Who Are the Cleveland Cavaliers Going to DRAFT On Thursday?! | NBA Draft Reaction Show!

Who Are the Cleveland Cavaliers Going to DRAFT On Thursday?! | NBA Draft Reaction Show!

on today’s show day one of the NBA draft is complete who are some names that could be available for the Cavs in day two later on Thursday night plus there’s a team I think every team including the Cavs should be calling about potential trades we’ll talk about that and so much more on today’s edition of Locked on Cavs you are Locked on Cavs your daily Cleveland Cavaliers podcast part of the Locked On podcast network your team every day what’s up everybody my name is Danny Cunningham you might know me from my time covering the Cleveland Cavaliers places like my Substack The Inside Shot Cleveland Magazine 923 The Fan and a number of other stops along the way i want to say thank you to you for making Lockdown Cavs your first listen today and every day you can find the show anywhere you get your podcasts Apple Spotify or anywhere else make sure you drop us a fivestar rating leave us a nice review of course be a friend tell a friend about the show and if you’re watching on YouTube as we get started here do me a favor and hit that thumbs up button to help spread the word about Lockdown Cavs night one of the NBA draft is in the books the Cavaliers of course did not have a pick were not expected to find a way to get a pick um and that is kind of just how the night went so if you’re a Cavs fan you were certainly a a casual observer of the first night i will have some thoughts on that coming up a little bit later but it is time for night two why the NBA has to separate this into two nights I will not understand probably ever but the Cavs do have two picks in the second round they have the 49th overall pick which they got via trade from the Milwaukee Bucks a few years back and then they have the number 58 technically I think number 59 but because there was a pick forfeited in front of them there were only actually 59 picks in this draft um that pick was forfeited by the New York Knicks for tampering with Jaylen Brunson and I think they think that was pretty worth it because of course I would give up a second round pick to have Jaylen Brunson on my team so the Cavs will have two late second round picks so these names that we’re going to talk about here as guys that could potentially be available for the Cavs might not all be there this isn’t as if they pick at 35 and so only three guys are going to be off the board we can talk about a bunch and we know they will mostly be there and of course this is a position where it’s very much a crapshoot and that’s just what the the second round is that’s what I think a lot of the first round is i think that if you look at outside of the top five picks in the NBA draft I kind of think it’s all a coin flip and I am very I’m going to be very interested in the draft strategy for the Cavs because having two second round picks doesn’t necessarily fit their timeline right now of course you’re not drafting for current need you’re drafting for future need and with picks number 58 and 49 that’s something that there’s no guarantee that’s going to pan out that’s oftent times I I mean I think the this type of pick hits roughly one out of every six or seven times so that’s what the Cavs are up against but their draft strategy to me will be an interesting thing and one of the names that a lot of different outlets have mocked to the Cavs is Celio Niang he Niang is a 6’7 wing currently playing professionally in Italy he is from the Sagal and he is somebody that I think could make a lot of sense for the Cavs particularly at that number 58 spot there are a few different mock drafts um the Athletic I believe ESPN’s second round mock that they put out after the first round of the draft on Wednesday night they have Nang going to the Cavs here and I think it makes a lot of sense because he’s not a guy that would come over right away and if the Cavs make two picks which I don’t know if they are going to make both of these picks but if they make two picks on Thursday it makes sense for at least one of them to not come over to the NBA right away it makes sense for them to have a draft and stash prospect sort of the way they did with Luke Travers and they’ve done with a few other guys think Cheddy Ospen was this way way back in the day when he was a a second round selection by the Cavs all the way back in in the mid2010s so Nyang it has the athletics bio for him has Nyang is a 6’7 athletic wing currently playing for Trento in the Italian league and decided to stay in the draft as an early entrant he has intriguing defensive tools and is a willing cutter off the ball that sounds like it fits into Cleveland while averaging just under eight points and 5.2 two rebounds he does need to work on his jumper he’ll be a draft and stash guy who gets left overseas to see how his development goes over the next few years i think that makes a ton of sense for the Cavs i think the cutting aspect makes a ton of sense but I do think you’re looking a little bit less at who this prospect is right now when you are talking about a draft and stash guy you’re looking a little bit less at who this person is right now you’re looking at okay well what can you be in two or three years in two or three years can you be somebody that helps