Links to the Present: May 9th, 2013
2013-05-09
Breaking conjecture: Chad Ford—in his pre-lottery mock draft that, while interesting, is the hypotheticalest article because we have no idea where the Cavs will be selecting come June—has the Cavs taking Otto Porter with the third pick. We’re probably going to be beating each other over the head with chairs by the time the draft rolls around while debating the merits of Porter, Victor Oladipo, Alex Len, et al., so I advise that, for your mental health, you not worry too much about what the mocks say until at least after the lottery. Otto Porter, though, huh? He has very long arms, a great motor, and intangibles so strong they threaten to become actual things. I give it an A-minus. (I have almost no idea what I’m talking about.)
Oh, and Kyrie Irving is going to hold some coaching clinics in his native Australia this summer. No word yet on whether or not, during downtime, he plans to shoot a commercial in which he dribbles through a pack of dingos, crosses up a koala, then finds a kangaroo—which basically has the same catching and leaping ability as Tristan Thompson—for the slam, but that would be super cool. (Get at me Nike’s marketing department! I have tons of great ideas!) Maybe the kangaroo could wear a Thompson jersey? (See what I mean?)
I’m seeing a lot of comments that people would be disappointed if the Cavs were in the lottery next year. Realistically, they are likely a lottery team again unless Grant does something magical. If they don’t keep their bench core of Livingston, Ellington, Miles and Speights in place their bench play will be hard pressed to be effective next year. Odds are they are not getting more than a role player or two from this mediocre draft and it will take awhile for them to become contributors. Even if the expecting improvement of the young core of starters takes place,… Read more »
I wanted to weigh in on a couple of things: 1. Porter’s Athleticism: I’m not sure we can peg it at this point. I agree he’s not a highlight machine, but he could be a Harrison Barnes type. A guy that plays under control so his he looks unathletic when he actually isn’t. Also one thing that shows up on tape is that he runs the court well and seems to have a good first step/solid defensive footwork, which I’ll take over leaping. 2. Dion Waiters is on the shorter size for his position but he plays with a ton… Read more »
Also can we have a Cavs blowout recap written like this? I like the style if writing and think it would work when we are getting beat.
I’m okay with the top 6 or so players other than Burke. They have $30 million and trade assets to address SF and/or C. I want the best player available. If they draft 4th and Bennett is the best player on the board I’m cool with it. If they draft 6th and Len is the BPA I’m okay with it. Porter isn’t impressive athletically. He doesn’t wow you, but he’s effective. Battier is the comparison I’ve seen in him and that’s not a bad thing. Kyrie and Dion are both high usage guards. Porter can be effective off the ball… Read more »
Kinda hopin’ we miss out on the logical choice Porter . . . and get stuck with Anthony Bennett. Unless Porter can propel the team forward like a Jason Kidd, I’ll go with the physically dominant, match-up nightmare Bennett who looks like Charles Barkley to me (if he has Charles’ motor). Shaun Livingston is a poor man’s Otto Porter. And I’m tired of the Cavs being a team of weaklings. I’ll take my playmakers and defensive specialist after the 10th pick . . . impact players in the top 5.
Im not overly impressed with Porter
No love for Anthony Bennett? He looks like a physically dominant, match up nightmare to me – a Charles Barkley type impact player if he had Barkley’s motor. Unless you think Porter can propel a team forward like a Jason Kidd, I’d take my playmakers and defensive specialists after #10 . . . or sign them as free agents.
Also, I’m tired of the Cavs being a team of weaklings. NBA = No Boys Allowed.
Just thought somebody ought to speak up for Bennett here . . .
http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Anthony-Bennett-5866/
About Chad Ford – The same guy thought for sure the Cavs brass were very high on Harrison Barnes last year…I would take his guarantees about the Cavs draft board with a large grain of salt.
@ T
Kyrie doesn’t play well off of the ball. It is one of his biggest weaknesses as a player.
@ Adam, gotcha. I agree he looks really impressive, just got caught off guard with the lebron 2.0 designation. Hopefully we are not in the conversation for Wiggins next year as a playoff team (fingers crossed)
As great of a talent as Wiggins is, i don’t think anyone wants the Cavs to have a realistic shot of winning the lottery. Their rebuild came at a bad time. It’s luck. If a shot at Wiggins is the consolation prize to another injury ravaged year, we’ll have to live with it and it could be worse. Brown was hired because they won’t take the next step to playoff contender/first round fodder until the defense improves. If they can became a middle of the pact defensive team they will probably win 10 more games this season. That’s how terrible… Read more »
Here’s a nice “link to the present”: http://m.hoopsworld.com/hoopsworld/#!/entry/nba-am-waiters-striving-for-greatness,518cf97eda27f5d9d0c07fa4/2
Love Dion’s attitude. Love how wrong most people were about his attitude, too. Kinda wish the rest of the roster was as passionate…
About Wiggins, Was being dramatic, but seriously the dude looks impressive, one of the bloggers (Kevin?) was up for tanking next season in an attempt to get him, somewhat in jest
I don’t think hes the passer LBJ is, most of the other tools seem to be there
@ Adam, Wiggins = Lebron 2.0? Did I just read that?
