LIVE NBA DRAFT WATCH PARTY: Instant Reaction to the Cleveland Cavaliers 2nd round picks
[Music] ladies and gentlemen it is night two of the NBA draft we are a pick away from the Cleveland Cavaliers being on the clock and these last couple of picks right ahead of Cleveland have been uh pretty treacherous if you have been following the guys that particularly I like here in this draft we saw Kobe Brea go at number 41 over the last couple of picks we’ve seen some other guys that I think are pretty good fits for Cleveland like Maxine Ray Nod Jamir Watkins Brooke Barnheimer Amari Williams all go in the selections before them however there are still some players available on the board that I think make a lot of sense for the Cleveland Cavaliers even if they weren’t my top choices entering the night but a couple J guys just to keep an eye on here for Cleveland we still have a pick before they’re officially on the board memphis is on the clock now even though I have no idea who that pick actually belongs to but guys like John Tan from Wisconsin Eric Dixon from Villanova Vlad Golden the big man from Michigan Victor Lanin the center from Clemson Hunter Salis a do-it- all guard from Wake Forest Ryan Nemhard the younger brother of Andrew Nemhard the point guard from Gonaga Jackson Robinson from Kentucky Bryce Williams from Nebraska Will Richard from Florida all a couple names that I think have at least some sort of interest here jani Broom went off the clock earlier he was a player that was mocked to Cleveland he got taken with the 35th pick in the draft but guys it has been an up and down second round after the first few picks I was feeling pretty good about the Cavs chances to land one of the top three targets on my round two wish list for Cleveland and as the night went on and on and on those guys got fewer and further between the deputy commissioner is on the clock right now announcing Memphis’s pick and with the 48th pick Memphis took Javon Small out of West Virginia which means the Cavaliers are officially on the clock according to ESPN now this is just one prospect ranking list the best players available right now for the Cavaliers are Alex Tuhi the forward out of Australia John Tan the guardforward out of Wisconsin Tyrese Proctor the de facto point guard for the Duke Blue Devils this season Eric Dixon the undersized center from Villanovavva and Vladisvier uh Vladislav Golden the anything but undersized center from Michigan couple other guys like I just mentioned i really like Hunter Salis but I feel like that’d be a reach at this point if Kobe Alman wants to go with the best pure point guard left on the board that would be Ryan Nemhard who is undersized but led the country in assist this season i like Bryce Williams out of Nebraska a 65 66 guard averaged 20 points a game a capable three-point shooter but not that athletic not great physical tools not that explosive i’m not sure if it translates if it was up to me I would go personally with John Tan or Vlad Golden those would be the two guys I prefer here with the 49th pick but Kobe Alman does a lot of different things that we can use to predict who this pick will be uh of the 12 second round picks that Kobe Alman’s made as the general manager or technically director of basketball operations of the Cleveland Cavaliers of those 12 picks eight have been guys that worked out for the Cavs only four have been guys that they didn’t work out in the pre-draft process so if you want to follow that trend you can narrow down the list a little bit but if it was me with 2 minutes and 50 seconds on the clock I think I would make John Tan the guard out of Wisconsin who had a incredible game in the NCAA tournament i believe he scored 40ome points in the NCAA tournament maybe just shy but he’s 6’5 215 uh a solidly built wing aggressive he’s 24 years old so he’s older not sure what his ceiling is but he did shoot 39% from three and he did score 41 points against Arizona in one of the highest scoring marks of the entire collegiate season uh oh ESPN says the pick is in as soon as I see the deputy commissioner take to the stage I’m going to turn the volume up so I can hear who the selection is tanj by the way Jay Bilis’s third ranked prospect on the board hunter Salis another guy I mentioned his sixth ranked prospect ryan Nemhard his eighth ranked prospect if you see me looking this way that’s because my TV is over in that corner so it’s not that I am distracted by myself i’m just trying to figure out what is going on and who the Cleveland Cavaliers will pick the Cavs also have the 58th pick in this draft i’m surprised they didn’t use those two picks to try and move up we saw Phoenix we saw the Lakers we saw a couple teams Orlando packaged four second round picks to move way up in the draft i was curious if Cleveland was in on some of those discussions and just decided not to pull the trigger but seeing the players available right now versus some of the players who were available at 41 42 43 in the high 30s which is where some of those other teams were able to trade up to i’m a bit surprised that at least they didn’t and here’s the Cavs selection the Cavs have selected Tyrese Proctor the guard out of Duke with the 49th selection in the NBA draft i’m going to read you guys the ESPN scouting report on Tyrese Proctor he was the 43rd overall ranked prospect in this draft according to the ESPN draft analysis page the strengths according to Proctctor who is a 6’4 185-lb guard proctor is a is a sweet shooting guard who played multiple roles at the college level showcasing his ability to