DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum Cavs 2012 Draft

I don't know if this thread has started somewhere else so I do apologize if I am posting this in the wrong place.

With that being said, DraftExpress's Newest Mock Draft just came out. WFNY had an interesting little article that I wanted to share:

Draft Express Mock: Cavs Land Wildcats Kidd-Gilchrist, Lamb, Miller
May 17, 2012 By Scott 38 Comments

Though the Kentucky Wildcats will likely lead all schools based on shear probability, Draft Express’ latest mock draft has the Cleveland Cavaliers leaving the late-June selection with three players who recently cut down the nets as NCAA champions.

With what amounts to the third-overall selection, the Cavaliers, per Draft Express, will select Kentucky forward Michael-Kidd Gilchrist, who would instantly slot in as the teams starting small forward having the character and work ethic that makes Chris Grant and Byron Scott salivate coupled with the chemistry already existing between he and his former high school teammate Kyrie Irving. The 6-foot-7-inch Kidd-Gilchrist averaged 11.9 points, 7.4 rebounds, 1.0 steals and 0.9 blocks for the Wildcats. He will not turn 19 until late September.

Merely serving to add to the chemistry would be the pair of second-round selections, shooting guard Doron Lamb and small forward Darius Miller, both wing players from Kentucky who ran along side Kidd-Gilchrist for John Calipari. These three players, with Miller being the oldest at 22 years of age, would sandwich Evan Fournier, the highly-touted 19-year-old out of France who possesses attributes with a 6-foot-7-inch frame, providing the ability to create his own shot very effectively thanks to his excellent size, strength, and ball-handling skills.

The obvious glaring issue would be the depth at the center position which would have to be addressed during free agency. Connecticut’s Andre Drummond, per Draft Express, would go second-overall to Washington.

http://www.waitingfornextyear.com/2012/0...st-lamb-miller/



I would not mind that draft one bit. Three players all from the current national championship team plus arguably, the best euro player...that would give us a bunch of young talent (with the exception of Andy V) battling each other on a daily basis for playing time. I think it would be a huge advantage to have the current ROY play with one of his HS teammates for team chemistry. Add in the chemistry that the UK players got over this past year, let's hope for a smooth transition!

All we would be lacking is a true 5, but we would have a pretty nasty starting 1-4 and good depth behind all 4 spots.

Thoughts on that mock for us (with Davis and Drummond both off the board)??

New York Knicks from 1995-2008?

What about the Lakers 1st?

With the lottery drawing 2 days away I got to thinking of some possible trade scenarios that might be of interest to the Cavs and wanted to get your input. Here's what I'm thinking:

As much as I love Varejao, this could be the off-season where we have to let him go. There are two spots where I think he could have an immediate impact on a young team ready to make that playoff jump as I think the Cavs, like the Browns, are 2-3 years away from contending...and contending for quite sometime.

Both Portland and Houston are teams ready to make that leap next year and BOTH teams have 2 first round selections this year. Portland is scheduled to pick 6th (from the Nets) and 11th while Houston is scheduled for the 14th and 16th (from the Knicks).

Maybe one, or both of those teams know that they have to add a veteran player with some playoff experience to help teach the young ones?? Maybe one, or both teams only want to add one rookie through the draft and trade their other pick for that savvy veteran??

By the time we are ready to compete, Andy V will be towards the end of his career. That, plus his injury history, would you be willing to trade Andy for the 11th/16th pick? There may have to be a little more thrown in for the deal to work (and obviously, I would rather have the 11th pick), but if the Cavs have someone targeted in that range of the draft, do you think any of the 3 teams would be willing to make that draft day trade?

I think it could be win/win for each team involved. Portland or Houston get a great veteran with playoff experience as well as a top 15 draft pick and Cleveland gets another mid first round draft pick to add to their young core of players.

who would you be targeting with that 11th or 16th pick?

If we land in the top 5 we are good to go with getting a stud. There is a 84% chance of that happening iirc. I know this will sound redundant but thank God we have Kyrie.

MKG, Zeller, Doron Lamb at 24??

Maybe I'm reaching a bit, but I'm excited about this upcoming draft for Cavs basketball!!

Or...let's say we were set to take MKG at 3 and he goes at 2. Portland calls and wants to move up to 3 and offers us 6 and 11...would you take that trade down if you were set on MKG or would you take a shot at Beal/Drummond????

Just looking to start up a little bit of conversation leading up to the lotto ball picking!

Davis
MKG
Beal
Barnes
J.Lamb
T.Robinson
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after that, it's a pretty big dropoff. what we would have to do is draft who we wanted at #3 (likely Beal) and if someone we wanted dropped to #6 (J.Lamb or Barnes?) then make the trade. But, only if they are nearly equal in draft rating on our boards. top talent wins out and there's a steep dropoff after the top6.

i'd want Zeller at #11, but if he's gone, then you are stuck guessing which high upside, high bust-factor guy that drops to 11 is worth the gamble (guys like PJIII, Henson, Drummond-he won't slip that far but he's in the same category to me)

The drop off comes after Davis, MKG and Beal.

Barnes, Lamb, and Robinson don't make that 'top prospect' list for me.

With how the rest of the draft board looks at SG and SF...Who would you rather have if we are fortunate enough to make the jump to #2...Beal or MKG??

If we stay at picking 3rd overall, do we take the one who is not picked at 2 (most likely Beal).

I just feel that the draft is deep at the 2 and 3 spots, but I do believe both of these positions will be addressed during the draft with 2 of our first 3 picks.

Sleeper pick is Drummond if we fall to the 4-6 range (followed by Barnes).

