Awesome game tonight.

 

EDIT: MTS, tell your a-hole co-workers that the Knicks are 0-10 against the Cavs in Cleveland in the last 10 games. Then tell them to get back to work or you're gonna go Meryl Streep on dey ass!

LMAO!  Oh please I have other means of punishing them!

I heard otherwise due to some NBA rules nonsense I don't pretend or try to understand.  But being ineligible would make sense to me.

 

Apparently, that is correct.  He is eligible because he simply did not re-sign and was not waived.

Since when did Cleveland get a D league team?  I can't imagine Canton is happy about that development...

 

Yeah, Akron already stole our baseball team... let us have this one please!!

OK, let's end the season with a win. I mean, it's Washington!

I hate to say it but we need to lose both of the last two games of the season to tie for the third spot in the draft. A win now is meaningless and actually hurts us in the long run.

 

NBA Draft lottery standings: A Cleveland Cavs loss would move team into third-place tie

http://www.cleveland.com/datacentral/index.ssf/2012/04/nba_draft_lottery_standings_a.html

 

Depending on a coin flip (which might happen today) between us and NOLA, the lowest pick in the draft we will have is either 6 or 7.  Right now, we are tied for 3rd with NOLA.  If we win the flip, we will be slotted 3rd pre-lottery.  Then, if 3 teams below us are the ping-pong balls pulled (unlikely), we will pick 6.  That will be as low as we can go.  We probably have about the same chance at landing #1 again.  Most likely, we will be somewhere between.

 

My early favorite to add to our team is Bradley Beal (G, Florida)

 

Come on Nick....

This season gave us the best of both worlds: competitiveness and real reason for hope (in the future) in the first half, and a glorious tanking in the second half that secured another top-five pick.  I can't wait for next year (that sounds really pathetic coming from a Cleveland sports fan).  I would be obviously blown away if we got Anthony Davis, ecstatic if we got MKG, excited if we got Beal, Robinson, or Barnes, and apprehensive if we get Drummond.  I will not be watching the Cavs next year if we pick anybody else (lie).

Coin toss champions!

http://www.cavstheblog.com/?p=9972

That kid is my hero

 

ROY!!

Cleveland Cavaliers' Kyrie Irving to be named NBA's Rookie of the Year

Published: Sunday, May 13, 2012, 6:01 PM    Updated: Sunday, May 13, 2012, 8:11 PM

 

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- For a youngster who entered the league shrouded in mystery and added suspense to so many Cavaliers fourth quarters, Kyrie Irving siphoned all the intrigue from the NBA Rookie of the Year race this season.

 

By the time he started hitting game-winning shots in the season's first month and scoring 20 points on a regular basis, Irving had turned a contest into a coronation. He was Secretariat at the Belmont, forcing the media covering the chase to use an increasingly wider angle to keep the likes of Ricky Rubio, Kenneth Faried and Brandon Knight in the same picture.

 

To nobody's surprise, the 20-year Irving will be named the league's rookie of the year. He will receive the trophy on Tuesday, two sources told The Plain Dealer.

 

http://www.cleveland.com/cavs/index.ssf/2012/05/cleveland_cavaliers_kyrie_irvi_9.html

Not a bad tag line.

Gee, they even wrote a song about him! (sorry, I'm an 80s man)

 

I'll be honest, besides Anthony Davis, I don't really know who else is highly-rated for this year's draft.  For those who do follow the mocks and stuff, who might the Cavs benefit from drafting?

I don't pay that much attention but Kidd-Gilchrist and Beal are two more names that I've heard often enough to retain them in my mind.

If you are at #1, you HAVE to take Davis.  However, I am leaning towards hoping we don't have the #1 for that reason.  He is a freak, but raw.  More raw than DHoward was coming into the league and to call him 'slim' would be an understatement.  But he does have the frame to fill out a little bit.  Keep in mind that he grew something like 8 inches his last year or two in HS so he is still maturing.  He has to be the #1 pick because he completely changes the game with his off the ball defense.  Nobody will want to penetrate on a team with Davis in the middle.  I would worry, though, about him getting pushed around in the post.  The point of all this is that he won't be ready to contribute to his full potential until 2-3 years.

