So, this is it. I’d rally you all with a Braveheart speech or some such, but I’m kind of a fatalist. It’d be a downer, probably. (“I know we are all deeply flawed human beings, alienated from one another, incapable of true empathy, but arbitrarily bound together by this basketball team. I’m not even from Cleveland, by the way…“) But tonight’s the night where the future of our Cleveland Cavaliers is determined to either a large or small extent. Probably large. Big night, in all likelihood. Might not be, though. We could totally look back on this night, and go, “Remember when we were all convinced of how momentous an occasion the 2012 draft was going to be, and then nothing particularly consequential happened?” That would be weird, though. Seems like we’d be saying that sort of thing in a nuclear wasteland wrought from war with a brutally violent alien race. Y’know, after some perspective was gained. It’s hard to care about sports when your entire family has immolated, and you’re drinking irradiated water out of a cup you carved from your dear pet dog Hobbes’s pelvis.
I’m geting off track. This is an important night, probably. So let’s get out there, and KILL SOME ALIENS! draft boldly and intelligently. Not us, of course. Chris Grant is the actor here. We will not participate in the decision-making process at all. We’ll be sitting at home, because none of us are qualified to work in an NBA front office, with our hope and sweaty palms. Maybe a beer. Definitely a beer. (If you’re wondering, had the linked article been mine and not Mallory’s, all the players would have been PBR, and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist would have been the cheapest bottle of champagne imaginable.)
Anyway, updates: we’ll have them for you here as picks and/or trades are made. Feel free to cheer, argue, yell, pontificate, etc. in the comment section. Enjoy the spectacle, everyone.
UPDATE I: Chris Broussard is reporting the Cavs are offering the Bobcats the fourth, 24th, and 33rd pick in exchange for the second and 31st picks. Most everyone assumes they’re going after Beal.
UPDATE II: The Cavs take Dion Waiters. The world disintegrates like a cookie beneath the rump of a corpulent eight year-old.
UPDATE III: The Cavs traded the 24th and the two second-rounders to Dallas for Tyler Zeller.
Can I finally quit being a masochist & officially give up on the Cavs?
I’m okay with this. At least it wasn’t Barnes… too inconsistent. Waiters could pan out and if he doesn’t maybe we will contend for more top picks in the near future.
I just don’t understand why we wouldn’t have made a trade with…say…the Warriors and move back to #7 then?
Pick up additional assets, and still 90%+ likely we get Waiters…
Waiters is HUGE RISK/REWARD. Honestly I think he has a higher ceiling than Barnes, but less of a sure thing.
Why hello there, Absolute Worst Case Scenario. Fancy running into you at the draft.
Mind = boggled.
Actually…is it too much to hope that we have a deal with someone to trade them Waiters? I know there were plenty of rumors that Portland was going to take him…maybe someone else wanted him and we have a trade in place?
it sure seems like Chris Grant follows Holliger’s draft rater. Tristan Thompson was ahead of Jonas last year and Waiters was listed as the 4th best prospect behind Davis, Robinson and Kill-Gilchist in this year’s draft.
Hollinger states “Waiter projects as the best small wing since Dwayne Wade”. Let’s hope he’s right.
ka – def agree they are all over advanced stats. tt pick showed that.
If they get 7 from the warriors and take Barnes here, I’d be thrilled.
how long do i need to let my oven heat up before i shove my head inside of it?
Feels like a reach, although with Barnes falling maybe the Cavs knew what they were doing.
Cavs obviously going the moneyball approach with these picks. Hollinger writes he is the best projection of a wing since Dwyane Wade.
Just gotta hope Grant knows what he’s doing. These are either the best or worst picks ever. Gutted about MKG.
I couldn’t possibly be more bummed out about the way this is panning out thus far. I’m sad inside.
If we don’t make some sort of trade up from 24, i will officially cry myself to sleep tonight.
maybe they just wanted to make sure sactown got trob so they could make the playoffs and we could pick up that future first rounder from the omri deal
Still can’t believe we couldn’t work a trade with Charlotte. Here’s hoping we can work some magic with the Rockets in the late lottery.
VARAJAO FOR NO. 12! DO IT!
I guess Grant is cool with tanking for the next year as well. Lets just hope Kyrie really does love Cleveland.
This is just a friendly reminder that Dion Waiters NEVER EVEN FREAKING WORKED OUT FOR THE CAVS!
The End.
Everyone should calm down, show some trust in our front office. A kyrie dion back court doesn’t sound all that bad to me. Would I have liked Barnes there? Yes. Should they have traded back? Probably. But Chris Grant probably knows some things I don’t.
May 24 Update: A number of NBA scouts who I really respect have been telling me for more than a month that the real sleeper in this draft is Syracuse sophomore Dion Waiters. One GM went even further. “There are really only two potential superstars in this draft. One is a sure thing — freshman Anthony Davis. The other one is Waiters. He can be an electric scorer in the NBA. There’s some Dwyane Wade in him.”
Who had these picks in their mock draft?
From ESPN:
May 24 Update: A number of NBA scouts who I really respect have been telling me for more than a month that the real sleeper in this draft is Syracuse sophomore Dion Waiters. One GM went even further. “There are really only two potential superstars in this draft. One is a sure thing — freshman Anthony Davis. The other one is Waiters. He can be an electric scorer in the NBA. There’s some Dwyane Wade in him.”
