Apologies and Links to the Present: Draft Combine Edition

First off, we send our apologies. In case you didn’t notice, CtB was down for close to a day. Our internet service provider had a major outage. The hipsters who power the datacenter solely through their sense of self satisfaction went on strike because the break room was out of almond milk. There were artisanal picket signs everywhere. Fortunately, the strike ended with an emergency craft beer delivery, and everything is up and running now. Here’s the links.

If you speak Australian, you can check out Tom Reid’s “Believe the Hype” NBA Podcast with Matthew Dellavedova. Delly reports that he’s back home in Maryborough, and that he’ll return to the states next week.  It’s a great half hour of what life was like for an undrafted free agent who went from barely being on the team to becoming one of the best rookies in the NBA. Delly praises Mike Brown throughout, and on his Twitter page, thanks coach Brown personally.

Just like to say thanks to Coach Brown for what he did for me and the opportunities he gave me, I’ll always appreciate it.

— Matthew Dellavedova (@matthewdelly) May 14, 2014

Also, you MUST listen to the end of the podcast for the “Come on Cavs. Got to make it happen!” fight song.

The NBA Draft combine measurements were posted this afternoon. Draft Express vroke it down, here, and posted the complete database as well. Jonathon Givony of Draft Express also wrote an interesting piece on the history of the combine, and how agents and players are forcing the NBA to redesign it (again) because of the absence of scores of players.

Can the NBA somehow force players and their agents to come to Chicago somehow, possibly by tying in their ability to attend the NBA Draft Green Room? Could they take things a step further and make any player that doesn’t participate in all league-mandated events ineligible to receive the extra 20% most rookies receive as part of their rookie scale contract? Would that hold up in court without being in the collective bargaining agreement? How do you separate players who are legitimately injured, or still playing with their teams in Europe, from the group of players who are simply marching to their own drum?

Back to the measurements… apparent winners of the genetic lottery? Noah Vonleh has to be at the top of that list. He has the biggest hands in the draft, with a 9.75-inch hand length and a ridiculous 11.75-inch hand width. That’s tied for the third longest and the second widest ever measured.  He also has the second widest wing span this year: seven-foot, four-and-a-quarter-inches. Given Vonleh’s outside shooting, six-foot-nine (in shoes) height, and 247 pounds weight, Vonleh has the body and skill set to play either big spot in the NBA. He won’t fall out of the top seven, and could even end up in the top five ahead of Randle and Smart.

Other Winners? Dante Exum is six-foot-six in shoes, with a six-foot-nine-inch wingspan: big for a two guard, and huge for a point guard. Kyle Anderson won too.  The do-everything small forward from UCLA measured six-eight, and has a seven-foot-three inch wing span to go with a 230 pound frame. Anderson is guy I would love to see on the Cavs. With his intelligence and body, he’ll be in the NBA for 12+ years.

Not faring so well?  Dougie McBuckets measured six-foot-six and a half without shoes, 218 pounds, and has a six-foot-nine inch wing span (but we knew this already). Michigan’s Nik Stauskas had the highest body fat measurement (only half were released): 12.1 percent.

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There will be lots of draft news pouring in over the next few days.  Here’s a sample. According to HoopsHype and the Mary Schmitt Boyer Twitter page, the Cavs have had or are going to have interviews with Elfrid Payton, Julius Randle, Dante Exum, Marcus Smart, Rodney Hood, Doug McDermott, and LaQuinton Ross. It’s interesting that three of those guys are point guards…

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On the Cavs coaching front, there’s lots of rumor, and not a lot of hard fact. Sam Amico, on his Twitter page, pushed the notion that the Cavs are interested in Calipari, and noted that George Karl is very interested in the Cavs job and wants to get back into coaching. Hoopshype also threw out the names, Chauncey Billups, Lionel Hollins, Adrian Griffin, Alvin Gentry, and Vinnie Del Negro. They mentioned, as well, that Kevin Ollie doesn’t want to go back to the North Coast. Sam Amico did throw a lot of praise Griffin’s way, and noted that the Cavs don’t even have a short list of candidates yet, but…

West GM on #Cavs: “(Griffin) is the right man, will go about and handle this search right way. Not so sure you can say that about last GM.”

— Sam Amico (@SamAmicoFSO) May 14, 2014

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Not Cavs related (yet), but I leave you with this graphic of Andrew Wiggins.