5 NBA Draft Prospects for the Cleveland Cavaliers to bet on – Cavs Draft News

5 NBA Draft Prospects for the Cleveland Cavaliers to bet on – Cavs Draft News

this is the moment we’ve all been waiting for for the thousands independants and the millions watching around the [Applause] world let’s get ready [Applause] [Music] for Welcome to the junkyard pod today we are discussing the upcoming 2024 NBA draft and what the Cleveland Cavaliers can do with the 20th pick and since I have a rule in life where I try not to speak on things that I don’t know anything about I am thrilled to be joined by Ben feifer friend of the show who actually knows what he’s talking about when it comes to the NBA Draft so Ben I can’t thank you enough for coming on the show Once Again to help carry this discussion course some would leads you to believe that I know what I’m talking about yes um but yeah I’m excited to talk draft obviously very very intriguing draft um very intriguing Cavs off season um so there’s a lot to talk about I think there’s a lot of potential routes we could we could go here and I think as as you’ve been tweeting I I I believe that this is gonna be a consequential one for them yeah no I really think anyone who is kind of just dismissing this pick because it’s the 20th pick and because it’s you know considered a weak draft that I think that would be a mistake I now whether or not the Cavs keep this pick we’ll see of course I’m sure we we will we will see plenty of trade rumors over the next few weeks but if they keep it this is an important pick and so do want to say Ben been doing fantastic work over on YouTube and with his writing so everyone please go check them out I will have all those links in the description and before we get into some specific prospects who we have picked out for the Cavs I want to quickly get your overall thoughts on this draft because everyone we’ve been hearing it for a while now it’s a weak draft especially at the top but for a team especially like the Cavs who are selecting at 20 it sounds like there’s a handful of potentially valuable role players I’ve heard that it’s a deep draft and so I want to get your overall assessment of this highly debated draft class yeah I think the quote unquote narrative that it’s a weak draft is true um I also don’t think it’s a particularly deep draft espec especially late into the second round but I feel like that’s just going to be a trend because of how nil is now and the decision- making process changing for a lot of guys on the fringes or staying or are going but even though right like even because it’s a weak even knowing it’s a weak draft that doesn’t mean there aren’t going to be valuable players like there are you know more than 20 good prospects in this class and even if I don’t think it’s the deepest or strongest class that doesn’t mean there aren’t going to be good players and a as always there are going to be players that I really like or maybe the Cavs really like that other teams don’t that fall to that spot um so I never think that like 10 to 20 range is a bad one to be picking in there seems to always be value to had um in that range just like go look at any draft and you’ll you’ll see some good in that area exactly yeah even even like the weaker drafts I’m I’m pretty sure maybe I’m misremembering but 2013 I think was heavily considered a weak draft and you got some very good players out of there I believe Yan right I would say this is most similar to that in terms of the drafts um drafts that I’ve seen where I don’t think there’s like a legit star top prospect at number one um and there’s going to be a lot of weirdness but there’s good stuff to be found and hopefully Cleveland can I’m looking at it right now they picked they had the 19th pick in in 2013 do you have any idea who they picked I’m gonna know it as soon as you say it too who who was it it was Sergey kis I knew it I knew it oh my God I don’t even know what happened to him not not a clue looks like he played a couple years dipped out yeah well I know they drafted Joe Harris somewhere around whether it was 2012 2013 somewhere maybe even 2014 so they were they were Taking Chances back then they took Bennett so that that’s all you really have to say about that class uh number one think I think that’ll live in infamy forever uh and again like I said I don’t follow the draft too closely but I have been over the last month and a half trying to do my best to take a deep dive on on this class and yeah I obviously I’m not the authority on this but it is it does seem like one of the weaker drafts I’ve seen But as you mentioned I mean see it bad draft to be picking in the top five but it’s not a bad draft to be picking anywhere else I think yeah yeah I think the Cavs are in a good position there and and like you were saying every year we find players who just exceed expectations uh so I’m sure there will be a handful of guys to end up being very helpful players in the NBA exactly even if I think the odds the odds for finding a guy like that are lower this year than in most year it’s there there are still chances and there are still players worth worth betting on and worth taking swings on um and I think I think quite a few players that we’re going to discuss who will fit pretty well with the Cav short and long-term plans yeah that craziness that Randomness is what makes the draft so fun at the end of the day and for a team like the Cavs who they’ve already collected so much talent I do think it’s really important that they continue to hit on the margins and if they can find someone in this draft whether they contribute right away or a year two three down the line that’s huge in my opinion so we can go ahead and get