I think MKG is the best wing player in this draft by a decent margin. I wouldn't hesitate to select him at #2 or #3 if someone at #2 is gracious enough to take Drummond, Beal, or T.Robinson there.

depends on how tomorrow falls out, but I think Beal might be there at #4.

if we land at #5/6, then that will stink, but I'd take J.Lamb most likely. He has the highest ceiling. The only hesitation would be that Barnes is rated right with him and there are more good SGs in the 20s than SFs, but I hate thinking about that in the top picks.

really want MKG+Jenkins (I think T.Ross&Waiters will be gone). that would upgrade our team really quickly (i'm trying not to think how awesome it would be to get Davis).

I feel the same about Drummond and PJ3. Their athleticism is hard to pass up on

ok yes, Drummond or PJIII may have a higher ceiling. I just am down on them because I don't think those ceilings are achievable.

Drummond didn't look like he cared or tried. That is what I saw and now all the scouting reports are stating he needs to be coached up on aggressiveness and work ethic. As if those are traits that are coachable?


it's not perfect, but here is the best way to describe how passive Drummond is:

Drummond averaged 7.6rb in 28min a game for UConn as a freshman. Drummond is 6'10" 270lbs.
Jeremy Lamb averaged 4.5rb in 27min a game for UConn when he was a freshman. Lamb is 6'5" 180lbs (maybe).

Shouldn't Andre be able to do better than that against a bunch of college kids? Lack of rebounding in a big man is a HUGE red flag. Especially when they are so much bigger than everyone else like Drummond is.

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Bottom Line: I think if Drummond is successful, then it is going to take 4-5 years for him to get there. By that time, his contract will be up and Irving's 2nd contract will only have a year or two left. Do we really want to wait around that long for a "maybe" guy who doesn't work hard on the court?

I just hope that we do as well with our first pick this year as we did last year.

Rookie of the year for the 2nd year in a row would be very nice.

agreed. hopefully we just land that #1 overall.

and, we seem to agree on Drummond. I just apparently am a bit more risk adverse than you

Another interesting thought ... We're going to have a ton of cash to throw around both this year and next year in free agency. We could sign one guy to a max contract next year, and another next year (I think).

Looking at this list ... and playing some EA Sports GM ....

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/page/FreeAgents-12-13/nba-free-agents-2012-2013

Could we sign Gerald Wallace to a near max contract? (Would he go for that?) Draft Beal to play SG, and then make a "pray for rain" trade with Orlando for Dwight Howard, hoping that A) Orlando will be willing to trade him for pennies on the dollar anyway ... and B) Dwight will want to stay when paired with Irving, Wallace and Beal? Or we get lucky with the lottery balls, draft Davis, and sign some combination of SG/SF in free agency? Wallace/Ellis? OJ Mayo/opt-out Lebron?

we aren't trading for Dwight. and, from what I have heard/read about OJ Mayo, the Cavs won't be an option for him.

I love Gerald Wallace, but he is about to hit 30 and his playing style of over-aggressiveness is going to wear him down quicker than most. I would be hesistant to give him anything longer than a 3yr deal and definitely not for max money.

if we are offering near-max money to a SF, then we should offer that to "will be 27 next offseason" Josh Smith (again, longshot, but at least I could see ATL not willing to pay that and him not getting more from anyone else).

I do think the Cavs are going to go after a top tier free agent in the next few years, however I think between Dan Gilbert and Dwight Howard, it's probably mutual that they wouldn't want either around.

Dwight Howard is still in the early stages of what Lebron is going through, that growth period. Maybe Lebron comes out of it and becomes a better person (which would be needed if he were to ever return) but I think Dwight is far behind Lebron in that department. He's a drama queen that hasn't done anything. I mean at least Lebron takes his teams deep in the playoffs most years. Dwight had that one year when they beat the Cavs and kinda hung around with the Lakers in the next round. Other than that he's been a playoff bust.

Yeah, those names just don't look very intriguing. Looks like it's going to be another Donyell Marshall/Damon Jones type free agency.

yeah, the more things change...

I think a Irving, Beal backcourt would be pretty super....but we will probably need to be #4 minimum.


I just don't see any centers out there this year you can look at and say they will be game changers.

Quote:

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I just don't see any centers out there this year you can look at and say they will be game changers.

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They are becoming harder to find than pure drop back passers with experience under center and a pro-style offense...

The college game has changed a lot just like football... the pure back-to-the-basket type center is hard to find.

You can win without a great center, but you can't win without at least some kind of defensive force at the position.

That's why I always say pass on a center early in the draft if he's not a consensus #1 pick.

Watch for the name Alex Len from Maryland.. kid is 7'1", 225 and pretty athletic. Had a rough freshman year because he didn't speak much English (from Ukraine) and missed all of December due to ineligibility.... I am really interested to see the leap he makes next year... Selfishly hoping he sticks around at Maryland for at least 2 more years but he has a tremendous amount of upside and 7'1" athletic kids get drafted high on upside potential alone so we will see...

You just have to wonder about the kid's health, though.

The more I look at it I will be okay with whatever happens as long as we end up with #3 or better. MKG/Beal would really help our scoring from the wing and nabbing up a guy like Melo with that #24 (even trade up a bit to secure if you really like the idea) and I will be very happy with that draft. Just having that defensive presence- as you alluded to- is a necessity. Gotta keep other teams' wings out of the paint and having an athletic front-line of Melo/TT helps shore up that post defense.

Doesn't have any health problems that I know of.... has a nice mid range jumper... heck nbadraft.com has him as the #6 pick in the draft next year and most people have never even heard of him...

Not bad, actually. I just think of Yao, Oden, and Z. All the big guys end up having some sort of injury issues.

That is always a risk, especially with big men... but I can only go with what I know and that is that he hasn't had any injury issues.

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