With the first-overall selection all but placed on the placard above the podium in the Prudential Center, the Cavaliers appear primed to pinpoint players who will be available with their second lottery selection as well as some who could fall to them later in the draft. Chief among those awaiting an arrival to Cleveland is Enes Kanter, the 6-foot-11-inch center out of Turkey that has been pegged to go anywhere from the second-overall selection down to the fifth and continues to be one of the more-discussed players heading into draft night.
I’ll be sure to keep you guys posted on these workouts at various points during the week, though I’m not sure I can tell you what they mean. It’s a good thing we hired draft experts.
I have a running joke with my friends that every music video should be Fatboy Slim’s “Weapon of Choice.” Like, artists should stop making music videos and instead just play their song behind visuals of Christopher Walken pirouetting around a hotel lobby. By same token, every rookie workout should be Yi Jianlian posting up a chair. If Derrick Williams shows up for his workout holding a flatscreen that’s playing Yi performing up and unders against a hunk of metal that comes up to his knee, I might re-evaluate who the Cavaliers should select at number one.
Colin,
You keep providing perfect lead in material for me on Mondays. Two weeks ago, there was a link about Valanciunas…then I post my Valanciunas profile.
Today it’s a link on Kanter and a lead-in on the “draft expert” providing insight. I’ll upload my Kanter profile soon, but unfortunately I won’t shed much light on what Kanter’s workouts mean. When I think of one-man workouts, I also think of Yi. Until we see him play some real basketball, Kanter is a a mystery. If I was a real “expert”; maybe I would have been at the combine and able to provide an amazing take on exactly what Kanter projects to be in the NBA.
I’m the John Stockton to your Karl Malone, Kevin. Complete with short-shorts and a disgusted look on my face when you fail me in the clutch.
(I’m of course, kidding. We all know Kevin has ice water in his veins.)
It’s appropriate you mention Karl Malone. The line between good and great is most pronounced in the NBA complared to NFL or MLB. In the NBA, the best team wins the championship every year. In the other two, you can win the championship and not even have been the best team that year. Karl Malone was great, but had a fatal flaw and couldn’t win a championship. You need great to win championships in the NBA.
The Cavs need to get some “great” out of their draft picks over the next few years. Can Kanter be one of those guys? I’m sure Kanter will be “good”, but look at the comparisons. Boozer, Horford, and Love have combined to win 9 playoff series in 16 years. Obviously thats not all their fault and Horford and Love are still young, but good players get you to the second round of the playoffs. I’m not sure what else to do with the #4 pick (I’ve laid out my wacky Dwight Howard / Iguodala plan), but is a foundation of Irving, Kanter, Hickson, and the #9 pick next year (wild guess)merely a foundation for “good” for the next 5 years? And if so, is that good enough? It’s definitely better than winning 19 games. Maybe the Cavs still have some tricks up their sleeve with the trade exception.
Colin,
The real draft experts at draftexpress.com put out an update on Kanter today. They received five game videos of him from high school and U18 ball. They close with “What type of NBA player will he be? No one can really say with any certainty, due to the large gaps in his resume. Even the most respected talent evaluators shrug their shoulders and hedge their bets. In the meantime, teams will continue to try and put themselves in position to make the best decision for their franchise.”
That leaves me feeling warm and fuzzy about Kanter at #4. How about you?