Cavs draft workouts

[sailfish]

I think promises work better later in the draft than the top 10 or lotto. I think Boobie had a promise from the Cavs and was able to slip to the 2nd round. Dion had a promise from the Suns and the Cavs still took him without working him out.

For all we know Hunter could be not working out for teams because his agent thinks his stock is as high as it can be and it will only hurt him to have work outs. He isn't an elite athlete that is going to wow by jumping out of the gym. He also isn't a great ball handler so he isn't going to shine with one on one or playing a pick up game with guys he has never played with before. He is seen as the best wing defender of the top guys right now. His agent would rather everyone remember his lock down performance on Culver in the national championship game vs some random gym work out.

You bring up a good point. The Cavs have made promises before- Boobie was a promise as was Sergey Karasev & Christian Eyenga. If this franchise likes a guy, they aren’t afraid to give him a promise.

 

[inliner311]

You bring up a good point. The Cavs have made promises before- Boobie was a promise as was Sergey Karasev & Christian Eyenga. If this franchise likes a guy, they aren’t afraid to give him a promise.

Eyenga wasn't a Cavs promise. It was Ferry finding out that Eyenga was brought to the draft with a promise. Eyenga was in the audience. Ferry thought it was the Suns and he picked Eyenga with little knowledge about him. He was trying to use Eyenga as a trade chip to get Amar'e.

 

[I LOVE YOU ABBY]

ABBY ES HERMOSA

 

[I LOVE YOU ABBY]

BRIGHT EYES

 

[Sir'Dom Pointer]

Why would we promise Hunter anything? he isn't at risk of going before our pick...so it makes very little sense. We don't want to limit ourselves do we? we need to workout every top pick.

 

[sailfish]

Eyenga wasn't a Cavs promise. It was Ferry finding out that Eyenga was brought to the draft with a promise. Eyenga was in the audience. Ferry thought it was the Suns and he picked Eyenga with little knowledge about him. He was trying to use Eyenga as a trade chip to get Amar'e.

I’m not sure where you heard that, as that one is news to me!? Picking Waiters sight unseen, as high as they did, was bad enough. If Ferry truly did that with Eyenga then that, alone, would have been grounds for firing him.

 

[sailfish]

Both good points. I especially agree that it's more likely Hunter's camp realized his draft stock was as high as it could be, so why risk injury/lowering that stock.

Nah. Working out for no teams really makes no sense. It’s not like Hunter is locked in at #4. I think the Cavaliers told his agent, if he’s there at #5, we’re taking him. Call that a promise or not (I would), but that’s the only way I can justify it. Otherwise, there’s no clear landing spot, as the Suns likely wouldn’t take him, with their need for a point guard. The Bulls & Hawks would certainly be no sure thing to take him either.

 

[inliner311]

I’m not sure where you heard that, as that one is news to me!? Picking Waiters sight unseen, as high as they did, was bad enough. If Ferry truly did that with Eyenga then that, alone, would have been grounds for firing him.

Windy talked about both Waiters and Eyenga extensively on podcasts after they got picked. Eyenga was at the draft all dressed up and Windy explained how odd it was to have a international player that no one really knew about come to the draft. Eyenga said he never had any contact with the Cavs before he was drafted. You can tell he is actually surprised he was drafted by the Cavs. After they got him in to the team facility a couple days later everyone was raving about how high he could jump.

 

[sailfish]

Windy talked about both Waiters and Eyenga extensively on podcasts after they got picked. Eyenga was at the draft all dressed up and Windy explained how odd it was to have a international player that no one really knew about come to the draft. Eyenga said he never had any contact with the Cavs before he was drafted. You can tell he is actually surprised he was drafted by the Cavs. After they got him in to the team facility a couple days later everyone was raving about how high he could jump.

Every year I see some international player(s) that are sitting in the stands get drafted on the second round and walk on stage to shake the commish’s hand. That’s nothing new or different. However, if Ferry picked Eyenga because he was at the draft and he figured he ought to, as he could be missing the boat, well, I don’t know what to say....that’s incompetence at its best. I want to believe that’s some BS story.

The Waiters ‘sight unseen’ pick was a baffling pick at the time and it still is. Remember this is a guy who was a 6th man in college and the Cavs passed on Damian Lillard, Harrison Barnes, & Andre Drummond to take him. Can you imagine how much better the Cavs would have been had they taken any one of those other players? A Kyrie-Lillard backcourt could have been devastating!

I guess it goes to show just how BAD the Cavs front offices have been over the years. We lucked into LeBron, but there have been just some awful picks, including Trajan Langdon, Chris Mihm, DeSagana Diop, Dejuan Wagner, Luke Jackson, Christian Eyenga, Dion Waiters, & Anthony Bennett. The Browns finally got it right by hiring John Dorsey. Let us hope the Cavaliers have it right as well.