function on and off the ball weaknesses with a thin frame that didn’t physically evolve much in college and average physical tools he has long lacked a degree of assertiveness and physicality on both ends especially in high stakes moments the verdict according to ESPN Proctor’s positional size improvement as a spot-up shooter and flashes of ability create out of pick and roll across his three collegiate seasons are intriguing but he never quite turned the corner as a true point guard he will have to add toughness to have a meaningful role off the ball at the NBA level so there it is tyrese Proctctor the guard out of Duke better or worse when I think of Tyrese Proctor the first thing I think about is in that Final Four game against Houston with the Blue Devils in the lead Proctor decided to keep the ball for himself instead of passing it on to Khan Caniple or Cooper Flag he got fouled and he missed the free throw which then allowed Houston to take the lead and end up winning that game it’s just the last thing I remember from Tyrese Proctor i did watch a good bit of Duke this season i always thought Proctor should have been better than he was now I’m g have to do a deep dive he wasn’t someone I had circled on my list i’ll be honest I didn’t love him at Duke i thought he was outshined by some of the bigger names on the team which look at the draft status of three of those guys four of them have already been selected sean James Cooper Flag Kanipple uh Malawak the big man so he had to play a certain role to fit in with those guys he was the veteran leader on the team and he’s certainly a seasoned prospect playing three years at Duke before coming over to the Cleveland Cavaliers but he gives them another ball handler another shooter a guard with decent size he’s 6’4 but as you heard from ESPN lacks a little bit of the physicality so even though he’s taller isn’t necessarily the greatest defender espn’s giving a little highlight package of him right now and he certainly is a good shooter off the dribble in the pullup he’s got good feel he’s no stranger to taking big shots i would love to see him make bigger shots not a great free throw shooter which is always a bit of a concern for a you know a guard you want him to be an elite free throw shooter i’ll look up the exact numbers right now but I do not believe he was an elite free throw shooter throughout his collegiate career um but overall it’s it w it wasn’t my preferred choice but I don’t think it was a bad choice for his career he averaged 10.8 points three rebounds three assists shot 42% from the floor 36 from three and was 77% from the line this season though just 68% from the line so that’s not nearly good enough to uh make it as a lead guard in the NBA from the free throw line but for his career 77% his two seasons prior he was 8775 this year 68 but he never shot more than two free throw attempts per game for his career just 1.8 free throw attempts per game so it’s a much smaller more limited uh smaller more limited sample size than someone who is a big- time shooter but not exactly excuse me I got a text to read not exactly a a pick that’s going to cause the fan base to go crazy but also I don’t think it’s a bad pick the Cavs needed another ball handler a we don’t know the certainty of Ty Jerome or Sam Merrill coming back we saw what happened in the playoffs when Darius Garland was hurt ty Jerome wasn’t playing up the standard sam Merrill wasn’t capable of breaking Indiana’s press isaac Aoro was able to break the press a few times but at the end of the day they simply did not have enough ball handlers and when you look at Tyrese Proctor you add him into the mix with Craig Porter Jr And if they bring back Ty Jerome then him as well into a three guard kind of competition for that backup and secondary backup point guard spot is Proctor better than Craig Porter Jr i maybe he can be one day i I kind of like what Craig Porter Jr brings to the table more than I like Tyrese Proctor but at least he’s a guy with some size a good shooter gives you a little more offensive flexibility and spacing than a Craig Porter Jr even if even if he’s nowhere near the defender that Craig Porter Jr is and frankly I don’t think he’s the distributor Craig Porter Jr is so I’m going to read some comments real quick let’s get some of your guys thoughts on uh on the Tyrese Proctor pick and then we will get ready for the 58th pick which is now just seven picks away because the Knicks just made their selection they took Kobe Sanders out of Nevada but uh let’s see what we got let’s see what we got die to live says “Great we drafted someone who fades to black when the stakes are high.” Black Dog Five says “Drafted another mouse.” He’s 6’4 he’s not a mouse he’s not a mouse so Thomas said “Why a guard a you can never have enough guards b at this point of the draft if they thought he was the best player available you take the best player available.” I mean in the second round the likelihood of any of these guys becoming a big-time contributor especially right away is is incredibly low i mean hell Jaylen Tyson was the 20th pick in last year’s draft and he could barely crack the Cavs rotation this is a guy being taken 29 spots later than where Jaylen Tyson was drafted yesterday last year so I wouldn’t expect whoever they took to be an immediate rotation guy for Cleveland so if they like the upside then you take the upside right there uh Edwin Taylor said “No big man.” Again Mr king another small guard i don’t think he’d be considered small i don’t think he’d be considered small he’s not a big