I think Drummond is in there somewhererusty2 wrote:Cody Zeller (if he comes out) would be about #5.
Cavs top 4 are Davis, Gilchrist, Robinson, and Beal.
Re: Cleveland Cavaliers
797Drummond would be there but I think the Cavs would take Cody Zeller over Drummond if both are there. Zeller is probably not coming out.
Those top 4 are almost etched in stone.
The Cavs would take Davis first. Gilchrist 2nd (HS teammate of Kyrie) Toss up between Beal and Robinson for 3 and 4. I think they would consider C Zeller anywhere from 3-5.
Those top 4 are almost etched in stone.
The Cavs would take Davis first. Gilchrist 2nd (HS teammate of Kyrie) Toss up between Beal and Robinson for 3 and 4. I think they would consider C Zeller anywhere from 3-5.
Re: Cleveland Cavaliers
798Cavaliers rookie Kyrie Irving aggravates sprained shoulder in blowout loss, could miss 10 days
By Associated Press, Updated: Wednesday, April 4, 4:41 PM
CLEVELAND — The losses keep piling up for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Non-competitive during an eight-game losing streak, the Cavs learned Wednesday that they will be without rookie Kyrie Irving for at least one week and maybe for another 10 days after the point guard re-injured his sprained right shoulder during a 35-point home loss to San Antonio on Tuesday.
Irving had returned after missing one game with the injury and played 30 minutes against the Spurs. The team said in a release that the 20-year-old guard worsened his injury after contact and did not accompany the team to Milwaukee for Wednesday night’s game.
The Cavs, who have lost 11 of 12 and 17 of 21, are projecting Irving will miss at least one week. The team said Irving underwent an MRI, which revealed a bruise and sprain. Irving did not mention his injury following the game and the team did not reveal he stayed behind until a few hours before the scheduled tip-off against the Bucks.
Irving, who wore a protective brace in Tuesday’s game, hit the floor following contact on at least two play against the Spurs.
Coach Byron Scott had promised to be overly cautious with his young star so as to not risk him getting hurt and missing more time. Now that Irving is hurt again, the Cavs are unlikely to take any more chances with the No. 1 overall pick and presumptive NBA rookie of the year. The Cavs play seven games in the next 10 days and will be without their leading scorer.
Irving scored 13 points in the Cavs’ 125-90 loss to the Spurs, who were able to rest many of their starters after building a huge lead in the second half. According to STATS LLC, the Cavs are the first team in NBA history to lose consecutive home games by at least 35. Cleveland lost 121-84 to the Bucks on Friday when Irving first hurt his shoulder.
Also, the Cavs have lost by an average of 19.63 points during their eight-game slide, the third-largest margin of defeat during a losing streak of at least eight games since 2001.
After the loss to San Antonio, Irving said the losing is taking a toll.
“It starts to wear on you mentally, it starts to wear on you physically,” he said. “It’s hard when you’re making so many mistakes. The film sessions and practice get to you a little bit, but we all get paid to do this at a really high level and we just have to pick it up from a mental standpoint first, and physical.”
By Associated Press, Updated: Wednesday, April 4, 4:41 PM
CLEVELAND — The losses keep piling up for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Non-competitive during an eight-game losing streak, the Cavs learned Wednesday that they will be without rookie Kyrie Irving for at least one week and maybe for another 10 days after the point guard re-injured his sprained right shoulder during a 35-point home loss to San Antonio on Tuesday.
Irving had returned after missing one game with the injury and played 30 minutes against the Spurs. The team said in a release that the 20-year-old guard worsened his injury after contact and did not accompany the team to Milwaukee for Wednesday night’s game.
The Cavs, who have lost 11 of 12 and 17 of 21, are projecting Irving will miss at least one week. The team said Irving underwent an MRI, which revealed a bruise and sprain. Irving did not mention his injury following the game and the team did not reveal he stayed behind until a few hours before the scheduled tip-off against the Bucks.
Irving, who wore a protective brace in Tuesday’s game, hit the floor following contact on at least two play against the Spurs.
Coach Byron Scott had promised to be overly cautious with his young star so as to not risk him getting hurt and missing more time. Now that Irving is hurt again, the Cavs are unlikely to take any more chances with the No. 1 overall pick and presumptive NBA rookie of the year. The Cavs play seven games in the next 10 days and will be without their leading scorer.
