Links to the Present: The Onion Edition
2014-06-03
Draft day is quickly approaching, and no one knows whether or not Joel Embiid is who the Cavs should take at number one. I think he’s going to move past the injuries as he gets into better basketball shape, but a lot of people don’t agree he’ll avoid injuries like Anthony Bennett avoids cardio workouts.
Over at lostlettermen.com, there’s a piece up about Embiid’s potential to be a bust. It comes complete with the video of Embiid injuring his back and almost blowing out his knee. It’s scary, but I won’t succumb to the negativeness.
As pointed out by Deadspin, Embiid’s body simply wasn’t ready for college basketball after just two previous years playing hoops. And if Embiid’s frame couldn’t handle playing 28 games in college hoops at 20 minutes a night, how in the world can the Cavaliers expect it to withstand the physical pounding of the NBA 35 minutes a night, 82 games a season for 15 years?
They can just manage his minutes, right? And if Embiid is a medical liability, it’s only going to make the Cavs medical staff that much better according to The Onion.
“He’s the nucleus. When you’ve got an athlete like that, you put your medical personnel in place to do great things. Sure, [2013 draft pick] Anthony Bennett led to us getting an expert orthopedist, but having Joel on our roster will allow us to put in place a solid team of medical professionals who will thrive here for years to come.”
The Cavs will now have back issues, knee issues, and asthma issues covered by their medical staff. See you soon, Amare. My aunt has been using the Cleveland Clinic for years for her eye issues and is very satisfied, so Amare will be covered in Cleveland if he gets hurt in any way.
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Zach Harper of CBS Sports knows that Embiid is the real thing and has the stats to back it up. Where do the Cavs need help on offense? They need help in a lot of places, but Embiid could at least help out in the post.
The majority of his damage on the offensive end in his one college season was done in the post. According to Synergy Sports, 49.3 percent of his offensive possessions (ending in a field goal attempt, free throw attempt, or turnover) came on post-ups. He showed a balance in being able to post up on either block, finish with either hand, and did a great job of drawing fouls (he’s a 68.5 percent free throw shooter).
When Embiid posted up on the left block this season, he was destructive. He scored an impressive 1.145 points per possession on the left block and made 63.2 percent of his attempts.
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Matt Moore of CBS Sports is also pushing for Embiid in his piece about what the Cavaliers should do at the draft. I’m mainly concerned with the Embiid part and how he fits with the Wild Thing.
Let’s say they trade Varejao for a wing, and use the savings to re-sign Luol Deng to a big deal. Starting five: Kyrie Irving, Dion Waiters, Luol Deng, Tristan Thompson or Anthony Bennett if he develops, and Embiid. Run the offense through a two-man game with Embiid and Irving, or Waiters. Not for nothing, but the triangle would work pretty well there. If you’ve got a quality third scoring wing, you can either start him and bring Waiters off the bench (where Waiters was killer last year) or bring that player off the bench with Bennett and/or Thompson for balance.
If they keep Varejao, your plan is basically to put Varejao in clean-up role where he could be fantastic. A veteran to show the kid the ropes and hey, I’ve just talked myself into keeping Varejao if they draft Embiid. As you can see, drafting Embiid gives them a ton of options.
Basically, the Cavs run the triangle, which has won a ton of titles at this point in time, or they make Andy earn the name “garbage man” as Embiid punishes people down low and Varejao cleans up his rare misses. I’m excited.
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The end goal of any draft should be the ability to beat the Spurs. I mean, just look at the Spurs bench. Check out Kirk Goldsberry’s write up about the Foreign Legion. The Spurs are who I wish I was a fan of when I watched the Cavs play this past season.
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Chris Manning of Right Down Euclid has spoken about Alonzo Gee. If you’re a fan of him, you will probably be sad because Gee and his non-guaranteed contract are most likely going to be cut.
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Finally, if you need some desktop backgrounds, make sure to check out the Andy Varejao photos from this past year and Dante Exum’s combine workout and Australian game photos.
@Joeyjoe I don’t know if Parkers skills overlap with the current team too much outside of everyone needing to learn to play defense. He will be a better catch and shoot player than anyone on the current team with some legitimate range. The Cavs need shooters.
I do think people assume that Wiggins will fix the issues in his game, where he needs some significant work, but throw out the idea that Parker can improve on his current weaknesses.
@Joeyjoe – The Bulls are not a threat without Rose being healthy. At this point he has missed two straight seasons and it’s reasonable to wonder if he’ll ever be back to his MVP form. As for Atlanta – they don’t seem to attract a lot of high-profile free agents. Assuming Horford returns full strength they should be the third or fourth best team in the East. Let’s see how the 2015 Brooklyn pick pans out. You’re right that the Heat won’t have a lof of cap room next year, but they will find a way to reload. Wade and… Read more »
If we trade Kyrie, I want to get Westbrook.
Yeah, If bron goes to Chicago they become the favorites in the east. If Bron comes to cleveland we would probably be the favorites in the east. It’s not Miami’s roster that currently makes Miami so appealing, it is Lebron.