into this because I we have five players I believe who we have picked as our favorites for the Cavs and now of course Ben is the expert here so I will will defer to him for most of this conversation but I will start by saying I do enjoy basically all of these prospects Tristan the Silva perhaps might be my favorite pick I could be suway on that I know you had the Silva going to the Cavs in your most recent mock draft right I did I think that would be a fantastic fit is that the guy who you think makes the most sense for Cleveland um out of the ones that we went through um I’d probably prefer one or two other guys but I like quite a bit and I think I’m maybe a tad bit lower on the Silva than consensus um and regarding your you know quote unquote lack of expertise I always think it’s valuable to have like an fresh Outsider perspective right because like draft people like I’ve been aware of a lot of these people these prospects for like multiple years now and there’s a certain level of fatigue that comes along with that so I think it’s nice to get a fresh set of set of eyes on um on these players but the Silva I think is as good an option if the way you want to go is like a plug- Inplay Wing which I can imagine a lot of Cavs fans would probably want um he’s just a 69 610 dribble pass shoot Wing that’s pretty much what you need to know about the Silva and the the easy pitch for him he’s a versatile on andof ball shooter really smart passer can like run pick and rolls um can really dribble in tight spaces is a smart off ball Defender so all of that like sounds really great and I think it is really great and I think any range in like that you know like 18 to 20 30 or whatever I think is like all the teams are going to be wanting a player like that but I think he would make a lot of sense for Cleveland at 20 yeah it’s it’s basically just that archetype that stands out right away I mean he’s 6 fo8 it’s a lanky guy some fluid movements uh just seems like he has a natural feel for getting into his shots kind of finding a rhythm and he can convert a variety of looks and so for the Cavs it’s hard not to get excited hearing hey this guy’s 6 foot eight and he can shoot a little bit he can play off ball that’s what they’ve been begging for so uh one question that I have about dilva and this is true for a couple prospects but how do you factor his age into his draft value he’s 23 years old which would make him older than Evan Moy and I think only a few months younger than aoro who’s entering his fifth NBA season which is just crazy to say out loud but are you concerned about his age in this scenario I think a little bit Yeah I value age a lot in My Philosophy I think it’s the truest predictor of star upside that we have but I will say that matters less when you get later in the draft and when you’re looking for more readymade contributors I just think you have to be more realistic with older players and their development tracks as a lot of the time we see older rookies come in like I think of like a dwarte or like a even like a haime hwz this year who was really great at the start of the season and then teams start to kind of figure these guys out um not to say that those you know can’t be good players but I do think that the age specifically matters and I think for the Silva it matters in the way that he is already an older guy and he’s still pretty underdeveloped physically um he’s kind of a pure a pure wing to me which is fine because he can do all those things but as a six you know 6 Nish player ideally you’d like him to be able to do some big man stuff some interior work some finishing some interior defense and I’m not super confident that D Silva is going to get like a ton stronger or more developed I I think he definitely can and NBA strength and conditioning is going to help but he’s already 23 and he’s already struggled in in this kind of way so I think that definitely does matter and I don’t think because of that age and what he’s done I don’t think there’s any sort of star upside for the Silva but I think in terms of finding contributors I don’t think it’s a problem to take older prospects or to believe in them you just we have to be realistic I think about what they can bring and what like you know their development ceiling is going to be and how they can improve and stuff like that yeah those are all great points and I I think I basically have the same philosophy it’s just that they can come in and contribute but it’s that ceiling that you’re more concerned with especially you like mentioning his frame is a really good point too at 23 you would hope that he had developed a little bit more in that regard so of course he can continue to develop once he gets the NBA but it’s definitely something to watch out for um another Prospect who I like for basically the same reasons I like to Silva would be Jaylen Tyson uh another diverse kind of scorer I like that he can handle the ball a bit again good looking jump shot he’s 67 it looks like he has some physical tools that could potentially hold his own defensively uh and he’s also a little younger 21 years old so what are your thoughts on Tyson as a prospect I think Tyson would be my favorite for the Cavs out of this group I like Tyson a little more than D Silva and kind of as you mentioned because of his really great like physicality and strength along with his skill set as we said quickly kind of you know relating to the Silva but also both um D Silva has always had like a very poor free throw rate is not someone who draws a lot of fouls and I think that checks out with his kind of physicality profile and as far as I can see the only like upper classman who has really succeeded with the the free