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June 24, 2014The draft is Thursday. The draft is just over 48 hours away. That means we’re approaching the nadir of silly season draft rumors.
Today’s latest speculation: The Cavs have some interest in a package from the Orlando Magic for the No. 1 overall selection. Orlando’s offering: No. 4, No. 12 and 28-year-old Arron Afflalo, who just had a very nice season.
ESPN’s Chad Ford and Jeff Goodman reported on Tuesday afternoon the Cavs remain “torn” between Andrew Wiggins and Jabari Parker. Thus, the team’s front office continues to contemplate some trade offers.
The report stated the Cavs “aren’t enamored” by offers from Philadelphia (No. 3 overall and Thaddeus Young) nor from Utah (No. 5 overall and Derrick Favors). Utah had been rumored yesterday to perhaps be sweetening that pot, perhaps with wing Alec Burks, guard Trey Burke and/or other draft picks.
With the No. 4 and No. 12 selections, the Cavs would be able to fill multiple needs and gamble at lower-risk spaces. They could select Joel Embiid, who might remain the team’s top target. They could go after a shooter such as Nik Stauskas or Doug McDermott with a later pick, something we had been expecting had the Cavs remained at No. 9 in the lottery. They could pull off any number of surprises.
Afflalo, the former Detroit Piston and Denver Nugget, averaged a career-high 18.2 points in 73 games this year for the lowly Magic. His shooting was very impressive, as he shot 42.7% from distance and his mid-range game was comparable to some of the best from this year’s free agent class. He will make $7.75 million in 2014-15, followed by a $7.9 million player option for 2015-16.
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Photo: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
35 Comments
Take the deal Cavs!
That’s an awful deal. Afflalo has a one year contract w/a player option. If they want a rental why not trade for Love? If they do end up trading down, I suspect Embiid is still the target.
That’s an awful deal. Afflalo has a one year contract w/a player option. If they want a rental why not trade for Love? If they do end up trading down, I suspect Embiid is still the target.
A Cleveland team finally has some amazing luck and gets the #1 pick. So naturally we want to trade that pick away?
Unless you’re getting an NBA all-star in return, I see no reason to part with the pick.
Doesn’t make much sense to me…
Unless we can totally soak someone, keep it.
First of all…. FINALLY?!?
Have to agree if not for Afflalo having a one year deal I would have really been interested in this sort of deal.
Right, and if they do this and Embiid is gone by 4 – disaster!
Finally? Really? Isnt this 2 number 1 picks in 3 years? Please!!!
If Embiid is gone at No. 4, that means Exum is still there—a player I’d take over JE at that spot. That said, I’ve long been of the belief that the only way they trade this pick is for a bonafide All-Star. I like Afflalo’s skill set—threes, defense—but that’s where it ends. No thanks.
Try 3 in 4. Puhlease!
What does LeBron think?
But in all seriousness yes, if you want to win the LeBron sweepstakes you have to attract a top FA, or trade for Love AND keep the number one pick.
If Miami has failed at anything it’s been their long term game game plan to cultivate young talent that can carry the load when LeBron wants to coast.
I liked the jazz deal better: #5, favors, burks, #23 and possibly utah’s unprotected #1 next year
Interested in your thoughts on Exum. Have not been able to get a good handle on him and have read conflicting reports
Wow, did not see anything with their first next year and that really would be overkill. I like overkill.
What young talent? They traded away all of their first round picks when they got James and Bosh. The only young “talent” they have is Norris Cole. Unless you count Joel Anthony (lol) their entire team was made of veterans.
I’m taking Wiggins #1. Then once they are able to talk to Lebron (I believe they will at least have an opportunity to sit down with him) ask him if he wants Kevin Love there and if he does then make a move on Kevin Love with Wiggins and Waiters. Can’t see Flip moving Love for a while now unless GSW offer Thompson which doesn’t seem to be happening. Minny could be slow playing this till Lebron can talk to other teams to see if offers get upped in order to sway Lebron’s decision.
This shouldn’t come down to a decision based on Lebron but taking Wiggins would allow them flexibility IMO to keep that option open. Either they can use Wiggins in a deal to sway Lebron or just keep Wiggins. Two options that don’t look too bad IMO.
Uhm, thanks for agreeing with me?
Like that one better as well.
No matter what deal they want, I’m guessing it happens after they make their pick and wait and see what happens in the picks following.
He reminds me a lot of a younger version of Shaun Livingston, pre-injury. I have questions about whether his jump shot ever comes along, but I think he can be one heck of a slasher and defender.
thanks. it just seems like everything is clouded in mystery around him. I have read as little as I ever have for a PG-prospect on whether or not he sees the floor well or is a good passer (important for those that see him as a Rondo-PG).
