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2012 Draft

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Cavatt said:
I was underwhelmed at 4. I don't think T-robb is an allstar talent. If Waiters even has a chance, then I am down.

Zellers is interesting to me because he is so good in transition. It is obvious to me what type of team they want to build. They want guys that can move. I understand Zellers is not strong enough, who knows if he can put on the muscle necessary. However, his positioning looks great. He blocks out, and he has good hands. Good enough.
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He is also a VERY good passer out of the post. I'm completely down with the Zeller pick. I feel like he has the skillset to improve his midrange game drastically. If he could become that kind of player that could knock down 20-footers consistently, get up and down the floor quickly by snagging rebounds and getting a break started and passing well out of the post, then this was a great pick at 17... And I feel like those things are completely within his range as a player.

Pair that with Tristan's sheer athleticism, strength and defensive prowess and I think they make a pretty good match.


As for Waiters, I'm content with the pick after doing extensive research last night. He is the best slasher in this draft by a country mile.... No one really even close. And, he shows a lot of potential with his jumper. My biggest questions are his defense, as we really have no clue how he will do in man-to-man, but he did show that he has quick hands and feet and will get his hands on a lot of balls (lol). With how athletic our team has gotten, a disruptive defensive player on the perimeter could be deadly.

Totally fine with the draft. Considering the circumstances and that MKG and Beal were both off the board, I'll give it a solid B+ bordering on an A-.
 
Huber said:
It worries me that they took Waiters because he was the best wing left instead of taking BPA.
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Understood

I guess my feelings as a cavs fan come into play. We haven't had a good wing in yearrrs. Since I've been a fan (1996), we have had mainly awful starting sgs and a good wing eluded us all through the lebron era. Sg has often been the worst position on the floor. Derek Anderson? Bobby Sura? Those guys are the good old days for us. Larry Hughes? Please.

That makes me anxious to lock down a wing in a great draft to do it. Drafting thr BPA that is at a position where you have a young player with whom you want to build - that just brings me back to the old "turnstyle" cavs, new faces and trades all the time. Id rather them have consistency and build like SA.

So I say all that to say I cant get mad at drafting the #1 swingman even if he was arguably the #2 BPA, which is definitely arguable. Once you get down to taking the 3rd or 4th best player left to draft for your position of need, then I'd have a problem...
 
RedBlackAttack said:
He is also a VERY good passer out of the post. I'm completely down with the Zeller pick. I feel like he has the skillset to improve his midrange game drastically. If he could become that kind of player that could knock down 20-footers consistently, get up and down the floor quickly by snagging rebounds and getting a break started and passing well out of the post, then this was a great pick at 17... And I feel like those things are completely within his range as a player.

Pair that with Tristan's sheer athleticism, strength and defensive prowess and I think they make a pretty good match.


As for Waiters, I'm content with the pick after doing extensive research last night. He is the best slasher in this draft by a country mile.... No one really even close. And, he shows a lot of potential with his jumper. My biggest questions are his defense, as we really have no clue how he will do in man-to-man, but he did show that he has quick hands and feet and will get his hands on a lot of balls (lol). With how athletic our team has gotten, a disruptive defensive player on the perimeter could be deadly.

Totally fine with the draft. Considering the circumstances and that MKG and Beal were both off the board, I'll give it a solid B+ bordering on an A-.
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I was watching the Dion Waiters draft express video again, and one stat jumped out at me. MKG was for good reason held as the best transition/fast break player in the draft, and off the top of my head he shot in the low 70%s. In the video, they mentioned how Waiters shot 68% in transition... Not bad at all considering the transition team we're trying to build.
 
Grant was locked into drafting a wing as the Windy article states. Didn't even consider Trob? Trob was the BPA and the Cavs ignored him? Why? Because of TT? Well the Cavs ended up with a combo guard and a backup center good luck with that.
 