throw rate drawing that the Silva had in college is Trey Murphy and I think that is kind of like the the vision for D Silva just like a giant shooter who can do a little bit off the bounce but I think still and and Murphy was younger too and but still kind of limited and whereas I think Tyson is is more Dynamic of an athlete he’s a better Creator he’s a better shot maker off of the dribble Tyson is probably a little more inconsistent and might have a little bit more of a adjustment period to the NBA and NBA offense where the Silva at Colorado played in a very like off ball heavy cutting moving type offense whereas Tyson was like the primary guy like he had 30 usage at Cal and was you know bringing the ball the floor every time and finishing all finishing and starting all of their possessions and I think that probably led to some of his inconsistency as a decision maker and as a Defender but I generally agree that his tools are great he’s really strong and physical and fast he has a really nice handle he flashes some pretty highlevel pick and roll stuff as well as a passer um I just really like the idea of betting on a guy like Tyson who’s strong who is a versatile scorer who’s fairly smart can finish plays and I think if you can you know get him within a system help him learn more off ball with his strengths that he could be really good and just like another big wing for the Cavs who can actually do stuff who can dribble and can pass and and can shoot ideally so I think Tyson has has a little more ceiling than the Silva to be like a I don’t know probably not a star but I think maybe he could be like a really valuable like secondary tertiary scoring option um and I think that could also be a a huge help as well yeah yeah I’m right there with you the thing that really stood out to me with him is the the ball handling like you said uh listen as much as I want the Cavs to add some shooting to their wing spot and really really just add a wing to begin with but they also one of the more under at things that gets overlooked with the Cavs they don’t have enough guys who can dribble who can handle the ball that’s why Max stru was like a night and day difference even when he wasn’t making shots she was like oh yeah we can someone other than Donovan and Darius can run a pick and roll and it just feels normal and so adding someone like Tyson even if there will be a development yeah it might take him some time but it’s just such a huge archetype for them to go after and that’s what he’ll bring he has that scoring versatility where he can run run pick and roll and hit pull up jumpers off of the dribble which is probably the the main thing that you’re looking at if you really buy a ceiling it’s like the 6 fo7 guy is a really prolific off durable shooter maybe we can turn that into something more but he’s also someone who’s very comfortable like making interior reads out of the pick and roll and playing as a scorer in the paint so I think there’s a lot of stuff that you can squeeze out of Tyson um I do have some worries about right like him being an older guy and there’s still being some concerns when it comes to his decision making and the consistency on both ends but at the you know the 20th pick or whatever I think this is this is your time to take chances on like talented guys who might fall for other reasons that otherwise you wouldn’t be able to have access to it all so so I would love love Tyson on on the Cavs I think his ceiling is high and his ability to contribute pretty quickly is also pretty high so yeah I think it’s definitely a player like Tyson is a good gamble to take at 20 especially if and not to get too deep into this but if Mitchell extends I’ve said this a few times in the Pod if he extends it gives you a little breathing room to have someone like Tyson come in and he doesn’t have to contribute his rookie season it could be his second year or even his third year if you have some time to really work on him and again that just that ability to create your own shot at a position other than a guard would really help the cat so I love the idea of often times I I feel like drafting for fit is usually just not as good practice as people like to think because of how quickly rosters change in the NBA something that’s a big need for a team might not be in a year or two because of unexpected developments or trades or free agency signings and something that is not a need at all might be a need sooner than you think because of injuries or retirements or regression or trades or or whatever like that so maybe for you know they’re looking at hey we have Max druen he’s good um maybe we don’t want to have to think about his maybe we’ll we’ll draft T Tyson as some sort of insurance because we’re probably not going to want to pay him when he’s 33 or whatever on his on his next deal so I think that’s another way to think about these it’s not only like how can these guys contribute right now but how can we draft players who help us maintain the the depth and the talent that we already have yeah for sure and I mean yeah there’s obviously the archetype that the Cavs are looking to fill which would be that kind of three andd rooll guy but they could also just use anyone in the front Court who could provide a little bit of scoring from the perimeter that’s not something they’ve really had since lry marinin and I’m mentioning him for a very specific reason because listen I don’t think Kyle filipowski is anywhere near that player and I’m not saying he will develop into that but the similarities are there and while the Cavs I think they should be looking to fill the wing flip gives them a potential Flor spacer that can pair with either big in the second unit at