it. 7 footer that can run. who cares about the 2nd rounders
“i have no weaknesses”
not the attitude i want on my home team. too cocky.
Good!! Now everyone can shut up about the Cavs following the OKC plan. Looks as if the Cavs decided to follow the old Cavs plan where a team is built around a center (Daugherty, & now, Zeller), and a point guard (Price, & now, Irving). This is nice move.
Yeah sorry not what I meant. Z1 slow, Z2 runs well
I really like the Zeller pickup. His game should complement Tristan nicely and form a dynamic frontcourt. Zeller’s strengths seem to cover Tristan’s weaknesses and the other way around. Plus both are rebounding machines.
Ah ok and more importantly a big man who will barely leave the paint as opposed to Z who would have rather shot 3s.
I think you are reading alot into it some might say the Cavaliers could use a little attitude. Fine line between arrogance and confidence.
I love this trade. Zeller was a predicted lottery pick, has good size, great athleticism for a big man, and nice shooting touch. We got him for basically two second round picks which traditionally yield D-League projects or a potential rotation player.
You’re right. Too cocky. Next thing you know he’ll have a tattoo on his arm proclaiming himself “the chosen one.”
meh. i still liked PJIII better. i am not worried about his knee. Amare Stoudemire can’t move and he got $100million from the Knicks. A meniscus is a minor injury.
What!?
TT would be Nance.
LOVE THIS TRADE. if only we hadn’t whiffed so hard on #4..
sounds like Waiters doesn’t lack swag either. I like a confident team
We blew it. Could of had Brandon Knight or Klay Thompson last year and then used our picks for T-Rob at 4 and Perry Jones at 24 and still kept 33 and 34. So we got Waiters and Zeller instead of T-Rob and PJ3 and 2 more picks. Well done Grant and Gilbert. You just made a team who’s ceiling is medium at best which is the worst spot to be in the nba. I will root for these guys but it sucks when these cleveland execs never get anything right and are clearly not good at their job but since the kiss the owners butt and include him in decision making which he has no business being because he is clueless about putting together a team. I feel great about aiming for mediocrity.
Zeller was top 12 talent. And seeing as how there was little to no chance there was going to be four drafted rookies on the roster next season then I have no problem letting the second rounders go. Good move in my opinion.
Disagree with so many of your statements…
Not that I like your picks better, but isnt it so much easier when you get to make your picks after both drafts?
i have been a long time fan of cleveland cavaliers and the is the worst draft i have ever seen before….2 pick..not even quality picks and then you give away 3 more to dallas. i will never be a cleveland fan again because they are not showing any commitment to win a championship
i have been a long time fan of cleveland cavaliers and this is the worst draft i have ever seen before….2 pick..not even quality picks and then you give away 3 more to dallas. i will never be a cleveland fan again because they are not showing any commitment to win a championship
Worse than Diop? Luke Jackson? Dajuan Wagner?
And no commitment to winning a championship? Have you never listened to Dan Gilbert speak!?
Plus giving away 2nd round picks I the NBA is no big deal, they have little value.
Bye.
This draft is going to set the organization back 3-5 years.
I believe Chris Grant owes all Cleveland Cavalier fans an explanation and an apology as he submits his resignation.
dallas is insane. very glad to have big brother Zeller. waiters has the tools, hopefully he can refine them.
I really, really wish we could have kept one of the 2nd round picks to take Crowder with. Every time I watched him play this season I was impressed, and he fits right in with our wing needs. Can’t say I’m too disappointed though, even without him.
I for one loved seeing Z drain corner 3’s.
you’re probably not much of a fan then…
We could of picked Crowder and Draymond Green if we kept our 2nd rounders and these 2 players will contribute to a team. All of a sudden the cavs would be 7 players deep. These guys are relentless on the boards and we would of been an incredible rebounding team. No matter what we did we were going to improve but it’s really obvious we missed out on some opportunities.
You know nothing about NB basketball. The clearest sign of that is your interest in useless second rd picks. About one to two second rd picks end up being a rotation plyr their rookie years. Get real, man. You’re really embarrassing yrself…
agreed. If THIS is that guy’s tipping point, he probably wasn’t a fan through the drive/fumble/shot/decision/mesa and so on
Last years draft was terrible but teams knew how good the next years draft would be with big men. Why would you reach for Tristan Thompson and not take Klay Thompson or Brandon Knight if you were going to reach for Waiters and miss out on the real talent with T-Rob. If you can’t see why they screwed this up I don’t know what it would take to make you see it. All the cavs did was magnify the stupidity of the TT pick by passing on T-Rob.
lets not base our draft off of The Knicks’ financial decisions
yeah but next year’s draft will be nothing compared to this one. we should have gotten more from this draft, love the picks but we should have traded back into this year’s draft
Here would be my starting line up
Irving
Brandon Knight/Klay Thompson
Perry Jones 3
Thomas Robinson
Anderson Varejao
Bench
Jae Crowder
Draymond Green
Alonzo Gee
much rather have my team
Say what you will everyone about either the pick or the trade but at the end of the day we are semi-informed fans and armchair GMs! These guys get paid to do what they are doing and all you can do is trust it and root for your boys in wine and gold or go root for the Heat. I for one am thrilled to welcome these kids to the team and can’t wait to continue to add to it! Waiters pans out the way they think he will and we are going to have an excellent backcourt and core to build on for years… All young and growing up together. I’m excited for the future! Go cavs
And your too stupid to not individualize one draft from another. This draft had good players almost to pick 40. If you are too dumb to see how the draft is going and how players are dropping then that means you obviously have no ability to adapt to different situations. This year Draymond Green and Jae Crowder were definitely worth taking at 33 and 34. Yes picks past no 10 don’t normally work out let alone in the 2nd round but this year was different and I understand that you couldn’t see such a thing since you are such a surface thinker.
Chris Mills, Vitaly Potopenko, Disagna Diop, Dajuan Wagner, Brendan Hawood, and Trajan Langdon are preparing to take umbrage to your comment.
On a scale of Ricky Davis to Dwayne Wade I think Waiters has a realistic chance to be Tyreke Evans, and I on a scale of insult to compliment, I slide that in as a backhanded compliment. That being said if you are going to just go stats he’s technically a better shooter than Beal, both from distance and close up. My biggest fear is that guys who play in zone schemes are similar to college football players who come out of spread systems – they may translate but there is a little more guess work. Was Waiters a really bad rebounder? Or just the victim of having quality bigs, and a system that encourages you to stay in an area rather then crash to a specific point?
All in all I like anything better than Barnes, and while I really liked Robinson, I’m more okay with Waiters/Zeller then Robinson and the guys available at the 2/3 we could have gotten at 24 or even 16 if you figure we make that same trade for a wing.
Yeah man, Waiters hasn’t even scored in the NBA yet, what a disaster.