2013 NBA Draft

[Smooth]

I don't think the Cavs will be in the position to get a top-5 pick again... If so then we can have that discussion of Muhammad, Zeller, Noel, etc., but right now I'm expecting a late lotto pick...

With that said, the guys that I'm going to be watching the most this season are James McAdoo, Alexander Poythress, Tony Mitchell and Adonis Thomas...

The thing that sucks is with the current construction of this roster and the strength of this roster do not complement each other well..

Right now McAdoo is probably my pipedream, as I think he'll likely be out of reach for the Cavs..

So that leaves the three of Poythress, Mitchell and Thomas who are realistic targets...

Of those guys, Adonis Thomas is the guy I really like the most for the Cavs.. If the Cavs are going to add another wing player, I think it has to be a real good defender, someone who doesn't have to have the ball in their hands to be effective and can be a good outside shooter... Thomas can be all 3 of those three things plus more with his talent level and athleticism... Now if the Cavs want to go the Thunder route and take a scorer like LeBryan Nash or Archie Goodwin and put Waiters on the bench, then they could do that, but I have a hard time seeing them do that unless it's someone like Muhammad... So with that in mind, I think a wing player in the mold of Thomas is what we'll be looking at...

Mitchell and Poythress are excellent athletes that still need to develop their games... Mitchell is much farther along in that process and looked phenomenal at the Kevin Durant Skills camp, but both are a bit raw for my liking with what the Cavs need and where they're at right now...

I'll also throw Dario Saric in there just for the heck of it, although that's more of a homer pick than anything else..

 

[adam81king]

I don't think the Cavs will be in the position to get a top-5 pick again... If so then we can have that discussion of Muhammad, Zeller, Noel, etc., but right now I'm expecting a late lotto pick...

With that said, the guys that I'm going to be watching the most this season are James McAdoo, Alexander Poythress, Tony Mitchell and Adonis Thomas...

The thing that sucks is with the current construction of this roster and the strength of this roster do not complement each other well..

Right now McAdoo is probably my pipedream, as I think he'll likely be out of reach for the Cavs..

So that leaves the three of Poythress, Mitchell and Thomas who are realistic targets...

Of those guys, Adonis Thomas is the guy I really like the most for the Cavs.. If the Cavs are going to add another wing player, I think it has to be a real good defender, someone who doesn't have to have the ball in their hands to be effective and can be a good outside shooter... Thomas can be all 3 of those three things plus more with his talent level and athleticism... Now if the Cavs want to go the Thunder route and take a scorer like LeBryan Nash or Archie Goodwin and put Waiters on the bench, then they could do that, but I have a hard time seeing them do that unless it's someone like Muhammad... So with that in mind, I think a wing player in the mold of Thomas is what we'll be looking at...

Mitchell and Poythress are excellent athletes that still need to develop their games... Mitchell is much farther along in that process and looked phenomenal at the Kevin Durant Skills camp, but both are a bit raw for my liking with what the Cavs need and where they're at right now...

I'll also throw Dario Saric in there just for the heck of it, although that's more of a homer pick than anything else..

I, respectfully, disagree with you that the Cavaliers should be looking for a defender on the wing. I think the Cavaliers need two things most going forward (in addition to what we "think" we have already). Another scorer from the wing that can produce for himself (and others, ideally), and a scorer from the low post that can produce consistently and command double-teams. Gee and Miles are plus-defenders and both can guard the SG or SF positions. I'm not suggesting a sieve on defense, but I'm looking for someone that's more Kevin Durant than Shane Battier. We also need an Amare Stoudemire-like scorer in the post.

I do agree that (in all likelihood) we won't be looking at a top 5 pick in 2013, although I'd love to get one. That said, the players I'm looking at during the with the most interest during the 2012-13 season are:
Tony Mitchell 6'9" SF/PF North Texas
Steven Adams 7'0" C Pittsburgh
Rudy Gobert 7'1" C France
Dario Saric 6'10" SF Croatia
Alex Len 7'1" C Maryland
Alec Brown 7'1" C UW Green Bay
Doug McDermott 6'8" SF Creighton
Christian Watford 6'8" SF Indiana
Linos Chrysikopoulos 6'9" SF Greece

 

[Smooth]

I, respectfully, disagree with you that the Cavaliers should be looking for a defender on the wing. I think the Cavaliers need two things most going forward (in addition to what we "think" we have already). Another scorer from the wing that can produce for himself (and others, ideally), and a scorer from the low post that can produce consistently and command double-teams. Gee and Miles are plus-defenders and both can guard the SG or SF positions. I'm not suggesting a sieve on defense, but I'm looking for someone that's more Kevin Durant than Shane Battier. We also need an Amare Stoudemire-like scorer in the post.

I'm not saying they strictly need a defender on the wing, but they do need a strong defender and someone that isn't going to command the ball a ton..