the Cavs and I also think having a draft and stash guy makes sense because I don’t think that the Cavs are going to want to give a second round pick especially the number 58 overall pick a full NBA contract now they can use the second round exception that is one of the few ways as a second apron team that they are allowed to sign guys so they can do that it’s not as if they’re not allowed to spend money here this is one of the few areas they are but I don’t know that they want to do that and I also think it’s pretty unlikely well maybe not pretty unlikely but I don’t know the chances that they’re going to have multiple two-way spots available i do think there will be at least one two-way spot for them available i I’m not so sure that both Ammani Bates and Luke Travers are going to be back in Cleveland um so I do think if you select a guy at you know 49 that guy probably is going to be on a two-way deal if you select somebody at 58 like Nang probably not going to be in the NBA next year and I think that’s the right strategy for the Cavs to have because if they do that it doesn’t handcuff them they don’t have two rookies on the roster when they’re trying to compete for a championship because that is a very very difficult thing to do it’s very difficult to manage and get the development when your roster is cut a little bit short there are a lot of people certainly that you if you were somebody that was complaining about Tristan Thompson taking up a roster spot having two second round rookies taking up a roster spot is a it does kind of hamstring you because those players are not expected to be able to contribute right away so let’s move to number 49 now because Nyang is at number 58 in a few different mock drafts that are out on Thursday morning and I am recording this on Thursday morning rather than Wednesday night just because I wanted to sort of let the draft digest a little bit let it breathe and really see who is available for the Cavs or who is expected to be available for the Cavs so we can have that conversation rather than just kind of guessing near the end of the first round um the Athletic at number 49 has a Cavs selecting Jir Watkins a 6’5 wing from Florida State watkins a little bit of an older prospect he is 23 years old and their bio says few players looked apart physically in the second round more than Watkins he’s a 6’5 wing with a 6’11 wingspan and a powerful build to match he’s best on defense right now covers ground at a high level physical on ball defender game still needs to work offensively because he does need to shift into more of an offball role in the NBA which I do think is a pretty common thing when you talk about guys that are second round picks that are used to being the best player on the team for their entire life but then they get to the NBA and they’re the worst player on their team so their offensive role has to change quite a bit um he does have potential to do that because he started to make catch and shoot threes at a higher cliff in each of the last two years i think while Watkins is a little bit undersized at 6’5 the 6’11 wingspan is something that’s really attractive i think that height is a little bit overrated in the NBA not saying that you can be you know tiny but I think wingspan matters more um I just think that the way we talk about length matters more than the way we talk about height so to have a 6’11 wingspan I do think is an attractive quality if you’re looking at somebody at 49 and at this point in the draft I actually do like selecting older prospects i think it makes sense to draft a younger draft and stash guy later in the draft but I think if you need if you need somebody to contribute out of the second round that somebody is most likely not going to be a oneanddone guy they’re most likely going to be somebody that has spent some time in colleging that that is much closer to that is much closer to their ceiling if you will than somebody like Anmani Bates who the Cavs drafted in the second round a few years ago because when you are asking them to develop like it’s going to take a few years it’s going to take longer for a second round pick to develop than you would imagine a first round pick to develop of course they’re not all hits but it’s going to take longer as far as that goes but if Watkins is already 23 years old theoretically he’s closer to a ceiling and should have a little bit of a higher floor i think a lot of the NBA draft early on is about drafting for high ceiling you only care about what the ceiling is and part of that is because bad teams are picking if the Cavs are in a spot where if Jamir Watkins has a high floor as a prospect and maybe not the highest ceiling I think that’s a fair trade to make because the chances of him working out with a high floor I think are better and sort of the thing that you’re looking for when you get to this point in the draft because they don’t necessarily have time I think for a 23 year old player to come in and need a lot of seasoning and development that’s something that I just don’t know makes a ton of sense for them organizationally and then of course ESPN want to go through their mock draft for the Cavs too because they put out a new second round mock draft and they at number 49 for the Cavs they had them selecting Vladislav Golden he’s a center played in Michigan um he is a a big