 

[daddywags]

Not much sense in extrapolating what previous GMs and front offices did onto Koby and co. is there? He may have given someone a promise (I personally doubt it), but if he did it would be a first for him wouldn't it?

 

[Ozone]

Hunter skipped the combine and he hasn’t worked out for anyone. Additionally, with just 10 days until the draft, the Cavs have not had a single top draft prospect in for a workout. You do the math...

I would not be concerned about them not having top options in yet,(which nobody knows for sure) it's not like they don't have legs and the ability to watch these players at workouts elsewhere but it's not like they haven't zeroed in on who they are high on either whether it's Hunter or somebody else.
I find it very hard to buy that the Cavs would give anyone projected in the top 10 even without working out for anyone a promise as he is a lock to be a top 10 pick regardless of who he works out for.
The Cavs very easily could be looking at Hunter above others, but I doubt it given either of Culver and Barrett could be there at 5 who by all means are better options for this roster.
The only way I see them making Hunter a promise is if they already had a trade agreed on in principal to trade down.

 

[The Human Q-Tip]

Two things:

1) the Lakers are pretty loaded at forward already, with LeBron, Ingram, & Kuzma. Their situation is very fluid, in that they would rather trade that #4 pick for a veteran, like AD or Beal, who can contribute right away. I’d say there’s a better than 50% chance the Lakers trade that pick.

I don't understand your point here. If the Lakers trade the pick - which you say is likely- then who the Lakers would draft at 4 is irrelevant. So it is entirely possible that the team that acquires No. 4 would take Hunter.

2) you’re forgetting about the JR Smith trade chip.

How so? If anything, the possible acquisition of another lottery pick in exchange for JR is just more evidence that the Cavs aren't looking only at Hunter.

 

[sailfish]

Not much sense in extrapolating what previous GMs and front offices did onto Koby and co. is there? He may have given someone a promise (I personally doubt it), but if he did it would be a first for him wouldn't it?

Yes, since it doesn’t appear they promised Sexton last year, it would be a first for Koby. A lot of scouting is done in advance of the combine and I think the Cavs just decided, once they fell out of the top 3, that Hunter would be a good, safe pick. I think they’ll be willing to take on more risk with their second pick at #26. Two guys to watch there- Kabengele & Gafford. I’d love to see them look at Bazley, but that may be more risk than they’re willing to take on there.

 

[sailfish]

I don't understand your point here. If the Lakers trade the pick - which you say is likely- then who the Lakers would draft at 4 is irrelevant. So it is entirely possible that the team that acquires No. 4 would take Hunter.



How so? If anything, the possible acquisition of another lottery pick in exchange for JR is just more evidence that the Cavs aren't looking only at Hunter.

My point is that the Lakers, if they’re likely to trade the pick for a veteran, as many suspect, are in no position to promise Garland, Hunter, or whomever. The JR trade chip may or May not come into play. With the Cavs draft workouts seemingly focused on late round 1 & round 2 prospects, it suggests they may be looking to get a 2nd round pick this year and/or perhaps a 2020 pick.

 

[LeeBuckeye]

For all we know LeBron is scouting Culver/Hunter for David Griffin because they seem pretty tight but then again LeBron is a pretty trash talent evaluator

We've gone back and forth on who we think the Cavs should pick but how many picks do we come away is just as interesting. The Cavs currently have 11 guaranteed contracts for $134,221,452 payroll. This doesn't include David Nwaba who I think gets a deal but I'm going to guess Chriss, Stauskas, Adel and Blossomgame won't have contracts entering the season. With JR traded there is a chance we might absorb more than one contract (unlikely but still). You can't flip TT and Clarkson without absorbing more bodies either.

I'm guessing we keep #5 then trade JR/#26 for a better pick + bad contract then buy a 2nd round pick for a total of 3. We either see RJ fall to us or draft Hunter/Culver then use #13 in a deal with the Heat to draft Goga or Bol Bol if his health checks out. I think they buy a 2nd round pick and draft Okeke

Projected line-up based on that:

Sexton / Delly
Clarkson / Knight
Hunter /Cedi/ Nwaba
Love / Nance / Okeke
TT / Zizic / Goga


I think Hunter makes the most sense in bridging multiple gaps because he's a better shooter than Culver and a better defender than RJ (don't think he will be available) and those are two incredibly weak areas on our roster. Goga and Okeke is a nice front court for the future as well. Back court looks incredibly weak again but we're not ready to compete yet so I'm not alarmed. I was worried about Culver finishing ability but after seeing his 43" vert I'm a bit more comfortable with him at #5 as well. I don't like trading back either as 5 + 13 >> 8 + 10 if taking on salary for JR Smith isn't an issue and the Heat deal actually took place.