Because talking about football sucks right now...NBA Draft Time

[handbanana]

The draft is right around the corner and a welcome break from the league that shall remain nameless. Having had a little time to digest having one and four, what are everyone's thoughts on who the Cavs go with?

I still love Irving at one, a potential future all star in my opinion. Guy has crazy handles, a great shot, above average athleticism and great court vision. He also plays at a very tempered and controlled pace, ala Chris Paul and Brandon Roy. You want your point guard to be able to shoot, pass and dribble. Irving can do all three in spades. He may not have the flashy athleticism that both Wall and Rose possess, but he is plenty athletic enough and superior to them at pure ball handling and shooting.

In addition to the talent reason for drafting Irving is the very intriguing prospect of coupling him with Byron Scott. Scott is a proven coach of point guard driven teams and gets the absolute most out of whomever is manning that spot. When he is given an elite talent to work with at PG, magical things happen. Jason Kidd and back to back trips to the NBA Finals, along with Chris Paul and 56 and 49 win seasons are two examples.

At four, I feel like the Cavs can't go wrong. One of the big time talents will fall to us. I'd take Williams, Kanter, Vesely or Valanciunas, in that order.

[TheBestPlayersPlay]

Agree with your takes 100%, including who you want @ 4 in that order. If Williams or Kanter are there at 4, this will be an A+ draft.

[Brown Warrior]

I think Irving is a near lock. The only way we wouldn't take him is we somehow became dead-solid convinced the T-Wolves would take Kanter at #2, which is looking more likely.

Why? Because if the Cavs take Irving and then Kanter and Williams go 2-3, it becomes a bit of a worst-case scenario. We won't take Brandon Knight after taking Irving, and in my opinion, that means we take one of the two riskier Europeans... and that's not a terrific scenario for a team that needs guys to play/start right now.

If that were the case, the Cavs would be better off with Williams-Knight at 1/4. I'm not getting the sense that's gonna happen, but that's what I would do.

The Cavs seem to love Kanter. They're having him in for a second workout on Monday. There's a bit of a buzz that he might actually go #1. By doing that, they feel pretty confident that Irving and Williams would go next... leaving Brandon Knight.

[Enigmatic Evil]

Do the Cavaliers have two first round picks? Top 10 picks? Or am I just ... misunderstanding entirely?

[TheBestPlayersPlay]

1st and 4th pick.

Cavs are bringing in Kanter for a second workout. Some say he's in the mix for the 1st overall.

I would be shocked if it's not Irving ...unless there are health concerns.

[handbanana]

I think at this point the Cavs bringing in Kanter is a two fold move. The first move is to get a second look at him and make sure he isn't the next Arvydas Sabonis.

The second move, I believe, is to possibly push his value up in the eyes of the league to allow Williams to slide to us at four. Kanter at two is picking up alot of steam and it's thought that Utah has Knight penciled in at three. This draft is falling into place for the Cavs like we can't even imagine.

[hammertime]

there is still an unspoken major concern with kyries foot still.

[BernietheKid]

Cavs still debating No. 1 pick

By Marc J. Spears,
Yahoo! Sports
Jun 15, 11:45 pm EDT

Eight days before the NBA draft, Cleveland Cavaliers coach Byron Scott told Yahoo! Sports the franchise isn’t close to deciding whether to use the No. 1 pick on Duke guard Kyrie Irving or Arizona forward Derrick Williams.

The Cavaliers have the first and fourth picks in the June 23 draft in Newark, N.J. Who they decide to take with the top pick could be determined by whether they decide to pursue another guard like Kentucky’s Brandon Knight or Connecticut’s Kemba Walker at No. 4 – or whether they receive an enticing trade offer, league sources told Yahoo! Sports. The Cavs also have workouts scheduled for early next week that will factor in their decision.

“The main reason is we want to do our due diligence on the other guys as well,” Scott said on why a decision hasn’t been made. “We have a few more workouts we want to get in before we really want to start evaluating on who we think is the best possible pick at No. 1 and who we think is the best at No. 4. So, by no means, has anyone in our organization who has been to our workouts said, ‘Derrick Williams is our first pick’ or ‘Kyrie Irving is our first pick.’

