Cleveland Cavaliers Draft Picks 2013: Grades, Analysis and Video Breakdown

The Cleveland Cavaliers boast some solid talent in their frontcourt, with Anderson Varejao, Tristan Thompson and last year's No. 17 overall pick from the Dallas Mavericks, Tyler Zeller. But Varejao carries injury concerns along with a non-guaranteed contract for 2014-15, while Thompson and Zeller are short on experience.

ESPN.com's Andy Katz reported that Cleveland was trying to trade the first overall pick, targeting Kevin Love of the Minnesota Timberwolves to no avail. Through rampant speculation on a murky draft class, the most popular projections for Cleveland's No. 1 pick were two big men, Kentucky's Nerlens Noel and, surprisingly, Maryland's Alex Len.

In the end, they chose neither. They also decided to trade their No. 31 pick, California swingman Allen Crabbe, to the Portland Trail Blazers according to ESPN's Jeff Goodman on Twitter.

First Pick

Name: Anthony Bennett

Pick: No. 1 overall, First Round

Position: PF

School: UNLV

Analysis: In the end, Cleveland shocked everyone by taking UNLV's Anthony Bennett first overall. Though a sizable stretch-4, very few foresaw Bennett's ascent to No. 1, especially considering that he's coming off surgery on his left rotator cuff.

Standing at 6'8", Bennett boasts a 7'1" wingspan and tips the scales near 240 pounds. Draft Express projected him as the eighth overall pick, but different rankings varied wildly for Nos. 1 through 10. Despite speculation that he's a tweener, his beefy size puts him more in the mold of a true power forward. He can stretch the defense with his shooting from the perimeter however.

As reported by Michael Lee of the Washington Post, Bennett hails from Toronto and is now the highest-drafted Canadian payer in history. 

Last year's No. 4 overall pick Dion Waiters and potential superstar point man Kyrie Irving have Cleveland's guard spots on lockdown for a while to come, so it makes sense to stack their frontcourt with talent to boot.

Grade: B

Getting To Know Anthony Bennett

Second Pick

Name: Sergey Karasev

Pick: No. 19 overall, First Round

Position: SG/SF

Country: Russia

Analysis: According to ESPN's broadcast of the draft, Sergey Karasev was in attendance but planned to hop a flight soon after for Belgrade, Serbia to play for the Russian national team. Nevertheless, ESPN reported Karasev's agent as saying he plans to head to the U.S. next year instead of staying in Russia.

Karasev plays like a slick-shooting swingman and continues the trend of international players trumping college kids in the middle of the first round.

Along with Bennett, the Cavs have now landed two picks who can supplement starting small forward Alonzo Gee. Karasev brings the added benefit of dangerous perimeter shooting and constitutes a good value pick at No. 19. 

Grade: B+

Getting To Know Sergey Karasev

Third Pick

Name: Allen Crabbe, SG, California

Pick: No. 31 overall, Second Round (traded to the Portland Trail Blazers)

Fourth Pick

Name: Carrick Felix

Pick: No. 33 overall, Second Round

Position: SG

School: Arizona State

Analysis: The Cavs selected a player at No. 33 very much in the mold of the player they picked and then traded at No. 31. Felix gives them an athletic wing, but scouting reports on him vary widely in their assessment of his talent.

Felix is another 6'6" shooting guard out of the Pac-12. He can score his share of buckets, averaging 14.6 points per game last season for the Sun Devils. He can also rebound well for a small forward, pulling down 8.1 a night most recently. That will provide even more versatility at the 3 for Cleveland.

But Felix did not place this highly on any draft boards outside Cleveland's. DraftExpress ranked him 69th among all prospects, so this may have been a reach early in the second round with better players available. 

Grade: C

Getting To Know Carrick Felix