@CrankyM – if it’s a gas stove, no need to wait! :) If it’s electric… please don’t (your neighbors will thank you, LOL)
p.s. and how do we know Grant didn’t work him out elsewhere.. or was watching someone else’s? Them GMs are sneaky….
Next Wagner will come..
From DraftExpress:
Dion Waiters best case: Rodney Stuckey
Worst case: Smush Parker.
I missed Smush parker.
I’m okay with Waiters – if we suck, great, another awesome pic. But if this doesn’t work out… are the Cavs allergic to #4 overall picks or something? Y U NO pick Valanciunas?
That makes me feel a bit better Jorge…but at the same time that GM could have been KAAAAAAAAAAHNNNN! for all we know…
If they pick up PJ3 or Jeff Taylor @ 24, this turns out to be a pretty good draft. SF is deeper than SG in this class, IMO.
When Rodney Stuckey is your best case scenario, and not your worst case, you are not worth a number 4 pick.
How reliable is DraftExpress, generally?
Drummond to the D… It’s Darko all over again LOL
Hollinger:
As I noted with Leonard a year ago, wing players — especially bigger ones — with strong Draft Rater marks virtually never fail. Of the eight players to rate above 13 in the past decade, the worst among them was Josh Childress. Five of the players have played in an All-Star Game, and Rudy Gay may play in an All-Star Game soon. The seventh player is Leonard.
This year, we have two names to add to that list: Dion Waiters and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. Kidd-Gilchrist is probably the safest pick on the board — a big wing who plays defense, has strong stats and comes with no character questions. From a risk-aversion perspective alone he should be a top-five pick; I have him third on my board after Robinson. (See below for how I would rank the prospects, regardless of their Draft Rater numbers.)
I have Waiters fourth for similar reasons. His size, 6-foot-4, is more of a concern, but whatever team made him a promise did a wise thing. Waiters projects as the best small wing since Dwyane Wade, and he’d be a steal if somebody got him in the Nos. 8-10 range currently being discussed.
Dion Waiters Syracuse 14.12
Kendall Marshall North Carolina 13.84
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist Kentucky 13.58
Marquis Teague Kentucky 13.18
Quincy Miller Baylor 12.94
Tony Wroten Washington 12.21
Bradley Beal Florida 11.65
Kostas Sloukas Greece 11.51
Harrison Barnes North Carolina 11.11
Will Barton Memphis 10.90
Doron Lamb Kentucky 10.65
Jeremy Lamb Connecticut 10.50
DraftExpress is an absolute joke, by the way. Look at their past comparisons and it’s clearly not based on anything but eye tests.
Cranky M – Waiters is a smaller wing like Stuckey, they’re both strong… comparisons should stop there because Waiters is a very solid shooter from range. He’s a better shooter than Wade even! I want to be optimistic about it.
Also, Hollinger made some absurdly accurate predictions last year that would have helped several teams.
@ Cranky M, they thought Westbrook was best case scenario Leandro Barbosa. The comparisons generally are based in play style. Waiters is a combo guard, like Stuckey is.
Alright. I’m trying to will myself into being more optimistic about the pick, but that Rodney Stuckey thing set me back quite a bit.
So now, i am extremely excited that we drafted an under-sized SG with character issues who came off the bench in college and has a questionable outside shot. What more could anyone possibly want?
Westbrook/Barbosa….that’s pretty spot-on. It wasn’t until Game 7 of the Finals that i realized Barbosa wasn’t the PG on OKC…
Looking thru picks since Lebron in 2003….Cavs have done terrible aside from the very obvious #1s. So no there isn’t a ton of reason to “trust” management as suggested here. I really hope I’m wrong because saying that it doesn’t matter because they will just go back to the lottery is a terrible answer. Kyrie will just leave if they are several years behind schedule.
He is big and strong enough to guard pretty much any 2 guard in the league, don’t know how under-sized he is. Character issues? He had a rough adjustment as a college freshman and has been a class act and team leader since, who can’t relate to that? 36% from 3 is probably better than questionable, wouldn’t you think? Especially combined with his ability to put it on the floor and finish at the rim. I’m excited at the potential here.
If Waiters is high risk/high reward… how does that differ from Drummond? (who is, well, 7 feet tall)
looks like he can play basketball:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuNZyi1I9O8&feature=related
Cavs reportedly trying to deal Andy to GS for Barnes.
Waiters isn’t nearly as risky as Drummond. Drummond doesn’t seem to care to get better.
I want to like this pick, but I am tired of this team having undersized players. Kyrie and Andy (who is really a PF) are the only ones who have anything resembling ideal size for their position.
Please trade back into the top 15 and save this draft . . .
Seriously, how do you guys know that Waiters isn’t a better player for the Cavs than Barnes/Robinson/Drummond? Beal/MKG were off the board, nothing we can do about that.
Based on advanced stats and position of need (wing) I think Grant probably made the right choice.
According to comps we now have a backcourt of CP3 and Wade – seems like a stretch but if it pans out, Christ!
DWade is 6’4.75 with shoes. Waiters is 6’4 flat with shoes. Height probably wont be that much of an issue.
Have a pub pack of Great Lakes brews hauled down to DC from the North Coast. Currently consuming Eliot Ness amber waiting for a slick trade announcement and trying desperately to be comforted by comforting words of John Hollinger. Not yet succeeding.
Now they’re trying to trade Andy for Barnes?