“We’re all keeping an open mind and understand we have a few more workouts to go through. Both of those guys are very, very good basketball players in our minds. Both are going to have a long career, but no way are we set on a guy.”

Scott said one of his friends called recently to suggest the Cavaliers draft Williams first and Knight fourth. Such a move would be risky because Knight is getting consideration from the Utah Jazz with the third pick. Sources said Cleveland has already worked out Turkish center Enes Kanter and Texas forward Tristan Thompson, and has heavily scouted Czech Republic forward Jan Vesley and Lithuanian center Jonas Valanciunas. They also have a workout scheduled with Knight.

“When you have to go through the process of re-loading with what we’re doing as a basketball team, it’s always great when you can start with two of the top five players in the draft,” Scott said. “They’re going to be young. Hopefully, they’re going to be hungry. We feel that there are 10, 12, 15 guys in this draft that are going to be very productive in this league if not next year, two years down the line or something.

“You’re going to have some guys that are going to surprise people in this draft. I don’t think it’s as weak as everyone says it is.”

Irving worked out for the Cavs in Cleveland last week while Williams worked out on Tuesday. Scott said he also was impressed with both players after having dinner with them.

Irving averaged 17.5 points and 4.3 assists as a freshman for Duke while playing in just 11 games because of a toe injury. Scott also was positive about Irving’s size (6-foot-3, 190 pounds).

“He has his head on right,” said Scott, who coached the New Orleans Hornets before he was hired in Cleveland. “He reminded me so much of my initial contact with Chris Paul(notes). Kyrie was a lot like him. The thing that stood out to me when I met him was he was a lot bigger than I thought. He’s a good-sized point guard. He’s 6-3 and a legit 6-3, not 6-feet or 6-1.

“In our general conversation, he was a very, very intelligent young man and a very mature young man. He has a lot of confidence in himself. He didn’t answer like, ‘Uh, well.’ He answered pretty matter of fact. That impressed me about him.”

Williams averaged 19.5 points and 8.3 rebounds as a sophomore with Arizona last
season. Scott believes Williams (6-9, 250 pounds) can play both forward positions.

“Very strong, great athlete, can get his shot off as well,” Scott said. “He’s a guy that people say is a tweener, but I think he can play both. He’s going to obviously have to get better on the defensive end, but he’s just a great athlete, and if we were to have him, he’d give J.J. [Hickson] and those guys a run for their money [at power forward].

“He’s a very good kid as well, very mature. He had a good understanding of himself and the game.”

Yahoo! Sports NBA columnist Adrian Wojnarowski contributed to this report.

Cavs still debating No. 1 pick - NBA - Yahoo! Sports

[Brown Warrior]

Williams is kinda pissed he's not the lock #1. If he falls to 4, he's going to be one fired up rookie. I love it.

Kanter makes so much more sense to Minnesota than Williams. If they can make themselves fall in love, it works for them as well as us.

Still buzz that the Cavs are trying to get the #2. To me, that would say they love Williams.

[BernietheKid]

Originally Posted by Brown Warrior

Williams is kinda pissed he's not the lock #1. If he falls to 4, he's going to be one fired up rookie. I love it.

Kanter makes so much more sense to Minnesota than Williams. If they can make themselves fall in love, it works for them as well as us.

Still buzz that the Cavs are trying to get the #2. To me, that would say they love Williams.

The one thing I guess that is good for the Cavs is Rubio is joining the T-Wolves. If they wanna go with a big man first than a PG should be there at #4.

Ricky Rubio confirms he's joining Minnesota Timberwolves: 'It is my dream' - ESPN

[handbanana]

The draft Williams and then hope Knight gets past Utah camp is straight crazy.

[Brown Warrior]

Originally Posted by handbanana

The draft Williams and then hope Knight gets past Utah camp is straight crazy.

You might be right. If it worked, it's brilliant... but the Jazz seem to love the guy. If Minnesota goes Kanter, it's entirely possible Utah will let Williams get to Cleveland.

Which I would find absolutely mind blowing. There are three guys in this draft who would be in the top 5-7 discussion even in a really good draft, and that's Irving, Williams, and Kanter. That's it.