@Bruno. I think the Parker’s ceiling statements stem from the fact that he is a very very polished player on offensive right now, but his defense might make him the type of guy you have to hide for his entire career. I loved watching the guy at Duke and I think the Bucks and Philly should consider him over the other three, but there is so much overlap between Parker’s skill set and the skill sets of the Cavs core. @Scott…… The Heat won’t have Cap room. The cap is projected to be around 65 million. If James, Bosh, and… Read more »
@Raoul – Indeed, everything I stated in my post are my opinions. So is this post. Any sane person realizes that Lebron is very unlikely to leave Miami after this season. The Heat have been to four straight Finals and – win or lose – he has no incentive to leave the Heat. Unlike the Cavs organization, The Heat are led by Pat Riley who always seems to have a plan in place. After this year, they’ll have some cap flexibility and, even with a diminished Wade and Bosh they’ll re-arm and be in the title mix next year. Do… Read more »
Too many people seem to be set on 1 of the big 3 prospects, and write off another 1 of the big 3 completely. The fact is, we have no idea who will be good, great or terrible from these 3. Personally I would be fine with any of the 3 but know that they all come with a risk. Embiid could be a better Drummund or the next in a long list of big men that failed. Wiggins could develop the offensive game people think he has, or he could (as Nupe said) become a player like Iggy. Parker… Read more »
Scott: totally on the money until the last point. The fact is: you have no clue what LeBron is going to do. Neither does anyone else. Thus the last point lessens the impact of your post, because you stated something as a fact that is obviously a guess.
Andy absolutely should not be let go or traded unless the Cavs get an All-Star caliber player in return. Andy was one of the best players in the league last year in terms of advanced stats. His RAPM was top 15 in the league. His Pie was over 13. His mid range jumper was one of the best in the league, at 49%. The Cavs won’t be able to find a better big man than Andy in free agency, trade, or the draft. And the best part of Andy is that he can play either big position and he’s happy… Read more »
It seems like evey writer covering the draft is speculating about what stupid move Gilbert & Company will make next. I hope this is all baseless junk. If we trade the #1 pick for a vet who won’t re-sign (e.g. Love, Aldrige, etc) or a vet who isn’t worth it (e.g. Noah, Horford, etc) then we deserve all the crap we get from national media. Right now, Griffin gives me no more confidence than Chris Grant did. He sounds like a Gilbert lackey desperate to trhow away long-term value in search of instant gratification. The roadmap to respectability seems clear… Read more »
It’s difficult to predict what the Cavs are going to do. Griffin said they’ll be active. I wouldn’t be surprised if we ended up with a veteran all star or two and a Dante Exum / Marcus Smart type rookie. How many had Hawes on their radar? I hope Gordon Heyward’s on ours.
Embiid is a huge leap of faith. He might be worth it or he’ll be another reason for the content fillers to bash the Cavs, Gilbert and Cleveland. Chad Ford had an article today with a bit of discussion about trading the #1 pick for a veteran. Love and Aldridge don’t make sense since either can leave after a year. I’d actually place Love as more likely to stay than Aldridge. The Mavs will offer him the max and he’ll go home and not pay state taxes. Ford also mentions Noah and Horford as possibilities. I just can’t see the… Read more »
@Grover Let me first say I think the lack of AAU experience could be one of Embiid’s positives. Not because of mileage but more because there’s a lot of NBA guys who feel like AAU builds up traits and skill sets that don’t transfer well to the NBA (like over dribbling and over reliance on athleticism). With that said I feel like the whole point of the article and links is being missed if we make the “low mileage is a positive” argument because he hasn’t held up well over that low mileage. I’m not saying you’re wrong, but that’s… Read more »
The Embiid bust-potential quote has some validity to it. But there is a flipside as well- the most common injuries in big men are in the knees, due to the pounding they take from running on the hardcourt supporting a body that tall. Virtually all big men wear down over time more quickly than smaller players, due to the mileage on the body over time. And this is where Embiid’s history works in his favor. He hasn’t been playing the AAU circuit for five years non-stop leading up to college. He’s got a lot more mileage left in those legs… Read more »
I think its true though that any 7′ is going to be more injury prone than an 6’8 on average. The fact that Embiid already has hurt his back isn’t promising that he will buck that trend. even if his back checks out as well as possible, unless he is a clear tier or two above wiggins as a prospect, take wiggins.
Where would Kyrie go in this draft? He’d probably be in the debate with Smart and Exum to be the top PG taken. Somewhere between 4 and 9 depending on what the team are looking for in a PG. Smart and Exum have the size advantage, but Kyries shooting statistics in college are better than either of them. It’s hard to believe any NBA rumors because we’ve seen so many that weren’t true. It’s a boy who cried wolf exercise. Twitter has made you question everything you hear to immediately judge whether of not the statement is true or used… Read more »
This year more than any other really signifies what a “Lottery” really means. First we beat the odds (again) to land the #1 pick. And now it feels like another lottery to determine who to select with this pick. This year seems similar to the Oden/Durrant year from the standpoint of it’s either a dominating big or a dominating wing. Ebiid, Like Oden could realistically become the next truly great center. Considering what he’s already accomplished – in just playing organized basketball for a couple of years. His footwork, touch, instincs and his work ethic on the court as well… Read more »
Andy should be gone either way. No way do you pay $10M for 50 games or whatever. He’s just not that good anymore.
Wasn’t a big fan of the Matt Moore piece. Found his analysis of the Cavs having a “clogged paint” with Embiid a little silly, since Embiid in the low post and Andy in the high post would be a fantastic pairing.
I could not agree less. Taking a guy at #1 who likely will break down prematurely is a franchise killing move. Wiggins is clearly the best option at #1. Anyone who would take Embiid at that spot has rocks in his head. We can pick up a defensive stopper at center with any of our next first round picks, of which we have many. Or even sign a free agent. Serge Ibaka was a 24th pick for example. The chance to get a franchise player of the quality of Wiggins, who could play on this team for the next 10… Read more »