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.
How come we did not offer SAC to exchange picks for releasing a lottery protect.
@Rick in Boise
The point is that Waiters is not a risk statistically. Drummond had mediocre to average advanced stats, Waiters has incredible advanced stats.
Priceless
“Veteran NBA scout just texted me. “Most unpredictable draft I’ve seen in 30 years. We’ve been blowing smoke up each other’s asses for weeks”
Retweeted by Lang Whitaker “
After reading through a few of the scouting reports available, I feel much better about picking Waiters (although I STILL wish they would have managed to either trade back and pick him later or traded up to get Beal).
Pretty much his “weaknesses” are character (reportedly, the only reason that he was not allowed to start and he has been better this last season), his PG skills (he’ll only be playing 2-guard next to Kyrie anyway and he has a great handle), and shot selection. Everything else is reportedly top-notch.
Being a UC alumni and having seen him play, there’s no doubt he has skill. Just have to hope that his improved character continues into the NBA. Otherwise…
You’d have to figure the Rockets would be willing to trade one of their 15 first round picks for Andy, right?
Right – if they wanted best possible wing – after MKG and Beal were gone, they may have just gotten him. And yes, Hollinger is notoriously right about every team except the Cavs (no one can stand up to God’s hatred of Cleveland Sports) he DID have Waiters ranked as the best wing in this draft – and he is usually right about wings. The dude can flat out score and he’s BIG. 220 he’s a tank at SG.
I don’t think I would trade Andy at this point. Starting to get too deep in the draft to make it worthwhile. That being said, I have to think that we could make Houston a really good offer to move up from 24 to 16. Perhaps 22 and 34 for 16?
Err…make that #24 and #34 for #16. Darn typos…
Well, I certainly like the Hollinger comments better than the Draft Express ones. Here’s hopin.
What that Tom Pestak guy said.
Think about it, you should never have to “sell” a top 5 pick. The fact that we are tying to convince ourselves this is a good pick says quite a bit.
With that said, I just don’t know about this guy. I don’t like that he didn’t start on his own team at all. Most people can’t even name the people who started in front of him on his own team! We talk about Barnes, but this guy was just as bad in big games as Barnes. He only played Zone defense in College and is a big concern matching up against NBA wings. Hate to say it, but I honestly think we drafted him knowing they wanted to be in the Lottery again next year.
I honestly would rather have taken Drummond man….jeez. Bye bye Kyrie in 3 more years if we keep drafting like this.
trade 24 and 33 for 18 and take zeller or pjIII
NOOOO. Morey knows what he’s doing. PLEASE trade Varajao for the rights to Royce White. PLEASE.
@Donald
I’m not trying to sell myself on him as a player. I like him at 6-8, just not at 4. In all honesty, I think it’s just a shock to everyone here since it literally came out of left field.
And also, reports seem to peg his not starting as punishment for his behavior his Freshman season. That’s a serious concern of mine, but if he grows up a little there’s no doubt he can play. When Boehiem has been interviewed about him he raves about his talent and says he’s one of the best guard players he’s ever coached… he was apparently a knucklehead though.
It’s all perception. If we draft him at 7 we’d all talking about how great a pick he was. It’s since we passed up Barnes for him that it doesn’t look as good.
Insight on Waiters from FTS here: http://www.fearthesword.com/2012/6/28/3123446/nba-draft-syracuse-perspective-on-dion-waiters
Explains why he was a 6th man and why his zone D isn’t relevant.
Look, I’m not stoked but I feel more confident than I would with Barnes/Drummond.
next pick is our!!!!
Trade with Mavs…
Shit we just got Zeller. Don’t know what for….
Yay! Not Fab Melo!
24 and both 2nd rounders? Yeeeeeeesh.
We gave up all our other picks.
PG: Irving
SG: Waiters
SF: Gee
PF: AV / TT
C: Zeller
Nice young team but still feels like a couple of lotto picks short of a contender.
to move, what, 7 spots? For Zeller?
sigh…………………………………………………………..
I’ll feel better if Sullinger and PJ3 are gone by the time we hit 24
Wow…did we really just trade the REST of our draft for him? That seems awful steep to me to move up 7 spots. Would have much rather held out or just traded #24 and #34 at least.
I AM NOT HAPPY! AAAAARGH
Time to retire early. Tribe looks to beat powerhouse Orioles tonight. Not thrilled by Cavs moves.
Analysis: The Mavs made this selection for the Cavaliers in a trade. The Cavs are stockpiling size and to get Zeller this late is a huge value pick. They had to give up the 24th, 33rd and 34th picks to get him, but Zeller is a lottery type talent and the Cavs don’t really need three more young players right now. From CBSsports.com
*Head explodes*
@Pete if you are saying that you are not selling yourself on him, and actually wanted him at 4 you are lying. The fact is if we got him at 7 it would be different, but we didn’t. We got him at 4. So now, we are trying to convince ourselves it was not a bad pick. Think about it. We not arguing it was a good pick, we are trying to convince ourselves its not a bad pick.