My point was that, even if we aren’t picking in the top ten, a Viable Starting 3 will be available when we do, calm self down
Grover, Again, I said I was nit-picking. But between Dion and Kyrie, we’re already a pretty below the rim team on the perimeter and it’d be nice to have a guy, especially at 6’8, who could finish an alley oop over someone’s head at one of the wing positions. Not necessary for contending at all, but it would be nice. I’d certainly take his all around game over Gee’s Dunkaliciousness, but I do enjoy the highlights. Adam, another interesting thing to note is that WE HAD BETTER NOT BE PICKING HIGH IN THE LOTTERY NEXT YEAR SO I DON’T CARE… Read more »
Grover i like your point but Pippen played well above the rim for Many years
Dunk from the foul line
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yB0qWqBsMBc
Dunk all over Ewing
http://www.nba.com/bulls/history/pippen10_940520.html
And Paul George was in Dunk contests also… Fantastic Athlete, good point bad examples
I think Otto Porter is about the ‘safest’ pick we can make….but CG never seems to go with safe or obvious when drafting so we will see. In my mind I project Porter to be a stronger version of Batum when he came into the league…will take him some time to adjust but can definitely see his future on this team as a do everything good but not great type of player.
@Swirving-
“I wish Otto could play above the rim. You know its not good when a 6’8″ guy has like 2 weak dunks and that’s it in a 3 minute youtube highlight clip”
Here’s some other well-rounded SFs not known for their dunking ability:
Scottie Pippen
Paul George
Larry Bird
Paul Pierce
Your point?
@Nate Smith, Ford has said that the Cavs have Noel #1 and Porter at #2, previously… I believe in his “Chat” something interesting to note about Picking Porter or any SF… I looked at next years draft and while it has been praised as the “Strongest since 2003″… Its incredibly deep specifically at the SF position 5 potential First round picks at SF came back to school… Alex Poythress, Glenn Robinson III, C.J. Fair (Wildey Underrated), LeBryan Nash, and P.J. Hairston and 6 Freshman are very highly touted at SF… Andrew Wiggins (LeBron 2.0), Jabari Parker, Aaron Gordon (Tweaner), Chris… Read more »
If we could somehow land Porter and Oladipo in this draft without giving up a piece of the core…
I’m not saying it absolutely necassary, I’ll still be happy if we land him. It’d just be nice to have a cutter who could finish an alley oop strongly. But if he rebounds, passes, D’s up, hits 3’s, and finishes well below the rim, I’m really just picking nits.
I don’t know kyrieswirving, Memphis plays under the rim and they seem to be doing alright.
Gotta say though, I wish Otto could play above the rim. You know its not good when a 6’8″ guy has like 2 weak dunks and that’s it in a 3 minute youtube highlight clip. Lob city, we are not.
According to Ford, the Cavs have Porter #2 on their board. No word on #1.
Definitely love the Porter pick, so I’m sure there is no way we draft him! We’ll probably win the Lotto, Get Nerlens, and he’ll never develop offensively and won’t be able to do anything on offense when paired with TT. Worse things could happen though. Another very important note on why I love porter, is his 40+% from three. It was much improved from his freshman year, I hope its no mirage, and that it will extend out another couple feet. He took twice as many threes coinciding with the improvement in efficiency, and his FTs improved significantly as well,… Read more »
http://www.cleveland.com/pluto/index.ssf/2013/05/terry_pluto_on_mark_reynolds_u.html
Terry Pluto provides some interesting offseason insight for the Cavs in his podcast at the 00:28:15 mark.
I just went to this page and there’s a “Mystery at the Museum” segment about Andrew Carnegie’s illegitimate daughter from Cleveland who tried to fleece him.”-That’s spooky!
Regardless of how the lottery turns out, the Cavs will find a way to get Porter. He is just too perfect a fit. Trade up, trade down, stay put-the Cavs have the assets to make this happen.
Porter is intriguing to me because of his fit. Our biggest need is SF (although I believe a legitimate argument can be made that C is our biggest need due to AV’s oft-injured nature), and Porter’s attributes fit this team to the T.He is not a chucker ala Shabazz, plays very good defense (or so I’ve read), has a high motor, incredibly high basketball IQ, rebounds well, scores efficiently, and my personal favorite – is supposedly a very, very good passer. We have a player that can and will dominate the ball. His name is Kyrie Irving. We have a… Read more »
I’ve been on the Porter train for months, as I never bought into the Shabazz hype.
With Andy back, we’ll have a terrific group of willing passers at nearly every position. MB’s Princeton should look pretty good gven how well KI plays off the ball. Remember how dominant Luke Walton looked occasionally? Now give him slightly above average athleticism, much better defense, and a legit 3 stroke. Yes please.
http://www.cleveland.com/pluto/index.ssf/2013/05/terry_pluto_on_mark_reynolds_u.html
Terry Pluto gets really in-depth with Cavs free agency and draft plans in his recent podcast at the 00:28:15 mark.