Whether we like it or not, Waiters and Irving is the starting backcourt going forward... We can point to the Thunder situation with Harden coming off the bench, but Harden came in after Durant and Westbrook had already established themselves... With as much was made about Waiters coming off the bench in college, there's no way he comes off the bench his whole career as a Cavalier and there's no way he takes a backseat to our next draft pick...

So with that said, the Cavs need a strong defender, first and foremost, if Irving and Waiters are going to be the backcourt of the future... They can draft an average defender at SF, if they want to have a poor defensive team... In addition, if Waiters and Irving are going to be the starting backcourt, the starting SF isn't going to be required or likely to be handling the ball a lot... And that's okay.... Someone like a Luol Deng or Nicolas Batum... Or someone like Harrison Barnes or Kawhi Leonard, guys from recent drafts...

I agree that another big needs to be added, likely one with scoring abilities, but I also think it's too early to tell exactly what type of big we need... We first need to see where Thompson is at with his development and what type of player Zeller will turn out to be...

Tony Mitchell 6'9" SF/PF North Texas
Steven Adams 7'0" C Pittsburgh
Rudy Gobert 7'1" C France
Dario Saric 6'10" SF Croatia
Alex Len 7'1" C Maryland
Alec Brown 7'1" C UW Green Bay
Doug McDermott 6'8" SF Creighton
Christian Watford 6'8" SF Indiana
Linos Chrysikopoulos 6'9" SF Greece

The first five on your list will likely be 1st rounders while the 2nd half will likely be second rounders... Any of those guys in the 2nd round I have no problem with...

Adams, Len and Gobert are all too raw offensively for my liking with the current frontcourt...

Mitchell is the one guy I agree with, I think he has a chance to be an interesting PF going forward... He might have some size questions like Derrick Williams going forward but he's much longer and athletic, thus I think he can stick at PF in the NBA...

 

[iLLGiLL]

Interesting breakdown of the SF position by nbadraft.net here : http://nbadraft.net/2013-nba-draft-top-10-small-forward-prospects

They have Otto Porter rated very high at #2, describing him as an athletic off-the-ball forward who can finish very well at the rim and also good from mid-range. Needs to improve as a spot-up shooter. Sounds like a good fit on our squad because they mention he slashes well, rebounds and runs the floor. Those of you who actually have seen the kid play, what do you guys think of him?

In this draft class the guy that really stands out is Muhammad... If somehow we get him, we'll have a superfast and skilled starting lineup on the perimeter...

 

[daytripper]

I'm a big Otto Porter fan and have him rated as the top returning SF over guys like Adonis Thomas and LeBryan Nash that were rated higher coming into college. The NBADraft.net write up is pretty good but I disagree about the weak handle. Both his passing and defense are very good. His mid range shot and rebounding % were excellent last season but he's more of a slasher type... not really a threat from beyond the arc at this point. Porter played with a bunch of upperclassmen at Georgetown last season so it will be interesting to see how he performs this year as 'the man.' He needs to put on a few pounds but can see him as an MKG type with a better mid range shot. Porter is a guy worth watching this season as I fully expect he could be a top 10 pick in the next draft. The Georgetown players always seem to outplay their college numbers in the pros so that is another plus for him.

 

[wildfan]

I'm not sure we are set at SG or PF. Both will have a season played before the draft and we can determine if they are starters or off the bench players. Very likely the cavs will have multiple needs. BPA is what I'd take. Be he a C, Pf, SF, SG, or PG. BPA is best in the long run IMHO. Drafting for a position is too shortsighted. IE u pass on 4-5 better players to draft a position player of need like may be a SF.

 

[Shakalu M.D.]

I don't think the Cavs will be in the position to get a top-5 pick again... If so then we can have that discussion of Muhammad, Zeller, Noel, etc., but right now I'm expecting a late lotto pick...

With that said, the guys that I'm going to be watching the most this season are James McAdoo, Alexander Poythress, Tony Mitchell and Adonis Thomas...

The thing that sucks is with the current construction of this roster and the strength of this roster do not complement each other well..

Right now McAdoo is probably my pipedream, as I think he'll likely be out of reach for the Cavs..

So that leaves the three of Poythress, Mitchell and Thomas who are realistic targets...

Of those guys, Adonis Thomas is the guy I really like the most for the Cavs.. If the Cavs are going to add another wing player, I think it has to be a real good defender, someone who doesn't have to have the ball in their hands to be effective and can be a good outside shooter... Thomas can be all 3 of those three things plus more with his talent level and athleticism... Now if the Cavs want to go the Thunder route and take a scorer like LeBryan Nash or Archie Goodwin and put Waiters on the bench, then they could do that, but I have a hard time seeing them do that unless it's someone like Muhammad... So with that in mind, I think a wing player in the mold of Thomas is what we'll be looking at...