his best and so what do you think of that uh of him Landing in Cleveland yeah I’m a big filipowski guy um and I think if he ends up being good he could end up being like really really good for them I love him because of his versatility especially on the offensive end where filipowski can do the traditional big stuff where he’s you know finishing at The Rim he’s grabbing rebounds he’s sealing and stuff and though I think filipowski can definitely use like some more strength especially in his like torso midsection to bump guys he is younger he’s you know only a sophomore and I think flip is maybe the best passing big in this entire draft or at least he’s up there he’s maybe the best ball handling big in this entire draft or at least he’s up there and he can do so many things he can play in the post he can play from the perimeter he can run pick and rolls he can be the roller in pick and rolls and make good passes and I think obviously shooting is shooting is going to be a swing for him but I think if flip can sustain what he did this year which was around 35% on on solid volume which I think is definitely possible then I think you have a really good versatile big and I think Flip’s defense is solid he’s a he he I think he improved as a mover um his that same size and physicality helps defend the interior and he’s generally a pretty smart guy positionally I don’t think he’s ever going to be an incredible Defender but when you have Evan Moy and or Jared Allen depending on how this goes you can kind of get away with your other bigs or you know forward players not being as Stellar defensively because of those guys you have and I think the the kind of offensive versatility that a big like Philip hsky could bring you is really really enticing all of the different things he can do and ways he can contribute um are I think beget possible future upside like to be a really good offensive player and just like will allow him to contribute in some ways early in his career too so I would like that a lot um I think it would be really interesting as well so yeah again not a onetoone comparison that I’m making but if you think of the way the Cavs used more recently Kevin Love and marinin uh that’s the type of role that you would kind of want Philip psky to fill now of course he’s not going to fill it to the same degree but if you look at what they’ve been trying to use in that play since then it’s been George Nang uh Dean Wade where hypothetical Dean Wade is a really good fit but he’s just you don’t want to rely on him as much as they had to recently and so if flip can come in and fill that even to some degree within the next few years you would feel really good about that pick and again so much of like my wish list just comes down to the very simple premise are you tall and can you shoot and it seems like flip can check both of those and you mentioned the passing that’s really big to me too because I think in today’s NBA it’s just as important for a front Court player to be able to handle the ball a little bit and create plays as it is for them to develop a three-point shot I think if you’re able to handle the ball as a forward uh it makes all the difference it’s just as important as being able to shoot so and again if we continue to look at age flip 20 years old so we’re getting progressively younger as we go through the list and it’s again a good gamble to take I think yeah for someone who can legitimately like Drop drive and pass off of the live dribble and make really confident like confident difficult reads and can create space with his handle and all of this stuff I’m willing to take that bet and say okay I I’d rather bet that our development staff can get filipowski to a consistent shooting level than bet on you know a shooter with W without the skills that he has because it’s much harder to teach what filipowski has than kind of other way around right flip is I think not guaranteed to be a great shooter but I think there’s there’s enough flashes especially from we saw this year him increasing his volume increasing his percentages that he could be good enough to where he can really threaten defenses with his great ball skills which as as you said I absolutely agree are so important for modern bigs to be able to dribble and pass and do all of these things these are really like cheat code like Checkmate type skills that we see all of the great teams have players that can do this stuff um I think flip could could really be that for a team at some point yeah and on that note this is a good way to transition to another Prospect who I like but he has the shooting but he maybe lacks all those tertiary skills that flip has especially just the passing the feel for the game that would be Tyler Smith out of the G League ignite now I’m really interested in him as a prospect because his game is incredibly raw but at 19 years old that jump shot is so sweet uh and it’s important to me that he seems to have so so much confidence in his shooting with that size he could be a really fun pick and pop guy in the NBA it’s just again it’s a concern that the rest of his game is very underdeveloped so I want to ask what excites you and concerns you the most with Smith yeah Smith of this group of guys we’re talking about is certainly the the furthest away from contributing but also possibly has the highest sealing out of any of these prospects and especially on the offens of end yeah Smith I mean not going to turn 20 until Midway through his first NBA season and he is one of the best Shooters in this draft off the dribble off screens face UPS pick and pops he’s a really really deadly shooter and he’s like like you said is supremely confident and can really make make things