center he’s above seven feet I believe he is certainly somebody that has some width to his game he is more of a traditional center and this is something that I have no idea if he’s going to work out in the NBA i think that there are some legitimate questions about whether or not he can play defensively away from the basket um and that is a difficult thing of course for a big man to do but if you can’t do that in today’s NBA I think it’s even more difficult than it’s ever been but this would be a Jared Allen replacement and Jared Allen might be on the team this year he might not i don’t know if he’s going to get traded we’ll see in the next couple of weeks but I would be surprised if two years from now Jared Allen’s on the team because if you look at what the Boston Celtics are doing um this proves the whole you know the second apron does matter type of thing they’ve traded away Chris Porzingis and Drew Holiday and what they have to show in return for those two guys is essentially Anthony Simons George Niang and a second round pick so they have sent out a lot of talent because they needed to cut costs the Cavs are going to have to do that at some point jared Allen probably going to get traded at some point to get them out of the second apron darius Garland might get traded at some point to get them out of the second apron they might have to let guys walk like that is just how this is going to have to work for them at a certain point down the road i’m not saying that right now because again you’re not drafting in the second round for need you’re drafting in the second round for potential futures but Golden is somebody that could he replace Jared Allen as maybe a rim protector somebody that is a good screen setter roles to the rim i don’t think he could do everything Jared Allen can do i don’t think he’s as athletic as Jared Allen i don’t think he moves as well but can he do some of this stuff sure and it is worth noting here um the same way it was talking about Watkins Golden is an older prospect he was a fifth year senior at Michigan so he has kind of reached a little bit of a different point in his development than some of the younger guys and then of course at number 58 uh ESPN also has the Cavs selecting Yang um everything I said earlier about him still holds up today now there were some trades one that I found particularly interesting that happened during the first round on Wednesday night and there’s a team that I don’t know what a trade would look like i don’t know if they’d still have interest but there’s a team the Cavs need to be calling i’ll tell you who that is next right here on lockdown Cavs today’s show is brought to you by Wayfair it is time to be outside it is beautiful out now the sun is shining it is really really warm maybe a little bit too warm if you’re in northeast Ohio the past few days but there’s nothing like stepping into your own outdoor space and feeling like you’ve escaped to a personal oasis if you’re wanting to update your patio this season Wayfair’s made it so easy to turn it into a space that feels like yours comfortable stylish ready for summer Wfair’s got everything you need to make your space feel just like that they’ve got conversation sets outdoor bars fire pits hot tubs gazeos even the perfect string lighting to set your vibe for your outdoor space it’s like giving your backyard that resort feel 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young prospect they traded him or his rights to the Pelicans for the 23rd pick in this draft fine they ended up selecting I believe uh Asa Newwell out of Georgia and they also sent back to Atlanta an unprotected first round pick next year now that first round pick next year is the better of the first round picks between New Orleans’s own and the Milwaukee Bucks they got that pick from Milwaukee as part of the Drew Holiday trade um I think that that pick might be pretty good i think that the New Orleans pick might be pretty good of course Joe Dumars is now running the show in New Orleans after the Pelicans fired David Griffin a few months back and he’s now made three pretty sizable moves one of them was getting trading picks with the the Pacers and this is more bad luck than anything they sent the Pacers because the the Pelicans have the Pacers pick had the Pacers pick next year so they sent that first round pick back to the Pacers which at the time did not look like it was going to be a very good pick and then Tyresese Hallebert and Terrace’s Achilles like 24 to 48 hours later so now that pick might actually be pretty valuable and looks like a terrible trade for the Pacer or for the the Pelicans excuse me they made the trade in which they sent CJ McCollum to Washington in exchange for Jordan Pool and Sadi Bay um and I believe the 40th overall pick too like that is a kind of just I don’t know what this does for anybody trade like maybe Jordan Pool will be better in New Orleans playing in a situation where they’re at least trying to win i don’t know um I’m not the biggest Jordan Pool guy but that trade was just like you know I don’t know who this is really for i don’t know what this really does and then the trade last night so I think that there are times in the NBA and I think that we have not been you know completely devoid of this lately but I don’t know that there’s been a ton of this lately um there