Irving scored 13 points in the Cavs’ 125-90 loss to the Spurs, who were able to rest many of their starters after building a huge lead in the second half. According to STATS LLC, the Cavs are the first team in NBA history to lose consecutive home games by at least 35. Cleveland lost 121-84 to the Bucks on Friday when Irving first hurt his shoulder.
Also, the Cavs have lost by an average of 19.63 points during their eight-game slide, the third-largest margin of defeat during a losing streak of at least eight games since 2001.
After the loss to San Antonio, Irving said the losing is taking a toll.
“It starts to wear on you mentally, it starts to wear on you physically,” he said. “It’s hard when you’re making so many mistakes. The film sessions and practice get to you a little bit, but we all get paid to do this at a really high level and we just have to pick it up from a mental standpoint first, and physical.”
Re: Cleveland Cavaliers
800NBA Free Agents 2012: 5 Players Cleveland Cavaliers Should Target
By Noah Poinar
April 6, 2012
The Cleveland Cavaliers currently have a team salary of $66.5 million. At the end of this season that number will drop down to $41 million.
It gets better...
As of right now the Cavs have a total committed team salary of $9.1 million for the 2013-2014 season. That $9.1 million is the combined 2013-2014 salaries of Anderson Varejao, Tristan Thompson, Omri Casspi and Kyrie Irving.
That’s four players they have on the books for the 2013-2014 season. That figure ranks 30th among all NBA franchises. That number will indubitably increase after this years upcoming draft where the Cavs will have four picks and will consequently add four more salaries, but nonetheless, the team will still be in a extremely good position.
Since the events that occurred in the summer of 2010, the Cavs have unloaded and rebuilt.
By professional sports franchise standards, they’ve done it in a incredibly short time span too. It turns out that kind of stuff isn't all that hard to do when you're allowed to amnesty Baron Davis at the expense of being able to draft Kyrie Irving.
So yes, over the next two seasons the Cavs will have a ton of cap room.
What's interesting about that is: 1) their owner is Dan Gilbert—the same guy who paid so many luxury taxes in the 2009-2010 season that he was 30 percent of the reason the lockout happened (and lasted so long) in the first place; and 2) Gilbert hasn't found himself under the cap since the Larry Hughes signing, so there's no telling what he might do this summer or next (not sure if that's a good or bad thing though).
So here are five players they could be targeting in the next two year’s.
Eric Gordon
I was never a fan of the Cavs potentially going after a shooting guard in the early part of the draft. That's only because there are a slew of them to be had in free agency or later in the draft.
For instance—Jamal Crawford, Kirk Hinrich, Randy Foye, O.J. Mayo and Eric Gordon are all potential options for Cleveland this summer.
After watching a significant amount of Florida's Bradley Beal, I changed my stance on the whole "don't take a SG in the lottery." But be that as it may, it's possible that Beal is off the board when the Cavs make their first selection, and if that is the case, then Eric Gordon is the best option.
Of all the top free agents this season, Gordon, according to one ESPN Insider article, would be the Cavs biggest target. With Kyrie Irving at the point, Gordon would make the Cavs starting backcourt one of the more dangerous duos in the NBA. He's been injured for nearly the entire 2012 season, but he is still only 23 years of age.
Last year in his third NBA season he averaged 22.3 points with Clippers.
When it comes to signing Gordon it might be a wait and see game, though. That's because with the new CBA no one is really sure what his market value is, or should be. In my estimation I would say it is possible he gets a max deal (or something really close) this summer.
If you're a Cavs fan though, you don't want your team to be that team granting him that deal. Not after you just spent the past two years clearing cap. Not after your owner was basically the reason the Chris Paul trade was vetoed. Not after that veto led to Gordon being traded to New Orleans (and will now become a free agent because of it). Not after we just had a lockout to fix the whole "crappy teams" with cap space splurging on (relatively) unproven players with an injury history.
(Thinking about it)
But heck, even I have to admit that a backcourt of Irving and Gordon would look really, really good.
O.J. Mayo
If they can't get Gordon they probably make a run at Mayo. It's vice versa too, if they make Mayo their first priority and lose out they probably look to Gordon. But again, the only way either one of these scenarios happen is if they walk away from the draft without Bradley Beal.
Unlike the Hornets' situation, where they simply can't afford to resign Gordon because the franchise is losing money, the Grizzlies might not be able to afford to keep Mayo around because they lack the cap room.
