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“I had the opportunity to speak with Robinson in a small group of people after the lottery order had been announced, and I came away extremely impressed. First, he’s much bigger than he looks on TV. He’s not quite as big yet, but his size and body structure reminded me of Blake Griffin. His shoulders were huge. When asked if he was more physically ready than some of the younger prospects because he spent more years in college and had more time to physically mature, Robinson stated that he didn’t necessarily know if he was more ready, but that he was ready, and that’s all that matters. I also really liked the way he carried himself. He just knows he’s good. That’s the feeling I got from talking to him. He sounded particularly intrigued by the idea of playing with either Kemba Walker (Charlotte, pick 2) or Kyrie Irving (Cleveland, pick 4) when directly asked, but also noted that he doesn’t care where he goes and just wants to play basketball. Obviously, every prospect says that, but the tone of relaxed confidence in his voice rather than the practiced platitudes you hear from many players made me believe him more for some reason. Maybe it was just his purple bow tie. Maybe not. Either way, very impressive young man.” [Dubin/Hardwood Paroxysm]
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“#4 this year is leaps and bounds ahead of #4 last year. With all due respect to Tristan Thompson , he is not a guy you want to take with the #4 overall pick in the NBA Draft. Last year’s draft was miserable in terms of talent, and rather than risk selecting a bust with #4, Chris Grant selected Thompson, an athletic but undersized big man who will never be a Top-3 guy on a championship-caliber team. The pick made sense; the Cavs were already taking a relatively dangerous pick in Kyrie Irving, and they needed a safe pick with #4, a guy who would certainly be an NBA rotation player. But if Tristan Thompson was entering the draft this season, he wouldn’t be going anywhere near #4. Barnes, Sullinger, and Perry Jones III were all ahead of Thompson on the Cavs’ wish list last year, and would have pushed Thompson out of #4 a year ago had they declared for the Draft.” [Curry/Cavs HQ]
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“Since that well-intentioned, ill-fated trade, Jimenez has made 21 starts for the Indians. His record in those starts is 9-8 with a 5.41 ERA. The Indians’ record in the 21 games Jimenez has started for them is 10-11. Those are not No. 1 starter numbers. Those are barely No. 5 starter numbers. The Indians traded for a No. 1. They’ve gotten a No. 5 — if that.
It’s gotten so bad, the Indians are skipping Jimenez’s turn in the rotation. His normal day to pitch would have been Saturday. But that isn’t going to happen.” [Ingraham/News Herald]
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“Brown has never been the “new black” in uniforms. Never has been and, quite likely, never will be. Even teams that have brown in their name (the Cleveland Browns, Rhode Island’s Brown University) often relegate their eponymous color to benchwarmer status…. Alas, brown is so unloved that it’s never even had a heyday. If we look at the NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB, only three teams have featured brown: the St. Louis Browns (they didn’t have a lot of options, now did they?), who played for over 50 years in brown and orange before moving to Baltimore and switching the brown to black; the San Diego Padres, who wore brown from the team’s inception in 1969 until 1991; and that aforementioned team from Cleveland, who didn’t wear their brown jerseys even once last season (although that’s apparently going to change this year).” [Lukas/UniWatch]
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“More wild cards: The Cleveland Indians boast a couple of well regarded international arms in right-hander Felix Sterling and lefty Elvis Araujo. Like Ross, both were unpolished and lacked secondary offerings. However, Ross threw harder than either Indians farmhand and the contact came away a bit disappointed with the Lake County staff on the whole.” [Newman/Fan Graphs]