@Chris UK the issue with the zone D is the fact that at his size it is a question if he can match up against NBA level Shooting Guards. He is a short player. He didn’t even work out with us! C’mon y’all be honest. The reason NO ONE saw it coming is because it didn’t make sense. He is best served as a 6th man who can come in for instant offense and spell Kyrie at pg for small stints. I dont see this guy as playing 35-40 minutes per game. They are the experts though, I hope EVERYONE else was wrong and the Cavs FO is filled with the only guys that are right.
I like the Zeller pick. Now if we can buy a later pick for Sully we’re GOLDEN.
Well, Hollinger giveth, Hollinger taketh away: In the tail end of the first round and throughout the second, we’re sorting through several big men with fairly weak Draft Rater résumés. The Rater is a particularly harsh judge at the center position, where it frowns on the prospects of four centers with first-round aspirations — Tyler Zeller, Meyers Leonard, Fab Melo and Festus Ezeli — and flat-out mocks Miles Plumlee, who is off-the-charts bad with a 2.49 Draft Rater projection.
I’m going to pretend we did the Blazers trade with our 33rd and 34th picks randomly included, got Waiters at 6, and took Zeller at 11.
Somehow, this makes me feel less horrible.
We drafted DaJuan Wagner and Chris Mihm. Time to start checking the 2013 mock drafts.
Traded Jamal Crawford for Mihm…
Great trade for Zeller. Second round rarely results in rotation players, and one of those picks would have been a major project stashed in the D League. Zeller was projected to go in the lottery and Cavs got him with the 24th pick and second round fluff.
Dude waiters is Gunna be a stud, I was the only guy celebrating at my draft party though.
Looking forward to Cody Zeller next year.
My reaction to the draft as a whole:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSklJQmfbzM
I’m not dissatisfied and it’s definitely not what I expected. Can’t wait for Kyrie to come to the Barclays center…
Dion Waiters is going to be Rodney Stuckey 2.0….
Do we really think Zeller’s game will translate to the NBA as a true Center? Can him and Thompson handle a legitmate low-post threat when the inevitable happens and the Cavs trade Varejo?
My personal opinion is the Cavs reached too far wih both picks, especially with no more picks in the draft.
@weatherman, Zeller was projected to go anywhere from 9 to 13, so getting him at 17 was certainly not a reach. He also is a legit seven footer and weighs more than 250 lbs. with the body to get bigger. I see no reason why he cannot handle bigs in the NBA. He also has great athleticism for his size. Great pick for Cleveland, especially since they only gave up two second round picks.
Actually the Zeller pick was pretty good. We gave up the opportunity to take a couple fliers on some guys in get the best player in the trade.
But taking Rodney Stuckey redux at #4 confounds me. Much more so than TT, Waiters will be the one who makes or breaks Chris Grant and very possibly the future of Kyrie Irving in Cleveland. That terrifies me.
Getting Zeller was nice. Giving up both 2nd rounders was a little steep. We still need a SF. I wonder if the Cavs will go after Batum in FA.
I love how everyone thinks Waiters was picked too early or is Stuckey 2.0. Where are you basing these “facts” off of. What ESPN and other people are shoving down your throat. It’s not like anyone here is working in war room. If Waiters becomes ever 75% of D-Wade, we got an enormous pick (Which I think he very much can be, plays the same). Not too mention, who here complaining has actually watched any of these guys in any games? I think this is a great couple of picks, we got some solid players in places of need. Relax and wait til we play the game, these guys both like they can play at a high level for awhile.
@Donald
I would have much preferred taking Barnes or Robinson over Waiters, but that’s it. I think Drummond will only do well because of his landing spot in Detroit next to Greg Monroe, and everyone else I would put below Waiters as far as potential goes.
My ideal? Taking Barnes or Robinson or trading down with the Warriors to pick up Waiters later. Just because it’s not my ideal doesn’t mean it’s not a good pick. Is anyone on this board a professional talent scout? Ultimately everyone in the lottery but Davis is relatively the same. IF they improve and stay healthy they will be good…if not, then they will be a bust. Even Davis is a bust if he gets injured, ask Oden about that.
@Chris: It’s not even what ESPN is saying! If you look at their consensus draft board Waiters was at #6. It’s not even as big of a reach as TT was last year going off of these rankings.
Anybody know what exactly our boy Hollinger says about Zeller? Aside from the fact that it was generally a poor projection? I demand specifics!
Wonder if they made the Zeller trade with the idea of trading Andy down the road…?
I want one more. Let’s buy a pick to grab Quincy Miller or Draymond Green.