Mayo is a restricted free agent who is set to make $7 million from Memphis next season, but it's possible he leaves that on the table to go somewhere else. It's possible Memphis retains him, but it would require Mayo to take less money (in the long term) and remain the sixth man coming off the bench.
In most circles (fan circles) Mayo is a bit underrated.
A typical person might hear the name O.J. Mayo and think, "Paid to play at USC, Tim Floyd scandal, hyped high schooler, screwed USC's basketball program, etc." With that, they assume Mayo is more trouble than he is worth. That's not the case at all.
In his first two seasons when he was in the starting role for the up-and-coming Grizzlies, he was averaging 18 points per game. Since being relegated to the bench the past two seasons, that average has dipped down to 12 points per game. Despite that, Mayo is still a great player who has improved every year.
Like Gordon he is still a very young talent at 24 years of age and whether relevant or not, he's from Ohio (Cincinnati). He's a huge reason why the Grizzlies are considered sleepers to win it all this year.
Goran Dragic
With the loss of Ramon Sessions the Cavs are going to have to find another viable backup PG to play behind Kyrie Irving.
Other than his name, there is nothing sexy about Dragic. With that said, he's actually a really good player. When given the minutes, he's played very well. With Kyle Lowry sidelined with an injury, he's put up some very impressive number averaging 18 points and 8.7 assists in his last 10 games.
Back in 2010 he was the sole reason the Phoenix Suns were able to get all the way to the Western Conference Finals, as he carried them past the Spurs.
It's possible, though, that another team makes a run at Dragic to fill their starting role. So with that said the Cavs are likely going to use the back end of the draft in the next year or two to shore up the backup point guard problem. And yes, if Manny Harris and/or Donald Sloan are on your NBA roster you have a backup point guard problem.
Roy Hibbert
Hibbert is a restricted free agent this summer meaning Indiana can match any teams offer with an offer of their own. It looks as if Indiana has the inside edge on Hibbert, but the checkbook of another team might have something to say about that. Maybe that team is the Cavs?
True centers are a valuable commodity that not a lot of teams have.
This season Hibbert has shown he can be one of the top 5-10 centers in the league for years to come. The entire reason no one knows where Andrew Drummond will be drafted is because we simply don't know which team is willing to risk their top lottery pick on a position that is so hard to project at the next level.
Anytime you can get an already-proven center, you've got to be intrigued. If the Cavs are to ever trade Anderson Varejao, Hibbert could be a nice long term replacement. A front court of Hibbert and Thompson would be a nice duo for the future.
Marcus Camby is another possibility, but he's getting up there in age. Realistically, the Cavs are most likely to go up for Chris Kaman.
Dwight Howard
As mentioned in the opening slide, the way things stand right now the Cavs will probably have the most cap room in the league in the summer of 2013. That's only if they stand pat this offseason. So for all those Cavs fans who wouldn't mind seeing LeBron James make a return to Cleveland, how about this scenario...
The Cavs stay quiet this offseason in free agency, they grab Bradley Beal in the draft, Dwight Howard re-ups another year with the Magic (like he said he would at the deadline) and then he signs with Cleveland in 2013.
Why does he sign with Cleveland? Because he knows LeBron will decline his player option in Miami in 2014-2015 and come back to Cleveland. Why does he know this? Because LeBron is so desperate to get out of Miami and win a championship that he tells him. LeBron tells him because he knows the only way he can ever come back to Cleveland is if he came with someone like Dwight Howard.
Sorry, I'm just saying...
By Noah Poinar
April 6, 2012
The Cleveland Cavaliers currently have a team salary of $66.5 million. At the end of this season that number will drop down to $41 million.
It gets better...
As of right now the Cavs have a total committed team salary of $9.1 million for the 2013-2014 season. That $9.1 million is the combined 2013-2014 salaries of Anderson Varejao, Tristan Thompson, Omri Casspi and Kyrie Irving.
That’s four players they have on the books for the 2013-2014 season. That figure ranks 30th among all NBA franchises. That number will indubitably increase after this years upcoming draft where the Cavs will have four picks and will consequently add four more salaries, but nonetheless, the team will still be in a extremely good position.
Since the events that occurred in the summer of 2010, the Cavs have unloaded and rebuilt.
By professional sports franchise standards, they’ve done it in a incredibly short time span too. It turns out that kind of stuff isn't all that hard to do when you're allowed to amnesty Baron Davis at the expense of being able to draft Kyrie Irving.
