Tag Archives: NBA Draft

Cavs select Emoni Bates in second round

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The Cleveland Cavaliers had to wait a bit before making their first pick, but when it was time they went with a bold choice in Emoni Bates.

Bates was highly touted coming out of high school, but was not terribly impressive at Memphis. In need of an obvious change of scenery, Bates moved closer to home by transferring to Eastern Michigan. Bates did see his numbers improve across the board, which is encouraging, but there are still some concerns about him as a player that could limit his potential for the Cavs.

Emoni Bates is a player who is not terribly athletic in addition to having a less than optimal wingspan, making poor shots choices, and disappearing from games. While clearly a project for Cleveland, there is a lot of work that needs to be done if Bates is going to develop into a rotation player for the Cavaliers.

Taking Emoni Bates at 49 may be worth it

In the grand scheme of things this is the type of gamble to take in the second round. The NBA Draft, like most drafts is very much hit or miss. The chances that a player ends up as a miss increases as the draft progresses. Cleveland taking a chance on Bates is perfectly fine. Although it would be wise to pump the brakes on expecting any sort of immediate impact.

A few years ago, Bates would see a good number of minutes on a nightly basis. But with the Cavs having aspirations of deep postseason runs and looking for instant improvements, Bates may not see much court time, if at all. An extended stint in the G-League may be necessary to work on a few things and gain meaningful experience.

It is about the long play when it comes to Emoni Bates. Hope that he improves and display the traits that made him so highly regarded coming out of high school. If not, Bates would end up in the group of several other draft picks that did work out for Cleveland.

Cavs to move up in draft?

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According to a report, the Cavs could be looking to move up into the end of the first round of the NBA Draft.

The Cleveland Cavaliers may not have a first round pick of their own, but do not count them out from potentially selecting a player in the first round. That is according to The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie in his most recent NBA mock draft. Vecenie notes that the Cavs are one of just a few teams who could look to move up come draft time. Appearing in the “fit’ section under the 29th pick belonging to Indiana is the following blurb.

An additional note about trades if only because I don’t have anywhere else to put it: Sources across the league have said Milwaukee, Phoenix and Cleveland have explored potential opportunities to move up into the late 20s and 30s due to the depth of prospects on the wing and potential NBA-ready, older rotation players. Everyone explores deals this time of year, and you could probably write this sentence about any team. But those three do seem to be teams to watch.

This is fairly vague and seems to be more of a blanket statement involving in the back end of round one, but it is still notable that the Cavs are mentioned specifically. Cleveland does have a glaring need for a wing player to add to their current roster mix. If there is one that the Cavs front office covets and is still available towards the end of the first round, it would not be a surprise to see them make a move.

All of this could be nothing and honestly, it likely is. But until a trade does or does not happen, do not count out the Cavaliers to make things interesting. Koby Altman has taken some big swings in recent years and it is about that time to make one more. Round of the starting lineup, reconfigure the bench, and roll with what should be a team looking to take that next step this season.

Malaki Branham to Cavs in CBS mock draft

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A recently published mock draft on CBS Sports from Colin Ward-Henninger has the Cleveland Cavaliers selecting Ohio State wing Malaki Branham with the 14th overall pick. The explanation of the pick and overall fit appears below.

“The Cavs need wings — especially ones who can shoot — and Branham fits the bill to a tee. He’s not the most explosive creator, but he’s a knock-down 3-point shooter who can also hit a pull-up mid-range jumper when he’s run off the line. He may be lacking in the “D” part of 3-and-D, but that’s something that J.B. Bickerstaff and the Cavs development staff can help improve.“

Collin Ward-Henninger on Malaki Branham to Cleveland

The major takeaway here is three-point shooting, an area that was not the Cavs forte last season. Cleveland was middle of the road percentage wise as their 35.5% from deep ranked 15th overall while their 11.6 makes per game checks in at 20. The point being they need help. Malaki Branham made 41.6% of his attempts from deep last season with that number increasing to 43.2% once the calendar flipped over to January.

If the Cavaliers are going to take that next step forward they are going to need knockdown shooters to take the pressure off of Darius Garland, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Allen. Perhaps the 19-year old Buckeye can be the answer they are looking for.

Jalen Williams to Cavs in mock

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A recent mock draft from Sam Vecenie of The Athletic (subscription required) has the Cleveland Cavaliers selecting Santa Clara’s Jalen Williams. Here is the explanation from Vecenie in terms of reasoning and fit with the Cavs.

“Williams spikes up the board here for the Cavs. He fills a legitimate positional need for the Cavaliers while also bringing a lot of high-level skills. He is long at 6-foot-6 with a 7-foot-2 wingspan. He can shoot off the catch and make plays off the pass. He can act as a secondary ballhandler in spots and also has versatility in terms of who he guards on the other end. The Cavs desperately need wing-sized players, so Williams would be a good swing for them.“

Sam Vecenie on Williams’ fit with Cleveland

One major takeaway here is the 7’2″ wingspan of Jalen Williams. This fits right in with their recent history of adding players with length. Williams in addition to Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen would create problems for their opponents. Williams averaged 18 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 4.2 assists during his junior season at Santa Clara.

At some point the addition of Jalen Williams to the Cavs would mean they would have some decisions to make roster wise. Ideally Williams would be able to start eventually and that would mean the team must evaluate the future of Lauri Markkanen in Cleveland. Markannen’s status with the team already feels to be on shaky ground. Perhaps the Cavs move Markkanen (and possibly others) to clear playing time for Williams should he be Cleveland’s pick. Putting together the right young pieces is crucial right now and this would help their cause.