That’s the part where I am also unable to get a good read. If I had to make a guess, I’d put his passing on par with Livingston as well. I don’t think he’s on Rondo’s level or even close, but that’s just from what I’ve seen.
and, if that is the case, then a non-shooting, defensive athletic big PG puts him as a fringe prospect for me, not a top3 guy in a loaded draft.
but, it’s so hard to say so definitively.
and, of course, now:
http://espn.go.com/nba/draft2014/story/_/id/11134767/2014-nba-draft-cleveland-cavaliers-making-late-push-dante-exum-meeting
Absolutely… that is how I feel about him from the limited video and stuff that I have seen… I think his size and ability to defend and finish at the rim are exciting, but not sure if that translates into NBA success.
sorry, I meant to say fringe lottery prospect. given his overall athleticism, I think he deserves to go in the top10-15, but he sounds a ton like Zach Lavine w/o tape against top competition to me.
That’s my thought as well. The level of competition of his video should be a big red flag. When my Hokies got Marshall Wood to commit to them, he was playing power forward at the lowest level of high school basketball and looked like the second coming of Anthony Davis. Let’s just say that he never looked that good again. The level of talent that you’re playing against matters… a lot. And AAU basketball doesn’t offer up any defense, so you can’t see how good a kid will be against NBA caliber defenders. Exum is incredibly athletic and long, but I have no idea if that equals success in the NBA. Impossible to tell.
one interesting thing. i pretty much avoid Simmons, but felt obligated to brush up on his thoughts as a precursor to the draft tomorrow.
when did he start touting Anthony Bennett as a top5 guy from the 2013 draft? apparently, that is what he believes today as much as he constantly kills the team for taking him and despite only Oladipo being another top5 guy that was in consideration for #1 overall last year.
also, if we are worried about Wiggins “lack of killer instinct” then shouldn’t we be worried about Exum avoiding ALL competition this past season?
I saw the same thing and couldn’t help but laugh. He has killed the Cavs for the Bennett pick and lesser so, the Waiters pick. He had Bennett as a top 5 pick and Waiters as a top 7 if I remember right. I guess he quietly changed his tune, and I wonder if part of it was Chad Ford’s analysis. Even Chad Ford admitted to him, “Who else would you have taken there? There really wasn’t a good option.” Brian Windhorst said the same thing on Zach Lowe’s podcast that came out today.
I’m having a hard time figuring out how good Parker and Wiggins really are. Is Wiggins really that different from Harrison Barnes? Is Parker the next Derrick Williams? I don’t think either is, but man they could be. I don’t get the hype that the top 2 guys are can’t-miss prospects.
Wiggins has way more athleticism than Barnes.
And, Parker compared to DW drives me nuts. Jabari may bust, but he’s not very similar to DW.
Anyways, honestly, I know they aren’t can’t miss (who is?), but I think they have been critiqued far more harshly than mos prospects before them due to how poor the past couple drafts have been (easy to forget how exciting a rookie can be) and how much they have been on the radar from the beginning (more time to dissect).
If there is a prospect or two from the next tier that should be mentioned with them though, I think Aaron Gordon and possibly Zach Lavine are up there. They are both just too young and raw with their offensive game, which scares people off a bit.
Why aren’t we discussing trading Irving?
Irving is vastly overrated, and most metrics have him as only average to below average. He’s young, but given his rocky relationship with the Cavs, it seems that any “upside” he has won’t be realized here. But he has value elsewhere. I think we could flip him for the #3 or #4 pick easily, and perhaps get back some other value as well. Then you get Wiggins/Parker AND Embiid.
You have a natural progression at 5, with Hawes being here for another year or two before Embiid can take over his role (or longer, if you decide he can still hack it and Zeller doesn’t get better). You can flip one of your excess bigs (Thompson or Varejao) for a point who can do a good enough job. Then you’ve got Waiters and Wiggins (or Parker) on the wing. That’s a pretty damn good combo.
If you want to try and fold LeBron into that, you could. He (according to Windhorst) wants to have less minutes in the future. Having a guy like Wiggins who can play 2, but then flip over to 3 to cover some of LeBron’s minutes would be ideal. Granted, that’s a lot of development on that team, something LeBron probably doesn’t want. But I think you’ve got to set up the team to succeed with or without him. With LeBron, that’s a talented young team that can contend this year and will only get better. Without, it’s a talented young team that contends in a couple of years.
To all of that: No