So yes, over the next two seasons the Cavs will have a ton of cap room.
What's interesting about that is: 1) their owner is Dan Gilbert—the same guy who paid so many luxury taxes in the 2009-2010 season that he was 30 percent of the reason the lockout happened (and lasted so long) in the first place; and 2) Gilbert hasn't found himself under the cap since the Larry Hughes signing, so there's no telling what he might do this summer or next (not sure if that's a good or bad thing though).
So here are five players they could be targeting in the next two year’s.
Eric Gordon
I was never a fan of the Cavs potentially going after a shooting guard in the early part of the draft. That's only because there are a slew of them to be had in free agency or later in the draft.
For instance—Jamal Crawford, Kirk Hinrich, Randy Foye, O.J. Mayo and Eric Gordon are all potential options for Cleveland this summer.
After watching a significant amount of Florida's Bradley Beal, I changed my stance on the whole "don't take a SG in the lottery." But be that as it may, it's possible that Beal is off the board when the Cavs make their first selection, and if that is the case, then Eric Gordon is the best option.
Of all the top free agents this season, Gordon, according to one ESPN Insider article, would be the Cavs biggest target. With Kyrie Irving at the point, Gordon would make the Cavs starting backcourt one of the more dangerous duos in the NBA. He's been injured for nearly the entire 2012 season, but he is still only 23 years of age.
Last year in his third NBA season he averaged 22.3 points with Clippers.
When it comes to signing Gordon it might be a wait and see game, though. That's because with the new CBA no one is really sure what his market value is, or should be. In my estimation I would say it is possible he gets a max deal (or something really close) this summer.
If you're a Cavs fan though, you don't want your team to be that team granting him that deal. Not after you just spent the past two years clearing cap. Not after your owner was basically the reason the Chris Paul trade was vetoed. Not after that veto led to Gordon being traded to New Orleans (and will now become a free agent because of it). Not after we just had a lockout to fix the whole "crappy teams" with cap space splurging on (relatively) unproven players with an injury history.
(Thinking about it)
But heck, even I have to admit that a backcourt of Irving and Gordon would look really, really good.
O.J. Mayo
If they can't get Gordon they probably make a run at Mayo. It's vice versa too, if they make Mayo their first priority and lose out they probably look to Gordon. But again, the only way either one of these scenarios happen is if they walk away from the draft without Bradley Beal.
Unlike the Hornets' situation, where they simply can't afford to resign Gordon because the franchise is losing money, the Grizzlies might not be able to afford to keep Mayo around because they lack the cap room.
Mayo is a restricted free agent who is set to make $7 million from Memphis next season, but it's possible he leaves that on the table to go somewhere else. It's possible Memphis retains him, but it would require Mayo to take less money (in the long term) and remain the sixth man coming off the bench.
In most circles (fan circles) Mayo is a bit underrated.
A typical person might hear the name O.J. Mayo and think, "Paid to play at USC, Tim Floyd scandal, hyped high schooler, screwed USC's basketball program, etc." With that, they assume Mayo is more trouble than he is worth. That's not the case at all.
In his first two seasons when he was in the starting role for the up-and-coming Grizzlies, he was averaging 18 points per game. Since being relegated to the bench the past two seasons, that average has dipped down to 12 points per game. Despite that, Mayo is still a great player who has improved every year.
Like Gordon he is still a very young talent at 24 years of age and whether relevant or not, he's from Ohio (Cincinnati). He's a huge reason why the Grizzlies are considered sleepers to win it all this year.
Goran Dragic
With the loss of Ramon Sessions the Cavs are going to have to find another viable backup PG to play behind Kyrie Irving.
Other than his name, there is nothing sexy about Dragic. With that said, he's actually a really good player. When given the minutes, he's played very well. With Kyle Lowry sidelined with an injury, he's put up some very impressive number averaging 18 points and 8.7 assists in his last 10 games.
Back in 2010 he was the sole reason the Phoenix Suns were able to get all the way to the Western Conference Finals, as he carried them past the Spurs.
It's possible, though, that another team makes a run at Dragic to fill their starting role. So with that said the Cavs are likely going to use the back end of the draft in the next year or two to shore up the backup point guard problem. And yes, if Manny Harris and/or Donald Sloan are on your NBA roster you have a backup point guard problem.