happen as a shot maker he’s he’s an interesting Prospect to me because as I talked about in a YouTube video I did somewhat recently like he he really is like a throwback stretch four which is kind of not like an archetype we see because everyone’s like a big or like they’re like a a wing but Smith is kind of forish to me where I don’t know if he’s tall enough to be a center and I don’t know if he’s skilled enough yet to be a wing but he is you know 69 610 71 wingspan and can shoot the hell out of the ball so I think it’s pretty pretty easy to to understand the pitch for him especially when you pair that with some of the flashes of craft finishing and and driving but he is quite raw um Smith is a really bad Defender there’s not much else you know there’s you know you you can sugarcoat it all you want and there some flashes of Rim protection and you know movement and stuff but he’s just not very strong or explosive as a as a Defender the positioning is out of whack and I definitely want to say that like G ignite as a as a as a whole is a disaster on both both ends especially defensively and that certainly wasn’t helping him and I think getting him into a real system like this guy like the fact that like defensively thinking about it his formative years have been spent at overtime Elite and and g-league ignite like not not not exactly Bas of like you know fundamental play and and defense and stuff like that so I think maybe maybe you can kind of argue and have some optimism that that’s a potential point of upside of room for growth when you get him with some better coaching and teammates and stuff but he is just very raw on offense he’s not a great decision maker outside of shooting he’s not a consistent driver or playmaker at all and Smith is probably someone who I wouldn’t expect to be a real contributor in year one or maybe even year two but if Cleveland is Will is patient is is is willing to be patient with the guy and maybe like this is a more likely pick in a in a world where Donovan does extend right like you you have that locked in and you’re like we’re going to take a guy who we think could be really really valuable for us in in a year or two um and you know let’s say we don’t want to pay Dean Wade down the line we we move on from Allen we don’t have a Nang type like Tyler Smith will be ready to to slot in and shoot the hell out of the ball and hopefully be good enough on defense and I think that’s a really enticing package at at this stage in the draft yeah it’s really easy to talk yourself into the upside there uh do you think that with a player like Smith does it benefit him to go to a team like the Cavs who can maybe kind of stash him away a little bit hide some of his flaws let him slowly develop or is it better for him to go to I don’t know the Pistons or a team that can just throw him into the fire and let him work through whatever flaws he has what what kind of Developmental path or is it all kind of the same at the end of the day is the prospect just going to develop however they were going to to begin with I mean this is the million-dollar question right like yeah if you have an answer you could probably make a lot of money with some basketball team but I think Smith because he’s not like a ball handler an initiator someone who needs as many like live reps on the ball I think slow playing him up with a team like Cleveland who’s good and has shown that they can develop players is probably the best the the be the preferred option for Smith just because so many of his issues to me are related to like physicality and and maturity and stuff that he should gain with age and you know strength training obviously not every Prospect does right but a lot a lot do and I think just gaining that strength and and confidence and kind of structure is going to be really valuable for Smith learning how to play within a system that’s already good like you know you’re not dropping Smith into a disaster like the Pistons where it’s just a free-for-all it’s like okay the the Cavs are a good playoff team that has things in place and has their players in place so Smith will have to learn how to fit into a a system like that and I think for a guy like Smith who maybe you’re not projecting to be a legit star maybe that’s possible if he can be like a a crazy crazy shooter but if not then I think a guy like Tyler Smith really benefit from like learning how to play within a system and play within a role my favorite Tyler Smith comp has been um Channing fry which oh I don’t think isect get down with that I think makes a lot of sense is like this traditional stretch four who is really good at score a little in the mid-range can defend a little um I think his ceiling is higher than that and his floor is lower than that but I think it’s a possible like median is outcome for for Smith a guy like that or I even think of like a Ryan Anderson type as like a these throwback stretch Force um but I do think Smith would benefit from sitting and playing in the G league and all this stuff yeah I love that comparison that’s a good one uh and I do think the Cavs have a good roster around Smith who really kind of hide some of his flaws obviously they can cover up for him defensively if he’s paired with one of the bigs and then you have two guards who if they put him in pick and Pop I think that would be a lot of fun to watch especially considering his guards his guards at ignite were like John Jenkins and like odont Gilder and a bunch of teenagers like it’s yeah it’s gonna be night and day for him getting to a team where he has Playmakers who can consistently set it up and this is true for basically every Prospect but I think it’s especially true for a guy like Smith