Cavaliers hold 14th overall pick in ’22 draft

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As expected, the Cleveland Cavaliers will hold the 14th overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft. While the Cavs had a very small chance to improve their spot 0.5% for first overall, 2.4% for top four), this was the most likely scenario. Cleveland has held the third, fifth (twice), and eighth pick in the previous four drafts.

The Orlando Magic ended up with the first overall selection with Oklahoma City, Houston, and Sacramento rounding out the top four. The NBA Draft will take place June 23, 2022.

Anderson Varejao was the Cavaliers representative at the NBA Draft Lottery which took place Tuesday night. Previous representatives include Nick Gilbert and Machine Gun Kelly.

Cavs select Evan Mobley third overall

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The Cleveland Cavaliers stayed put and selected the USC big man with the third overall pick.

Leading up to the draft there was some speculation that the Cleveland Cavaliers may not stay put at three, but that was not the case as they selected Evan Mobley third overall.

Evan Mobley is a highly regarded player who most project as the top pick in other drafts. Cavs GM Koby Altman heaped praise upon their 2021 NBA Draft pick following the selection.

The Cavs have some decisions to make in regards to other players on the roster (Collin Sexton, Jarrett Allen), but for now they can count on Evan Mobley being a big part of their immediate future.

Evan Mobley to Cavs in mock draft

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A mock draft from John Hollinger of The Athletic has the Cleveland Cavaliers selecting the USC forward with the third overall pick.

While there are questions about what exactly the Cleveland Cavaliers are going to do with players currently on their roster, there are less questions about who they will pick with the third overall pick. Most project the Cavs to select USC forward Evan Mobley when it is their turn in the upcoming NBA Draft. John Hollinger of The Athletic (subscription required) mocked Mobley to Cleveland in his latest mock draft. There is one key thing that Hollinger noted in regards to who they should take in the draft and their current roster.

“Positional fit is the type of thing you generally worry about after you have talent, not beforehand. If Mobley and Allen end up both being good and aren’t able to co-exist, you trade out of that. If they draft a player who stinks, that’s harder to fix.”

That is exactly the position the Cleveland Cavaliers find themselves. The Cavs are so far away from being relevant and they lack high end talent that positional fit is nothing to concern themselves with at this time. Cleveland just needs to add the best talent they possibly can and sort out the rest later. If the Cavs front office determines that player to be Evan Mobley, they better end up drafting the highly regarded prospect instead of trying to force something with a different selection.

Cavs select Jalen Green in mock draft

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A NBA mock draft from NBC Sports Philadelphia has the Cleveland Cavaliers selecting G League guard Jalen Green with the third overall pick.

This is a confusing one. A mock draft originally appearing on NBC Sports Philadelphia has the Cleveland Cavaliers making an interesting pick, Jalen Green. This is after Cade Cunningham is taken by the Pistons first overall and Evan Mobley goes second to the Rockets. The reason why this is interesting is not because of the skill set, picks beforehand, or Green’s position. It is because a report from Green’s camp that stated he would rather land in Houston than Cleveland.

If Cleveland were to actually select Jalen Green with their pick it would more than likely lead to some shuffling in regards to their starting lineup. There have been plenty of rumors involving Collin Sexton since the season ended for the Cavs. This could lead to the Cavs moving Sexton in order to undertake a much needed roster shakeup. But again, it does not sound like Jalen Green is all that interested in coming to Cleveland and that must be taken into account.

Jalen Green to the Cavs? Not so fast

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A report states that the NBA Draft prospect may prefer being selected by the Houston Rockets rather than being drafted by the Cavs.

It is peak NBA Draft rumor season and an interesting one involving the Cavs has popped up. According to Jeremy Woo of Sports Illustrated in a recent mock draft, Green may prefer going to Houston rather than Cleveland.

For what it’s worth, Green’s camp is thought to prefer Houston as a destination, rather than landing in Cleveland one pick later.

Jeremy Woo suggesting that Jalen Green may prefer Houston over Cleveland.

While this is a damning statement about the state of the Cavs at the moment, it is not entirely surprising. Cleveland is still stuck in neutral three years after LeBron James left for the second time. Considering the situations in Houston and Cleveland it is obvious that prospects would prefer to go the Rockets than the Cavs. Houston seems to be miles ahead in their rebuild process which started just this past season while Cleveland has their own set of issues to deal with at the moment.

Woo did have the Cavs selecting Evan Mobley with the third overall pick in the draft which may lead to some decisions being made about the future of Jarrett Allen in Cleveland. Things may work in the short term, but long term a move may be required to get the most out of Mobley if the Cavs do select him in the upcoming draft.

Cavaliers to pick third in 2021 NBA Draft

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The Cleveland Cavaliers will have a top three pick for the first time since 2014.

The 2021 NBA Draft Lottery was conducted Monday evening and the Cleveland Cavaliers ended up with the third overall pick. This will be the first time since the Cavs selected Andrew Wiggins first overall in 2014 that Cleveland has a pick higher than five.

https://twitter.com/BallySportsCLE/status/1407504324306128896?s=20

The Cavaliers had an 11.2% chance to end up with the third overall pick. Cleveland was most likely to land the seventh overall pick (25.5%), with sixth having the second-best chances (18.2%). Third was actually fifth of nine possible picks that the Cavs could have ended up with.

The final draft lottery results appear below.

https://twitter.com/TheHoopCentral/status/1407503170159271936?s=20