Roy Hibbert
Hibbert is a restricted free agent this summer meaning Indiana can match any teams offer with an offer of their own. It looks as if Indiana has the inside edge on Hibbert, but the checkbook of another team might have something to say about that. Maybe that team is the Cavs?
True centers are a valuable commodity that not a lot of teams have.
This season Hibbert has shown he can be one of the top 5-10 centers in the league for years to come. The entire reason no one knows where Andrew Drummond will be drafted is because we simply don't know which team is willing to risk their top lottery pick on a position that is so hard to project at the next level.
Anytime you can get an already-proven center, you've got to be intrigued. If the Cavs are to ever trade Anderson Varejao, Hibbert could be a nice long term replacement. A front court of Hibbert and Thompson would be a nice duo for the future.
Marcus Camby is another possibility, but he's getting up there in age. Realistically, the Cavs are most likely to go up for Chris Kaman.
Dwight Howard
As mentioned in the opening slide, the way things stand right now the Cavs will probably have the most cap room in the league in the summer of 2013. That's only if they stand pat this offseason. So for all those Cavs fans who wouldn't mind seeing LeBron James make a return to Cleveland, how about this scenario...
The Cavs stay quiet this offseason in free agency, they grab Bradley Beal in the draft, Dwight Howard re-ups another year with the Magic (like he said he would at the deadline) and then he signs with Cleveland in 2013.
Why does he sign with Cleveland? Because he knows LeBron will decline his player option in Miami in 2014-2015 and come back to Cleveland. Why does he know this? Because LeBron is so desperate to get out of Miami and win a championship that he tells him. LeBron tells him because he knows the only way he can ever come back to Cleveland is if he came with someone like Dwight Howard.
Sorry, I'm just saying...
Re: Cleveland Cavaliers
801Deshaun Thomas is returning to Buckeyes for his junior year. As well he should.
Not so sure, after watching Sullinger struggle against the big guy for Kansas, and seeing him ranked as low as 11 on some draft boards, that he maybe shoulda came back for one more year.
Not so sure, after watching Sullinger struggle against the big guy for Kansas, and seeing him ranked as low as 11 on some draft boards, that he maybe shoulda came back for one more year.
Re: Cleveland Cavaliers
803He really struggled against big guys. Not just Withey of Kansas, but also in the Michigan State games against their big men. He was a good college player but I really dunno what he is going to do in the NBA against big men every night.
Re: Cleveland Cavaliers
806rusty2 wrote:Cavs are going to play themselves out of a great draft pick.
Yeah, but tough for any athlete not to play to win and excel each night.
Re: Cleveland Cavaliers
807They are still No. 5. Scott has already said Irving will probably not play in at least one final game. Who do we play coming up? anyone beatable?... that would be the night for Irving to sit.
Re: Cleveland Cavaliers
808rusty2 wrote:Cavs are going to play themselves out of a great draft pick.
I would be more concerned and was for a while but I am not sure that there is significant difference between the player you get at 2 and that at 10 in this particular draft. Other than the first pick you could find significant faults with a lot of guys. I have maintained for a while that Barnes is preordained and I still think so. Moreover, despite falling because of some percieved faults he still could be the best player in this draft with a good point guard which is one of the things we certainly do have.
Re: Cleveland Cavaliers
810Warriors rookie Klay Thompson had a team-high 16 points through three quarters but was benched for the fourth by rookie coach Mark Jackson. Jeremy Tyler, who fouled out with about 3 minutes left, finished with 13 points and eight rebounds for Golden State (23-42) - still in position to tie Toronto (22-43) or New Jersey (22-43) for the seventh-worst record.
While Thompson said he was kicked in the shin, Jackson had another reason for the move.
''I thought it was a great opportunity to see what these other guys have,'' Jackson said. ''It's easy to do it when the season is over with and it's easy to do it during summer league, but I really wanted to see what they could do against NBA players.''
What they did is lose.
In the end, perhaps for Golden State's benefit.
The Raptors and Nets play each other Thursday. If Golden State is tied with either, the league holds a drawing Friday to decide draft position.
While Thompson said he was kicked in the shin, Jackson had another reason for the move.
''I thought it was a great opportunity to see what these other guys have,'' Jackson said. ''It's easy to do it when the season is over with and it's easy to do it during summer league, but I really wanted to see what they could do against NBA players.''
What they did is lose.
In the end, perhaps for Golden State's benefit.
The Raptors and Nets play each other Thursday. If Golden State is tied with either, the league holds a drawing Friday to decide draft position.