guard but he’s certainly not 61 6’2 uh KW Outdoors says “Who gets dumped Ty or Sam?” I don’t think they have the money to bring back both so I think it’s either either or excuse me i I think Ty Jerome’s the priority sam would be a little cheaper but I I would guess if it was up to me right now at 9:53 PM on Thursday June 26 I would guess that Sam hits free agency the Cavs resign Ty Jerome uh let’s see let’s see kw said “I just wanted the tallest guy available.” Evan 419 says he’s 6’5 on a bad day so the one thing about Proctor is he’s listed at 6’4 on ESPN he’s listed at 65 on Pro Basketball Reference he has kind of a mini afro so I wonder depending on what they were measuring exactly had so uh Creative Juice says the athletic mock had him going 37th to Detroit for what it’s worth uh died to Live says can’t hit free throws makes poor decisions ricky Davis 2.0 evan 409 says 21 years old he joined Duke really early that is true he came straight out of an Australian basketball academy his high school on pro basketball references listed as NBA Global Academy meaning he took the unconventional route matthew Gerber says “I love the pick.” Uh Elliot Clawson says he can’t be a ball handler with those free throw stats dog B says better take anyone over 610 with the next pick thomas says guessing he will be with the charge yeah I I would assume he starts the season with the charge guys like this they need reps and he’s just not simply going to get reps at the NBA level with all the guards they already have so I think Proctor and whoever they take with the 58th pick if he’s not a draft and stash guy would start next season with the Chargers who by the way got a brand new logo i’m not sure if you guys think you like the logo or not i actually do kind of like it i’ve never seen a G-League rebrand without completely changing the name of the team but I like the new logo uh let’s see let’s see kw Outdoors says “You have to take a big with the next pick.” Adam Baker says “41% threes and a ball handler.” Nice yeah he listen Proctor can certainly play like make no mistake this is not a a bad player he was an allACC player he made the AllAcc team this season he made the AllACC freshman team two years ago he made the allac tournament team in his three seasons at Duke he averaged 9 and a half 10 and a half and 12 and a half points per game he got better each year as a shooter 32% from three as a freshman 35% as a sophomore 40 and a half% this year on six attempts per game he was arguably their second best shooter behind Khan Canipple this season duke ran a lot of offense for him they wanted him to be more of a traditional point guard i still think he’s more of an offensive creator than he is a traditional point guard which is not necessarily a bad thing and there goes Mo Dawara the guy I said to circle for Cavs fans he went to the Los Angeles Clippers with the 51st pick in the draft he was one of my sleepers uh he is officially off the board the only in Cleveland says “I thought he was 66.” Okay the NBA has an issue i I legitimately have an issue with how the NBA does this at the combine they measure players without shoes in the actual game programs on ESPN they list them with their with shoe height we just need to standardize this pick one or the other it doesn’t matter if you want to go no shoes make everyone go no shoes if you want to go shoes tell everyone that they have shoes on it makes no sense that you see some draft guides and previews and scouting reports list them with their combine measurements in this case Tyresese Proctor was 6’4 with no shoes on he’s probably 6’5 65 and a half 66 with shoes on and socks just pick one i don’t really care which one we pick but pick one rob K says “I don’t mind this proctor is a tall combo guard with great passing vision who has sharpened his jumper and become an even better defender.” Listen I’m not sure defense is his strength i’m not sure defense is his strength it He can score i like his offensive ability but if you went back and watched Duke last year teams were kind of hunting Proctor now you could say that’s because they had Malawak 10th overall pick Kanipple 67 fourth overall pick cooper Flag the number one overall pick seion James who’s a defensive mastermind they had a lot of really good defensive players on Duke so maybe he was the least good of the good defenders but I also don’t think he’s incredibly athletic so uh it it doesn’t surprise me it It doesn’t surprise me um let’s see what else julie uh Jelly Judith says “Let’s get Vlad too.” He’s still on the board another small guard mismatches in the back court you see a 65 is not small 65 is not small okay is he giant no is he a little skinny yes but he’s not small he’s absolutely not small ryan Nemhard who could have potentially been the pick and may still be in play at 58 is sub6 foot that’s a small guard proctor’s not big but he’s certainly not a small guard what’s some of the reaction to this uh on Twitter i have yet to see any Twitter because I was clearly talking to you guys let’s see what my my guy Lucas says over at uh realcavsfans.com he says Kobe keeps up his trend of younger players proctor less than 21 and a quarter years old he also tends to like higher level recruits at the guard spot proctor was in the 97th ranked uh percentile of recruits 88% of his picks have been allconer and Proctor for being 6’4 6’5 66 whatever the actual height is he has a 67 and a half wingspan so he’s got longer arms than he is necessarily tall which I always appreciate in a guard especially if you don’t have uh elite height proctor