JimmyJazz said:
Grant was locked into drafting a wing as the Windy article states. Didn't even consider Trob? Trob was the BPA and the Cavs ignored him? Why? Because of TT? Well the Cavs ended up with a combo guard and a backup center good luck with that.
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you have to pick for the long term and live with your pick - have faith in who you've already picked while filling in holes elsewhere. You cant just draft TT then get TRob, realize they can't play together, trade one, etc etc etc. At least, in my opinion. I'm so sick of the inconsistency. SG was a position of need and has been for years and years - and it seems that they took arguably the second BPA (some, like hollinger, might disagree and say waiters was the first)... but it's not like they took the fourth or fifth BPA.

It would be different if the Cavs took an Austin Rivers type to fill a need - a guy they weren't very high on. That isn't the case.

If you think Barnes could be a better pro than Waiters, that's one thing. But TRob, I just don't get the argument.
 
JimmyJazz said:
Grant was locked into drafting a wing as the Windy article states. Didn't even consider Trob? Trob was the BPA and the Cavs ignored him? Why? Because of TT? Well the Cavs ended up with a combo guard and a backup center good luck with that.
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lol. Waiters was BPA over Robinson on the Cavs board.
 
From what I gathered from post draft interviews the big board looked like
Davis
Gilchrist:bigcry:
Waiters
Beal
Trob(?)
 
For the record I would have taken Trob, next on the list would have been Barnes then Waiters of the available guys. As for Zeller, he is what he is a solid center, won't be special will be serviceable. Zeller is the type you draft when they fall to you he is not the type you trade up for. But at the end of the day they did land a solid backup type center and a combo guard. I do think Waiters is more of a 6th man type. I could be wrong. But given the Cavs draft record outside of number 1 overall picks I lean towards these picks not being very good. At least we will draft high again next year, I guess that is the silver lining?
 
high b-ball IQ said:
can someone post chad fords draft grades and if its already posted what page?
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Here you go..

CLEVELAND CAVALIERS | GRADE: A-
Round 1: Dion Waiters (4), Tyler Zeller (17, from Mavs)

Round 2: None

Analysis: For the second straight year, the Cavs took a player at No. 4 who was ranked in the late teens on our Big Board in May. Like Tristan Thompson last year, Waiters had a meteoric rise the last month of the season. Unlike Thompson, his rise happened without ever doing a workout or interview with the Cavs. The Suns shut down Waiters early in the draft process, but it only seemed to start a Waiters feeding frenzy for teams ahead of them.

Waiters is the most dynamic scorer in the draft -- his ability to get to the basket is truly special -- and a handful of GMs felt that after Davis, MKG and Beal, he was the guy in this draft with the most star potential. He has NBA skill and, together with Kyrie Irving, should create a dynamic backcourt in Cleveland. Some will say taking Waiters at No. 4 was a bold pick, but I think it was a smart one with both MKG and Beal off the board. People said the same thing a few years ago when the Thunder took both Russell Westbrook and James Harden higher than expected.

I'm more agnostic about the Zeller pick. He's not going to be a great NBA center, but he runs the floor well and can play right away. At No. 17, you can't really ask for more than that.
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Here is something from Yahoo Sports that will make some draft players cry:

Loser: Sophomores
North Carolina sophomore forward Harrison Barnes could have been a candidate for the No. 1 pick for the draft had he came out last year. Instead, he was selected seventh by Golden State. Ohio State sophomore forward Jared Sullinger could have been selected in the top five had he entered the draft last year. Instead, the Boston Celtics took him 21st. Baylor's Jones, of course, suffered the biggest fall.
 
Waiters is going to be fantastic. I am surprised i have heard no one make the point that maybe it worked to our advantage that boheim respected seniors so that waiters didnt get all of the playing time. This way his averages were lower and we easily took him at 4. I am telling you people all he needs to do is improve his jump shot which is quite similar to a player with very similar averages coming out of college ... RUSSEL WESTBROOK

I'm not saying waiters will be westbrook but my point is that this guy has all kinds of potential and he already can slash hard to the basket. It's going to take Waiters a year to work on his outside game just like it will take zeller a year to gain muscle.

We will be in the lottery one more year and we will find our shooter.

Stop the hate.

Things are looking up and i'm going to be one of the first to buy a waiters jersey and say i told you so.

Just a thought..... Robinson going to Sacramento actually is a good thing. Maybe they can get their sorry asses to a half decent record so we CAN GET THEIR DRAFT PICK!! :D
 
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