are times when there’s just a franchise out there that seems to be poorly run and right now it looks like the Pelicans are that franchise if I’m the Cavs and I don’t know what a deal looks like I don’t know what the Pelicans would still have interest in considering who they drafted on Wednesday night from Cleveland’s roster but if I am the Cavs I’m calling the Pelicans about making stuff happen because they are a franchise that right now it looks like just on the surface it looks like you can pretty easily win a trade with and maybe that’s an unfair thing to say after Joe Dumar has been on the job for a month and a half two months whatever it’s been since he’s been hired but the early returns on his moves are man I if I’m a GM of the Cavs or any other team if I am a general imager the Pelicans are a team that I am calling if I want to trade somebody they are the first team that I’m calling when I’m looking to to make a move because they are a franchise that right now it looks like yeah we can win a trade with them pretty easily and I think winning and losing trades can be a pretty subjective thing especially in the moment because most trades believe it or not are pretty evenly balanced there’s not a lot of trades in today’s NBA you know this has not always been the case certainly there’s not a lot of trades in today’s NBA that are just overwhelming wins for one side versus the other typically both sides are able to extract a certain thing that they’re trying to do and the Pelicans have been able to do that it’s just the thing that they’re trying to do hasn’t made sense like for that pick that’s going to Atlanta to not be good both the Pelicans and the Bucks need to make the playoffs next year now the Western Conference is very difficult zion Williamson if he misses 25 games next year which I think is a very fair thing very fair thing to expect are the Pelicans going to be a playoff team i have some pretty serious doubts about that i don’t see it the Milwaukee Bucks we already know Damen Lillard is not going to play for them next year and we don’t know where Giannis is going to be giannis might still get traded now it hasn’t sounded like that so far but he might still get traded for Milwaukee if that happens the Atlanta Hawks might have the number one pick next year if you were to go over to our f our good friends at FanDuel and I don’t believe that as of now they have the odds for like to make or miss the playoffs but for both the Pelicans and the Bucks to make the playoffs next year that is not a that is not you’re getting plus money on that parlay like I would not expect both those teams to make the playoffs they essentially handed the Atlanta Hawks a lottery ticket for the number one overall pick next year in order to select Eric Queen it’s the way I look at it that’s bad business so if you’re the Cavs if there’s an opportunity to take advantage of some of that bad business going on in New Orleans that’s the team if they want to trade somebody if they’re looking to make a move the Pelicans are the team that if I’m the Cavs I’d be calling and I’d be calling pretty frequently now there was a conversation about Oklahoma City this time maybe a not this time but a little bit earlier last year like 13 months ago and we talked about it on the radio this week i was filling in on 923 The Fan with Ken Karman i want to expand upon that a little bit we’re going to do that next right here on Locked on Cavs today’s show brought to you by Skiims yes we’re talking about underwear because I love to talk about underwear because my my underwear is more comfortable than your underwear because I’m wearing Skiims underwear for men i was intrigued when I heard about it you should be intrigued as you hear me as you hear this as I am talking about it you should be intrigued too because the quality top-notch the comfort top-notch the materials top-notch it is and I’m not kidding you when I say this it is the best underwear that I’ve ever worn typically I’ve stuck to the same the same style throughout my life um 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change yours too so go to skimsmen’s atkims.com so last year the Oklahoma City Thunder won 58 games they were the number one seed in the Western Conference they had a very good year i don’t know if they were necessarily expected to get to the NBA finals but they were expected at the very least to get to the Western Conference Finals last year and of course they were a young team they were a team that had not done it before shay Gil Alexander just kind of was the only guy I thought that in that postseason looked like he was ready for the moment and they failed and a lot of the conversation around them was they’re not ready that somebody like Aette Homegrren not ready jaylen Williams not ready a lot of that roster not ready and that should sound familiar because I think that’s a lot of what the conversation’s been around the Cavs for the way that their postseason ended and I was on the morning show with Ken Karman on 923 through the fan for a couple of days this week and as you might imagine we talked a lot about the Cavs because that is where my my expertise lies here but I keep thinking about this more and more and there are a lot of people that think the Cavs are you know they don’t have necessarily players that are ready to go be championship