Tag Archives: Obi Toppin

CBS mock draft has Obi Toppin to Cavs

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A mock draft by Kyle Boone of CBS Sports has the Cleveland Cavaliers selecting the Dayton forward fifth overall.

The NBA Draft is fast approaching and there is another mock draft that has the Cleveland Cavaliers making a familiar pick. Kyle Boone of CBS Sports has the Cavs selection Obi Toppin with the fifth pick in the draft. Below is Boone’s reason for the pick.

“With Cleveland using top-10 picks on guards in consecutive years, they go big here to add weapons around them. Obi Toppin is a freakish athlete and rim-runner who can give Collin Sexton and Darius Garland a can’t-miss lob target who can also step out and hit 3-pointers.“

This is solid reasoning from Boone. Cleveland needs to put together a transition plan for the post-Kevin Love era and they could do a lot worse than Obi Toppin. There is the possibility that the Cavs could trade Love soon and that would open up playing time for someone such as Toppin.

Exactly what the Cavs plan on doing in the draft may become a bit clearer starting on Monday at noon as that is when teams are permitted to make trades again. If they trade one or more big men it will be abundantly clear they plan on addressing that area in the draft. If not, the mystery of what they will do will continue.

CBS mock has Obi Toppin to Cavs

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A mock draft from Kyle Boone of CBS Sports has the Cleveland Cavaliers selecting the Dayton forward fifth overall.

There is a growing feeling that the Cleveland Cavaliers could very well draft Obi Toppin fifth overall in the upcoming NBA Draft. A mock draft from Kyle Boone of CBS Sports has the Cavs taking the talented Dayton forward.

With Cleveland expending top-10 picks on guards in consecutive years with Collin Sexton and Darius Garland, they go big here — literally — to add weapons around them. Toppin is a freakish athlete and rim-runner who can give Sexton and Garland a can’t-miss lob target who can step out and hit 3-pointers. He’s got some deficiencies as a defender, but his upside as an all-around offensive weapon makes him plenty appealing enough to bet on at No. 5.

Kyle Boone on his explanation for Obi Toppin to Cleveland

Looking at the Cavs roster they need to add a young big man to the roster. It is possible that Cleveland starts next season without Tristan Thompson, Kevin Love, and Andre Drummond. Of course that would be after not re-signing Thompson, Drummond declining his player option or being traded, and Love being sent elsewhere. If any of these things to happen drafting Obi Toppin would make sense.

If the Cavs intend to keep the roster intact, it may not make immediate sense to draft Topppin. Someone like Isaac Okoro might be a better fit considering Cleveland needs wing players. Okoro is just about the complete opposite of Toppin, being a defensive player and not offensive. However a defense first player might be what the Cavs need right now. The Cavs have been abysmal defensively and this is an area that needs fixing.

At the end of the day the Cavs just need to take the best player available. Fit is not as important as collecting talent at this point in time. Cleveland has flexibility and potential players to move which makes this strategy work currently.

Obi Toppin to Cavs in Sam Vecenie’s mock

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The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie has the Cleveland Cavaliers selecting the 22-year old forward from Dayton with the fifth pick in the draft.

Obi Toppin to the Cavs? It may be a possibility. In Sam Vecenie’s latest mock draft he has Cleveland selecting the sophomore out of Dayton with the fifth overall pick.

Vecenie mentions that adding Toppin to the Cavs would be a boost offensively as a combination of Collin Sexton, Darius Garland, and Andre Drummond. There are concerns that are also noted, those being defensive. While Toppin helps the team offensively, defensively it does not help and that’s a problem for Cleveland. The Cavaliers have not been good defensively for some time now and at some point that needs to change, even with the league not placing a premium on defense anymore.

Selecting Obi Toppin at five would fall under taking the best available player style of team building, a strategy that Vecenie does not necessarily agree with. However the Cavs are a team currently right in the middle on the competitive spectrum. Not good enough to contend and not bad enough to tank. The uncertain future Kevin Love in Cleveland only complicates matters. Until the Cavs are fully on one end of the spectrum taking BPA is really the only way to go. Eventually things will work themselves out one way or the other and until then they should just collect talent.

Obi Toppin to Cavs in NBA mock draft

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In a NBA mock draft published on Bleacher Report the Cleveland Cavaliers are slotted to pick Dayton forward Obi Toppin fifth overall.

With the conclusion of the NBA Draft Lottery there is a little better idea of how the draft might go. A mock draft from Bleacher Report has the Cleveland Cavaliers selecting Obi Toppin fifth overall.

LaMelo Ball, Onyeka Okongwu, Anthony Edwards, and James Wiseman go before Cleveland in that order in this particular mock. This gives the Cavs the opportunity to select the Dayton forward at five.

Obi Toppin played two years at Dayton and was outstanding during his second season. Toppin averaged 20 points, 7.5 rebounds, 2.2 assists, and 1 steal per game. Toppin made 63.3% of his field goal attempts including 39% from three-point range.

Adding Toppin to this current Cavs lineup would be interesting. Cleveland currently has Kevin Love and Larry Nance Jr. as their primary power forwards. Of course the Cavs could always trade Love which would open up playing time for someone like Toppin or they could choose not to re-sign Tristan Thompson and opt to go with only one true center. This would allow Cleveland to mix and match forwards in order to maximize lineup options.

Drafting Obi Toppin fifth overall may not be the best fit at this current time. Luckily for Cleveland they need to be in talent collection mode and not worry about fit. The Cavs are not anywhere near contending right now, they just need to add talent and figure the rest out later.