 

It is a good thing we are guaranteed a top 6 pick because the general consensus is that the top tier of this draft has 6 players:

 

Anthony Davis - PF/C - Kentucky

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist - SF - Kentucky

Bradley Beal - SG - Florida

Thomas Robinson - PF - Kansas

Harrison Barnes - SF - UNC

Andre Drummond - C - UConn

 

Out of that group, my two are MKG and Beal.  MKG compares favorably to Gerald Wallace, but probably with better basketball skills and a higher ceiling.  Plays with the same intensity and reckless abandon.  He would start day 1 for us at SF.  I like Beal's potential more though.  He is a bit short (I think he will measure 6'4 with shoes) but he has long arms and is solidly built.  Good shooting touch and a good penetrator.  Think of a cross between Ray Allen and Dwayne Wade....... of course, he has a LONG way to go to reach the level of either of those guys, but I see the potential.

 

The Cavs have been rumored for a long time to have an affection for Barnes.  I hope not.  He is still riding the hype wave coming out of HS.  Sorry.... but you can't impress me too much dominating Iowa HS hoops.  He has ideal size and is a great shooter, but I don't see any urgency or passion in his game.  He is a spot up shooter but could be soooooo much more if he had just a little itty bit of 'badboy' in him.

 

Robinson is solid but he is a 4 with no alternate positions.  It wouldn't make sense to pick him after we just invested a top 5 pick in TT.

 

Drummond was previously ranked higher than Davis but he just didn't dominate in conference play the way he did against the mid-majors.  Freak athlete with great size, but his lack of production was troubling.

!

Stan Van Gundy fired in Orlando.  Call me crazy, but I think the guy would be perfect fit in Cleveland!  He wins and his personality fits the town.  He's dealt with some fairly large NBA egos too....

Yeah, but I can't stand hearing his voice!

^^I think the rap on Van Gundy is that he's a great X's and O's guy, but his grating personality on court is what caused the friction with Howard and other players. I like the guy we have. I think he's a good player development guy, which is what we need right now.

Mr. Byron Scott is Mr. Suave......

 

this cavs team has no egos to deal with. or worry about anyway. bs is fine and anyway coaching would be low on the totem pole of cavs issues even if it were problematic, which it isn't.

 

I want Scott to be here for a very long time.  one of the problems with the browns is the revolving door in the front office and coach departments. The key to substantial success is a stable group running things. getting van gundy just to shake things up a little bit is no good, in my opinion.

The only way I see any potential for it happening is if LAL fires Brown and Scott somehow talks Gilbert into letting him out of his contract to take his dream job.  I think Gilbert loves Scott being the coach here and we certainly have the right roster (no divas as mentioned above) to deal with Scott's tough love.  Byron is regarded as one of the toughest coaches to play for because (a) he works your a&& off and (b) he doesn't take any sh!te

I agree--love Byron for his tough love and style.  Just thought Van Gundy would be an immediate Cleveland character with the media and fans.  His personality fits the town much like Rutigliano did back in the 80s.

I read that Michael Kidd-Gilchrist is preparing for the draft here in Cleveland.  Kyrie and him were teammates at a HS in New Jersey (he refers to Kyrie as his "best friend") and he is represented by Rich Paul (who did not take his "talents" to South Beach).

I read that Michael Kidd-Gilchrist is preparing for the draft here in Cleveland.  Kyrie and him were teammates at a HS in New Jersey (he refers to Kyrie as his "best friend") and he is represented by Rich Paul (who did not take his "talents" to South Beach).

 

I have 100% confidence that Gilbert/Grant make the right choice.  They will be interviewing each candidate for a personality check.  I heard Drummond may be a headcase as are most Uconn guys.  I think if we get Davis, MKG or Beal we will be rolling.  I would be interested in Barnes too. 