winning players and I think that’s a fair thing to say right now i do but I also keep coming back to well you’re not ready until you are and are the Cavs ready right now no i think the evidence would tell you they’re not because they had a a terribly disappointing postseason because they lost in a round they had no business losing in they won 64 games and came up brutally short in the playoffs so all that stuff is fair game and you can’t disagree with any of it because right now all they’ve done is show us that they’re not ready to win a title but because those guys are not ready right now doesn’t mean they’re not going to be ready last year 13 months ago Oklahoma City they were not ready to win a title and now they just had a parade that’s how these things work they will be in a situation where they have to prove that they’re ready next year that’s what next year is going to be about we’re not going to know about it until April so maybe they will be ready next April maybe they won’t be ready next April i don’t know but I don’t I I do think that you have to look at it and say “Well was Jaylen Williams last year ready to win a championship?” I think the answer was no was Chad Homegrren ready last year to go win a championship i think the answer was no i think you could say Sha Alexander last year was ready to win a championship in the same way that I think you could say this year Darius Garland and I think the injury certainly clouds this a lot but until you can see him prove it in the playoffs you have to say no he’s not ready to win a championship think Evan Moley is probably a little bit closer than some of those guys on OKC were last year i thought that he had a good postseason despite the injury and not looking like himself for most of that series against the Pacers but I still think you probably lean no there donovan Mitchell is ready to go win a championship the rest of those guys aren’t right now but that doesn’t mean that 12 months from now we’re having the same conversation and I don’t know that the Cavs are going to win the championship next year i’m high on them i think they’re going to be good i think the Eastern Conference is not going to be good but those guys have to go out and prove that they’re ready to win a championship maybe they will i don’t know there’s no way of knowing this but what I do know is you’re not ready until you are and maybe next year they will be ready we don’t know if they will be but we also don’t know that they won’t be either and I do think it’s a little unfair to say “Yeah those guys are just never going to be ready to win a championship.” Because I don’t think that’s going to be true i do think that for some guys and I don’t know that it’s going to be for everybody but I do think for some guys it’s going to be a situation this summer where there’s a lot of growing up because of what happened in this postseason because while they have come up short in the playoffs before I don’t think this group has experienced really anybody on this group has experienced failure quite like this one other than maybe Donovan Mitchell so when you look at that and say “Okay well they weren’t ready yet but I think they might be ready after this.” We’ll have to wait and see there’s no way to know until next May but Oklahoma City wasn’t ready to win a title until they did and the same thing might be true for the Cavs because we’re having the same conversation about the Cavs that the world had about OKC at this time last year so thank you for making Locked on Cavs your first listen today and every day you can find the show anywhere you get your podcast Apple Spotify or anywhere else make sure you drop us a fivestar rating leave us a nice review of course be a friend tell a friend about Locked on Cavs make sure you’re subscribed make sure a friend is subscribed as well i will be back first thing tomorrow we’ll be back at the normal time right here talking about what the Cavs do in the second round of the draft of course they have two picks um coming in at number 49 and number 58 so we will be talking about that tomorrow right here at Lockdown Cavs and hit that thumbs up button as we get out of here on YouTube as well

On this episode of Locked On Cavs, Danny Cunningham (The Inside Shot, 92.3 The Fan, Cleveland Magazine) examines the Cleveland Cavaliers’ options in the upcoming NBA Draft, focusing on potential second-round picks. He analyzes prospects like Chris Bosh and Jameer Watkins, discussing the benefits of draft-and-stash strategies for a championship-contending team. Cunningham explores recent trades by the New Orleans Pelicans, suggesting they might be prime targets for future Cavaliers’ trade negotiations. The host draws parallels between the Cavs and the Oklahoma City Thunder, considering the concept of team readiness for championship contention. He touches on player development, particularly for Evan Mobley and Darius Garland, and reflects on how their playoff experience might shape their growth in the coming year. Cunningham also addresses the challenges of roster management and the importance of balancing future potential with immediate team needs as the Cavaliers aim for playoff success.
Check out Danny’s Substack, The Inside Shot: https://theinsideshot.substack.com/
Email the show: LOCavsmailbag@gmail.com
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