Mitchell and Poythress are excellent athletes that still need to develop their games... Mitchell is much farther along in that process and looked phenomenal at the Kevin Durant Skills camp, but both are a bit raw for my liking with what the Cavs need and where they're at right now...

I'll also throw Dario Saric in there just for the heck of it, although that's more of a homer pick than anything else..

Right there with you on McAdoo, he's going to be a stud.

 

[STAT]

I've always really liked Tony Mitchell (North Texas), but my goodness.

[video=youtube;SpZGKZA5ges]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpZGKZA5ges[/video]

 

[King J]

Is Mitchell even a SF i see alot people calling him a tweener/PF

 

[bigfoot5415]

This deadline will be just as exciting as its presecessors. We have two guaranteed first rounders for the upcoming draft, expirings, Casspi, a ton of 2nds, and cap space. We all keep thinking that we will be too good to get a high pick, but i think we have the assets to move up if someone has cap issues or too many young guys. These guys will be on our radar and so will all the sfs of the 2014 class.

 

[adam81king]

Is Mitchell even a SF i see alot people calling him a tweener/PF

He's not a prototypical SF, but he can certainly handle the position. He's got above-average handles and a pretty decent jump shot. He's certainly athletic enough to stick with SFs on defense, too. I'll put it this way, he's more of a SF than Derrick Williams was/is. This is absolutely the guy I want playing SF for the Cavaliers in 2013-14.

 

[STAT]

He's not a prototypical SF, but he can certainly handle the position. He's got above-average handles and a pretty decent jump shot. He's certainly athletic enough to stick with SFs on defense, too. I'll put it this way, he's more of a SF than Derrick Williams was/is. This is absolutely the guy I want playing SF for the Cavaliers in 2013-14.

I'd love him in Cleveland too, but I don't think it is entirely obvious that he is going to be a 3 at the NBA level. From what I've seen, he's not a guy that puts the ball on the floor to blow by a defender very often and he seems to favor his right a lot on dribble drives. That being said, I totally agree that quickness and athleticism will not be an issue for him in terms of guarding opposing wings and that he looks a lot more like a 3 at this stage than Derrick Williams did (though it remains to be seen how much that really means).

 

[mAo_mAo]

@ 1:20 Donald Sloan throws an oop. That's a cav connection, right there.

 

[Bob_The_Cat]

He's not a prototypical SF, but he can certainly handle the position. He's got above-average handles and a pretty decent jump shot. He's certainly athletic enough to stick with SFs on defense, too. I'll put it this way, he's more of a SF than Derrick Williams was/is. This is absolutely the guy I want playing SF for the Cavaliers in 2013-14.

I'd love him in Cleveland too, but I don't think it is entirely obvious that he is going to be a 3 at the NBA level. From what I've seen, he's not a guy that puts the ball on the floor to blow by a defender very often and he seems to favor his right a lot on dribble drives. That being said, I totally agree that quickness and athleticism will not be an issue for him in terms of guarding opposing wings and that he looks a lot more like a 3 at this stage than Derrick Williams did (though it remains to be seen how much that really means).

I don't disagree with what either of you have said here, but his ability to handle the ball may have no real effect on how he fits on the Cavs. If Waiters pans out, the Cavs won't really need a third guy on the perimeter to create. What they need more than anything is a guy with some size who can defend, and Mitchell certainly fits the bill. He also rebounds really well and seems to shoot the three at a decent clip, though it is on limited attempts. I think there's going to be enough scoring between Irving and Waiters that a combo of Mitchell, Thompson, and Zeller would fit quite nicely, along with Gee, Miles, and Andy off the bench.

 

[adam81king]

I don't disagree with what either of you have said here, but his ability to handle the ball may have no real effect on how he fits on the Cavs. If Waiters pans out, the Cavs won't really need a third guy on the perimeter to create. What they need more than anything is a guy with some size who can defend, and Mitchell certainly fits the bill. He also rebounds really well and seems to shoot the three at a decent clip, though it is on limited attempts. I think there's going to be enough scoring between Irving and Waiters that a combo of Mitchell, Thompson, and Zeller would fit quite nicely, along with Gee, Miles, and Andy off the bench.

You don't really mean this, do you? You want to rely on a team with two 20point scorers, and that's it? What team in the NBA truly competes for Championships with less than 3 guys capable of dropping at least 20 every night? If Irving and Waiters both perform up to expectations, we won't need a ball-dominant Allen Iverson-type player, but we still need AT LEAST one more guy that can score the ball at will (preferably one more on the wing and one in the post). Both guys won't be "on" together all the time. The more weapons you have, the better chance you have for success. More weapons make it harder on defenses (keeping double-teams off of star players). Yes, we need guys that can shoot off the pass, but those guys need to be able to score on their own, too...which I think Mitchell will be able to do in the League.