NBA Draft 2011: Cleveland Cavaliers Draft Observations
It was an interesting night for the Cleveland Cavaliers, who selected Kyrie Irving with the first pick in the 2011 NBA Draft. Irving is considered by many to be the best overall player in the draft. Irving certainly has an abundance of basketball skills, but no one can be labeled a sure thing.
The major concern related to Kyrie Irving is his durability. He suffered a toe injury at Duke and only played a total of 11 games. There are also concerns about him being in shape after suffering the toe injury. It will also be interesting to see how he adjusts to the speed of the NBA.
Despite all of the question marks, Irving was the correct choice. The NBA is shifting towards becoming a point guard driven league, which certainly worked in Irving's favor. He will need time to adjust to the NBA, and fans must be patient. Irving will be sure to hear people mentioning LeBron's name quite a bit.
Fans should have a realistic approach for next year. Irving will need time to adjust to the NBA. Byron Scott and Baron Davis will certainly accelerate Irving's growth and maturation as a player and as a person.
The Cavaliers now have four point guards on the roster and will likely look to trade either Ramon Sessions or Daniel Gibson, maybe both. The Knicks almost acquired Sessions on draft night, but ended up keeping the 17th overall pick. They would like to move Baron Davis, but his contract would make that extremely difficult. Davis will make roughly $14 million next season.
The Cavaliers also had the No. 4 pick and selected Tristan Thompson, who played at Texas. Thompson, a native of Canada, became the highest Canadian basketball player ever drafted. He is a 6'9" power forward who averaged 13.1 points, 7.8 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game for the Texas Longhorns. He is considered to be a very stellar defensive player who has the potential to develop his offensive skill set.
Thompson was a very surprising pick to many. The Cavaliers are still without a serviceable shooting guard and small forward. It was surprising that the Cavaliers were unable to trade up or down. Thompson was predicted to go anywhere from seventh 14th on various mock drafts. It is also surprising that he was selected because of the number of power forwards currently on the roster.
The Cavaliers' current roster has seven players who can play the power forward position: Antwan Jamison, JJ Hickson, Samardo Samuels, Luke Harangody, Semih Erden, Tristan Thompson and Anderson Varejao. Jamison has only one year left on his current contract and many people feel like Hickson may ask for a hefty sum of money after his current contract expires.
The Cavaliers must feel like Thompson will be a key piece moving forward. The Cavaliers are probably still exploring trades for a shooting guard and/or small forward. The Cavaliers also still have the $14.5 million trade exception to use as well. It would be very surprising if they did not use a least some of the TPE.
Many people were surprised that the Utah Jazz selected Enes Kanter with the third overall pick. The Cavaliers missed an opportunity to acquire a quality center with some size. Kanter will never be a Dirk Nowitzki, but he will be a starting center in the NBA.
It was disappointing that the Cavaliers didn't attempt to trade down and acquire more assets. They could have probably picked up an extra first or second round pick as well. Taking Thompson with the fourth pick was certainly a reach. Thompson will have to work on his post game and certainly his free-throw shooting.
The Cavaliers made a wise decision by passing on Jonas Valanciunas. Chris Grant must have had some inside information on Valanciunas' contract situation. Why else would they pass on him? It could be two years before he even appears in the NBA. Grant deserves credit and for passing on Valanciunas. It was a very gutsy decision. Grant probably factored in the language barrier as well.
The Cavaliers selected Justin Harper on draft night with the 32nd pick and then shipped him to Orlando about 20 minutes later for their 2013 and 2014 second-round picks.
The most exciting pick came in the second round when the Cavaliers selected Milan Macvan with the 54th pick. His jersey is available now at the Cavaliers team shop. On a serious note, he looks like one tough hombre. David Lighty was not drafted on Thursday night, but he may end up receiving a camp invite from the Cavaliers (assuming there is a season).
Overall, it was a huge night for an organization that has endured plenty of hard times. The Cavaliers have two new pieces and can now look to the future.