Me no likey Barnes as a top 6 pick.  I would love to have him on my team, but I would swing for the fences if I was G&G, and I see Barnes' ceiling as a borderline all-star.  I want a perreniel all-star with the pick we will have.

 

Yes, Drummond has some red flags........ he is the exact opposite of Barnes in that he is a high risk, high reward type pick.

 

I'm focusing on the three guys you mentioned - Davis, MKG, and Beal....... probably in that order (unless Beal measures out taller than 6'4, which would make me flip-flop him with MKG)

I would like MKG for a couple of reasons.

 

If he is boys with Irving, that would compel them to stay here and grow together...plus they may already have chemistry.

 

ALso, We would have a MGK (Machine Gun Kelly) and a MKG (Michael Kidd Gilchrest) here in town.  Plenty of fun to have there.

We need good vibes for Nick, folks.  Draft lottery is tonight at 8pm.

 

Btw.... if the conspiracy theorists are right about the "lottery", I am going to say the #1 pick will end up with the Nets (who will then trade it to the Magic in a deal for Dwight Howard).  My second guess would be the TWolves, because Kevin Love is a superstar stuck on a bad team, Davis would be the perfect compliment in many ways, and Minny has never won the draft lottery (despite relatively high odds on many occasions).  Third guess would be the league owned NOLA Hornets

^The Saints' owner bought the Hornets recently.  I don't know why everybody thinks that the lottery is fixed.  I think it has something to do with not understanding probabilities.  If it was fixed, why stick John Wall in DC, Blake Griffin on the Clippers, or Derrick Rose in Chica......wait a minute.

^ I'm definitely amped for the Lottery, but with so many picks, I think 4 in the Top 34 or something, this is a great chance to add a bunch of talent to the roster.  This could be considered a wasted opportunity if they get one of their guys (Davis, MGK, Beal) and miss on their other 3 picks.  The goal for next year has to be the playoffs. Anything less is underperforming/underdrafting.  Especially in the East.

^^It didn't help that the first ever draft lottery landed Patrick Ewing in NYC

 

^I highly doubt they bring 4 rookies into camp.  I expect them to trade one or two of those picks on draft night for either future assets (trade an early 2nd for a late first rounder in a future draft) or as a package to move up from either 24 (the Lakers' pick) or if we want to be a spot or two higher in the lottery.  If they are unable to swing a deal, I would expect them to draft 1 or 2 players with the intention of stashing them overseas for a few years.  Don't forget that we have our 2nd rounder from last year (Milan Macvan) over there and he is doing fairly well in the Euroleague

I would be curious to know how much trading-up occurs in the NBA draft. 

^ Right, I do think they'll grab a Euro guy with one of the 4.  But this team was bringing guys from the D-League straight up to play meaningful minutes.  Outside of the core, KI, AV, Gee and TT, the cabinets are bare.  I'd have to think they will want a few more bodies so they don't have to keep going to the D League.  Though Gee has been a nice surprise.

^^It usually involves a lot of moving pieces.  There were several deals last year, including Charlotte moving up from 19 to 7 last year -  http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/draft2011/news/story?id=6692627...... we, of course, traded our No. 32 pick for two future second rounders.

 

As far as movement within the lottery, that is more rare, but its not like it doesn't happen.  The one that pops right to mind is the infamous trade from 1993 in which GSW moved from 3 to 1 to take Webber and the Magic ended up with Penny.  We made the trade for the right to pick Bid "Bad" Brad Daughtery in 1986.  More recently, I recall a deal involving the Twolves and Blazers where the rights to Randy Foye and Brandon Roy were swapped.  The Bulls also made the mistake of trading the rights to LaMarcus Aldridge (selected 2nd overall) to the Blazers for Tyrus Thomas (selected 4th).  I'm sure there are more...

