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Cavs top pick's no slam dunk
Source: Agencies |
June 24, 2011, Friday
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THE Cleveland Cavaliers have the top pick in the National Basketball Association draft today but there will be no slam-dunk decision like the last time they had the No. 1 selection.
In 2003, after losing 65 games, the Cavaliers used the No. 1 pick to grab LeBron James and were instantly transformed from league cellar-dwellers into championship contenders.
By most assessments there is no once-in-a-generation talent like James to be mined from this year's draft but the Cavaliers will once again use the No. 1 selection to rebuild a team that crumbled into ruin last season after the twice NBA most valuable player spurned Cleveland to sign with the Miami Heat.
With renovations under way at Madison Square Garden in New York, the draft will be staged across the Hudson River in Newark, New Jersey, and the first name called by NBA Commissioner David Stern is expected to be either Duke point guard Kyrie Irving or Arizona forward Derrick Williams.
The Cavaliers are believed to be leaning towards Irving, a slick ball handler with size and speed over the athletic Williams, who averaged 19.5 points and 8.3 rebounds last season. Neither player is likely to make jilted Cavaliers fans forget about James but with the No. 1 and 4 picks, Cleveland should land two skilled players who will provide the cornerstone for a team rebuilding.
Whichever of those players Cleveland does not take will likely head to the Minnesota Timberwolves, owners of the second overall pick.
The Timberwolves would probably prefer to have a shot at Williams having just locked up 20-year-old Spanish point guard Ricky Rubio, who they claimed with the fifth overall pick in the 2009 draft.
The Utah Jazz will select third followed by the Cavaliers at four and the Toronto Raptors at five.
Unearth a diamond
Like the Cavaliers, the Raptors are hoping to unearth a diamond in the rough to help fill the void left by Chris Bosh, who deserted the NBA's most northern outpost to follow James to sunny Miami.
Already one of the NBA's most cosmopolitan teams, the Raptors could once again be looking overseas to find their man.
With a possible labor war looming, international players are expected to figure prominently in this year's lottery with several highly-rated American college prospects choosing to remain in school and ride out a potential lockout while the NBA and players union negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement.
Some mock drafts have as many as five foreign players going in the top 10 with the Cavaliers eyeing Turkish big man Enes Kanter with the fourth selection and the Raptors considering Lithuanian center Jonas Valanciunas. Czech Jan Vesely, Congo's Bismack Biyombo, Donatas Motiejunas of Lithuania and Latvian Davis Bertans could all hear their names called in the opening round.
In 2003, after losing 65 games, the Cavaliers used the No. 1 pick to grab LeBron James and were instantly transformed from league cellar-dwellers into championship contenders.
By most assessments there is no once-in-a-generation talent like James to be mined from this year's draft but the Cavaliers will once again use the No. 1 selection to rebuild a team that crumbled into ruin last season after the twice NBA most valuable player spurned Cleveland to sign with the Miami Heat.
With renovations under way at Madison Square Garden in New York, the draft will be staged across the Hudson River in Newark, New Jersey, and the first name called by NBA Commissioner David Stern is expected to be either Duke point guard Kyrie Irving or Arizona forward Derrick Williams.
The Cavaliers are believed to be leaning towards Irving, a slick ball handler with size and speed over the athletic Williams, who averaged 19.5 points and 8.3 rebounds last season. Neither player is likely to make jilted Cavaliers fans forget about James but with the No. 1 and 4 picks, Cleveland should land two skilled players who will provide the cornerstone for a team rebuilding.
Whichever of those players Cleveland does not take will likely head to the Minnesota Timberwolves, owners of the second overall pick.
The Timberwolves would probably prefer to have a shot at Williams having just locked up 20-year-old Spanish point guard Ricky Rubio, who they claimed with the fifth overall pick in the 2009 draft.
The Utah Jazz will select third followed by the Cavaliers at four and the Toronto Raptors at five.
Unearth a diamond
Like the Cavaliers, the Raptors are hoping to unearth a diamond in the rough to help fill the void left by Chris Bosh, who deserted the NBA's most northern outpost to follow James to sunny Miami.
Already one of the NBA's most cosmopolitan teams, the Raptors could once again be looking overseas to find their man.
With a possible labor war looming, international players are expected to figure prominently in this year's lottery with several highly-rated American college prospects choosing to remain in school and ride out a potential lockout while the NBA and players union negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement.
Some mock drafts have as many as five foreign players going in the top 10 with the Cavaliers eyeing Turkish big man Enes Kanter with the fourth selection and the Raptors considering Lithuanian center Jonas Valanciunas. Czech Jan Vesely, Congo's Bismack Biyombo, Donatas Motiejunas of Lithuania and Latvian Davis Bertans could all hear their names called in the opening round.
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