given his history yeah just watching him be able to spot up and and knock down catch andj threes that would be a lot of fun uh but to round out our discussion we have one more Prospect worth mentioning and that is Don Holmes out of Dayton uh now I would like to say that I’ve gone on record saying that Kobe Alman should quote be fired into the stratosphere if he doesn’t draft a wing but I can carve out an exception for a backup big uh and it’s it’s really the back court that Kobe needs to avoid because yes the Cavs could use some depth in that department but they have a glaring need for players who are taller than 6’6 and even if they keep both bigs uh you need a backup big uh in this rotation I think someone who you can rely on so Holmes is a good Prospect to look at because by all accounts he seems to be a promising versatile big man who can find some sort of role in the NBA the jump shot seems to be to be developing nicely and really the Cavs haven’t had a capable backup big in quite sometime I know Tristan Thompson was inspiring at various moments but you don’t want to rely on him the bar has been IDE You’ have a backup big who you can rely on without peeds like and I think I don’t think we’re gonna get a 25 game suspension from Holes I hope not hopefully not yeah and I guess to to quell some of your concerns I think Holmes is like as wingy as the big gets as The Bigs get in this class okay because of his ball handling as we talked about with flip even more so with Don who Dayton Dayton runs really cool stuff and they had him running like invert pick and rolls as the ball handler and he’s very comfortable in like NBA Style dribble handoff actions he can legitimately like dribble in tight spaces and get himself to his spots and set up himself and his teammates he’s not a fantastic passer and his shooting is good but not like Incredible or anything I think it’s similar to a guy like filipowski where like I think it’s a good they’re a good bet to be a shooter not not going to be like a special crazy shooter like Tyler Smith for example but they’re going to be able to space the floor and be a threat and I think the thing that’s so unique about holes is that most of these perimeter oriented young bigs really struggle on the interior because they you know they’ve grown up playing as perimeter guys but Holmes kind of did his development in Reverse where coming out of high school he was just like a traditional like postup interior defense big where he flashed some like perimeter stuff but wasn’t really thought of as a super serious Prospect until until recently when it’s like holy this guy can really dribble and and you know flashes some passing and score for himself and also be a great lob catcher and post scorer and pick and roll Defender he’s not like an incredible he is like a little short for the for the center size I think he’s like 610 um he’s not huge or anything but he’s a sound pick and roll Defender he’s a sound interior Defender I don’t think he’s going to be an incredible player on that end but he’s going to be good he’s going to be useful and I think when you’re when it comes to players who are useful in a unique and valuable modern role like Holmes is just so perfect um in in that spot and I think he’s a great fit for most teams I think he would for sure work in Cleveland he can absolutely play with Evan Moy I think he’s honestly a perfect fit like there’s been a a lot of smoke about OKC targeting him as uh a pair with Chad and I think a lot of that reasoning applies to the Cavs too like you have a guy in Moi who’s like a demon perimeter ground coverage a bit skinnier and Holmes is like okay you’re more traditional interior defensive guy who can also play on the perimeter and do the offensive stuff you need so I would really like Holmes it’s looking like he might not even be there at 20 yeah but if he if he does I certainly think he should be in in consideration and of course you know getting an Ohio guy of course and and yeah everything you said makes just a ton of sense if if he’s available at 20 you definitely have to take a hard look at him I feel like those those spry versatile bigs who have some perimeter feel those are valuable I think like that’s basically a safe a bet of being a use full player somewhere in your rotation I feel like those coordinated bigs uh just because it’s not very often you see guys that big who move that well uh you mentioned uh handling the ball stuff like that just any sort of perimeter feel any sort of touch I know the jump shot from what it from what I was looking at sounds like a point of contention people aren’t really fully bought in on it so I’m wondering how where where do you think how will that develop do you think he’ll be a true floor spacer or is this kind of just a hey he can hit a couple shots from the perimeter I think he can be a pretty legit floor spacer it’s definitely going to take time but as I kind of mentioned before Holmes was not a shooter at all pretty much yeah high school and in the early early years of his career like he maybe did a little bit of it but for him it was mostly just you know if he took it it would be like a wideopen corner three or something like that but now he’s legitimately taking shots above the break his jumper is a lot smoother his touch is pretty good and he got his free throw percentage up quite a bit this yeah his free throw percentage has improved every year of his career his three-o percentage has improved every year of his career his volume has improved every year of his career and I think that like steady track of improvement rather than a guy who’s like oh he just had one crazy shooting year after three years of not shooting I’m like okay I