They can fill in their roster for years to come with this draft.  If they nab MKG and maybe Fab Melo with the Lakers picks.  THey have positions 1, 3 , 4 5 filled for the next 5 years minimum.  If they hit on a couple of more, look out.  Deep deep draft

I'm not very excited about our later picks.  There's always the chance that you get a legit starter, but it's much more likely that a team adds bench depth or strikes out altogether. 

http://www.basketball-reference.com/draft/NBA_2003.html

http://www.basketball-reference.com/draft/NBA_2004.html

http://www.basketball-reference.com/draft/NBA_2005.html

http://www.basketball-reference.com/draft/NBA_2006.html

 

I've heard a rumor that the Cavaliers are working the back channels to see if they can make a trade for the #1 pick (if they don't end up winning the lottery).

#4

 

Oh yeah.... conspiracy theory #3 plays out.  NOLA got the first pick.  Nice present for the newest member of the old boys club.

 

So New Orleans will take the Unibrow

 

Charlotte picks 2nd, Washington has the 3rd, then us

 

NEW ORLEANS. THE FIX IS IN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

At least two truly inept franchises are picking before us, and, God willing, one of them will take Drummond.

Jordan is as bad running an organization as he was good at playing basketball.  That's not an overstatement.  But, even still, Charlotte just drafted a big man with no offensive game in the top 10 last year.  I can't see them taking Drummond.  But Robinson is definitely in play there and with Washington.... although I hear Washington is drooling at the mouth for MKG.

 

Bit of irony here.  The lottery combination that was assigned to the #4 team (NOLA) was selected first.  We finished tied with NOLA for the 3rd worst record in the league.  There was a coin flip to determine who would be slotted 3rd.  Obviously, we won that coin flip.... but, in hindsight, we really lost

Or, let's just pretend that Washington is going to take Drummond, and Charlotte is going to take Robinson.  Now it's like we have the #2 pick!

That would be my dream scenario.  And, really, it's not THAT far-fetched considering that Washington is looking to move Blatche and Nene and Drummond would make an imposing duo on the inside.

I actually kind of want the Cavs to get Robinson.  But then again, on this very same thread last year I was saying that they should take Derrick Williams at #1, so WTF do I know?

I hope that either Beal or however unlikely, MKG is available at the 4 pick. I am wholly unimpressed with Harrison Barnes.

 

I've also got the impression that Beal will be a better NBA scorer than MKG, at least initially.

 

But to echo C17, wtf do I know.

Word is that the Cavs are trying to trade up to #2 by packaging the #4 and the #24.  I have no clue who they'd be targeting because after Davis there is a big dropoff and IMO no unanimous choice for the second pick.

^MKG.  Him and Kyrie are "BFFs" and he is a Byron Scott type player.  Most will say that he was the leader of that Kentucky team as a true freshman

 

I stuck with Kyrie throughout the process last year, so I know what I'm talking about ;)

 

I'm in the MKG/Beal camp for sure and would love to see if we can get up to #2 to guarantee we get our first choice out of those two (which I believe is MKG).  But Barnes would not be the end of the world.  It is entirely possible (if not indeed likely) that we would've taken Barnes instead of TT had he come out last year.  It is also possible that he would have been taken #1 overall two years ago if HS players were still allowed to go straight to the league.  He has the talent and measurables.... the only question I have is does he have that competitve fire you need in today's NBA?  I heard a good comparison for him today - Sean Elliot....... I can see that.

 

The guy I'm worried about most is Drummond.  But, just to throw this out there, the team for whom he makes the most sense is Portland (so they can wash their hands of Oden and move Aldridge back to his natural PF position) and they have the #6 and #11.  4/24 for 6/11?...... hmmmmmm

Man, 6 and 11 could be Barnes and Perry Jones.  That would be pretty sweet.

 

The guy I'm worried about most is Drummond.  But, just to throw this out there, the team for whom he makes the most sense is Portland (so they can wash their hands of Oden and move Aldridge back to his natural PF position) and they have the #6 and #11.  4/24 for 6/11?...... hmmmmmm

 

SOmeone just called into KNR very much worried that the Cavs would take Drummond with the 4th!!