can see the the incremental progression and like I said Holmes like for most of his basketball life probably just hasn’t really needed to to shoot to be a great great player and I think that’s the case for a lot of these young talented athletes where it’s like maybe they’re not Shooters not because they can’t but because they’ve never really had to and obviously that’s not like a great thing right but it’s it’s not like you’re in love with that but I think for Holmes a guy who has the volume and is willing to shoot off shoot off the dribble and shoot off movement at times and will take like mid-range jumpers and one of the main things for shooting translation that I value is that like mid-range shot creation and Holmes is an incredible guy and like face ups and and fadeaways and stuff like that so that’s another potential area where it’s like maybe you can extend your touch out from theirs and yeah I think Holmes is gonna be a good shooter I don’t think he’s gonna be an incredible Elite shooter or anything but I think he’ll probably end up being a genuine threat from out there not someone who’s you know making three-point contests but someone who the def defenses have to pay attention to which is kind of what you what you want yeah I mean that would be huge for the Cavs to get anybody who the defense will pay attention to at that position so yeah you know I again I hate to do the player comp so I want to be so clear to everyone listening that I’m not comparing these players one to one but uh someone who I was looking at is even someone like Nas Reed who goes undrafted just a few years ago I think he shot 33% in college now he’s the Sixth Man of the Year and again I’m not saying Holmes will become that caliber of player but it’s just another reminder that this isn’t isn’t looking I think like the success of Nas Reed even though he’s not necessarily A you know one to one I I I think that’s a great feather in the cap of Holmes is someone like Nas who came out who had a ton of problems as a prospect obviously he was younger than than Holmes when he got drafted but he ended up working because largely because of his really special ability to handle the ball at his size and I think he’s kind of the poster child for you know Nas isn’t an incredible decision maker he’s not an incredible athlete but he’s able to be a super valuable playmaker and scorer because of that incredible that incredible skill as a Handler and I think Holmes while you know maybe a little less juice as like a Creator than a guy like NZ probably is a better actual big in terms of like interior defense and and you know re rebounding and all and all that and shot blocking and defense and all of that stuff so Holmes is a really great bet in the modern NBA um the like these kind of like combo bigs who are able to contribute as a four and as a five sometimes and work with a bunch of different lineups are in Vogue for a reason and I think Holmes could is a good bet to be like a a possible next in line there yeah that’s what it comes out to you know I think all these prospects that we talked about to varying degrees uh there’s a reason why you might take a bet on them and so I think again I wouldn’t overlook this draft pick I think there’s a lot of fun potential here uh whether it’s a guy who can come in and contribute potentially right away like the Silva or someone like Smith or Holmes where maybe you take well I think Holmes could come in and contribute uh pretty soon too but someone like Smith you might take a little longer to H would be contributing from he’s one of the ones who would be contributing from day one absolutely yeah especially just because again everyone focuses on the need for a wing but hey man he would holes would be competing with Tristan Thompson George neang and Damen Jones for minutes so I think there’s a realistic path where he could actually be a very helpful upgrade there on various nights so I love having a like a utility big who you can play with assuming they you know who knows what they do with their roster but assuming they don’t change things like who can play with whatever big you want to throw out there like okay yeah we can throw Don with Moy and have him as more of an interior guy we can throw Don with Allen and have him as more of a perimeter guy and I think he can be confident at least in both of those roles which is such a valuable commodity to have are guys who can be flexible and it’s hard to like game plan and and take them out of game and I think Holmes fits that yeah versatility is key in the NBA and that’s one thing the Cavs have been missing is a lot of that line of Versatility who a player like Holmes could bring to them that’s going to do it for this episode of the junkyard pod uh Ben is a pleasure as always very grateful that you helped join to break down these prospects and again for anyone who is interested in this draft class go check out Ben on Twitter and YouTube he is your plug for what to expect on draft night with these prospects so give him a look and for those who enjoy this podcast want to give a thanks and suggest that if you enjoy the show please consider hitting subscribe and dropping a like it truly does help the channel and I have content planned all throughout the offseason you don’t want to miss it so thank you again and with all that being said go Cavs [Music]

Ben Pfeifer joins The Junkyard Pod to break down FIVE prospects the Cleveland Cavaliers can consider with the 20th pick in the 2024 NBA Draft!

– Tristan Da Silva
– Tyler Smith
– Kyle Filipowski
– Jaylon Tyson
– DaRon Holmes

Follow Ben on Twitter and check out his YouTube channel for more draft coverage!

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