uh he was valued higher for the record so everyone who says it’s a bad pick we’ll find out it’s so hard to evaluate second round picks good or bad but consensus wise he was a top 40 prospect the Cavs got at number 40 so you could look at it in that sense uh I’m I’m kind of meh on the pick i’m I’m gonna be totally honest with you don’t I don’t love it i don’t hate it my initial thought is that he’s basically your Sam Mer replacement he’s basically your Sam Mer replacement so um if you’re willing to lose and accepting the fact that you’re going to lose Sam Merrill in free agency because you can’t resign Ty Jerome and Sam Merrill then you just drafted a guy who you think in a year or two could maybe be Sam Merrill and when we did my top five players I wanted the Cavs to draft before this draft like we did it on Wednesday on UCSS I had Kobe Bray who ended up going 41 as my number one prospect why because I thought he could plug and play in Sam Merrill’s role expecting the Cavs to lose Merryill in free agency i certainly like Brham more than I liked Tyrese Proctor i like John Tan more than I liked Tyrese Proctctor but that doesn’t mean Proctor can’t be good and can’t fill that role what you got to look for in a second round pick if you’re not going to do a draft and stash guy is does player X have one tangible NBA caliber skill that we feel confident can translate from college to the pros and I’m assuming Kobe Alman looked at Tyresese Proctor and if nothing else said that jump shot will translate i’ll take his word for it comes from a high pedig pedigree a successful high school developmental program three years at Duke under John Shy they’ve certainly produced their fair share of high quality players but we’ll see it wouldn’t have been my first pick but I don’t hate the pick i understand where Kobe Alman’s coming from i understand the the hole and the need that a Tyrese Proctor could fill especially if Sam Merrill does not return and then if Ty Jerome doesn’t return then you have a shortage of ball handlers and that’s where a guy like Proctor comes into play let’s look at the next couple of picks here for the Cavs because Utah is about to make their pick at 53 which means Cleveland is just five picks away from making their second and final selection in this 2025 NBA draft according to the ESPN let’s see who Utah takes their pick is in right now the deputy commissioner is at the podium and they took John Tan the guard from Wisconsin I was just referencing so he’s off the board at 53 which means according to the ESPN draft tracker and that’s just one there are plenty of different player rankings you can look at and figure out who you like best the top 10 players remaining with the Cavs five picks away are Eric Dixon from Villanova Vlad Golden from Michigan Lachlan Olrich from Australia Victor Lockan from Clemson Dink Pate the Mexican City Guard Hunter Salis from Wake Forest RJ Lewis from St john’s Ryan Nemhardt from Gonaga Chucky Hepburn from Louisville and then two Alabama players to close it out in Mark Sears and Grant Nelson mark Sears was an all-American the lefty that plays a lot like Jaylen Brunson not sure if he has a Brunson type NBA career ahead of him but if you watch Mark Sears in college he certainly did look a lot like the Knicks leading scoreer uh excuse me out of those guys the two names that I three names that I I like the most uh I like Hunter Salis i just think he has a way to make a living in the NBA as a role guy nothing special but he is thin at only 185 pounds but he’s 6’4 with a 610 wingspan fearless offensively he shot 41% from three two years ago it dropped to 28% this year 33% for his overall career but he’s just a gamer it’s a guy that in big moments made his best plays they took a guard already so I would say Vlad Golden the 71 255-lb center from Michigan at this moment would probably be my preferred pick for the Cavs i would not have minded if Cleveland took him with the 49th pick if they could get him at 58 even better but he is a giant man-made 255 pound rim running shot blocking kind of I don’t want to say badass but enforcer like no one really messed with Vlad Golden over the course of his collegiate career he was on that FAU team that reached the Final Four two years ago he transferred to Michigan they made a sweet 16 this year at Michigan and Bryce Williams is still on the board if they want to go with another wing the 66 guard out of Nebraska can really shoot the three ball not the most explosive player in the world but he certainly could uh certainly could play we still got a few ways to go i wish I wish I had someone else to hop in here with i wish Ty Let’s see what Ty is doing hold on see if I get Tyus in here real quick just texted Tyus we’ll see if we get Tai in here uh but no Vlad Golden right now with with five picks left would be my guy indiana’s on the clock right now they have Andrew Nemhard i think they’ll take Ryan Nemhard his little brother tyresese Hallebran’s out for the year they need a point guard i mean they have a bunch of guys that can kind of fill in you have McConnell and I’m not saying Nemhar would play right away but you never know another guy that could help led the country with 10 assists per game this year i’m looking at Jay Bilis’s top 10 list he has Nehard as his fourth best player available he had Hunter Salis the guy I like as his second best player available bryce Williams his seventh best available player dink Pate at number 10 r.j lewis and Mark Sears round out his top 10 guys give me a let me know what you think in the chat the Tyrese Proctor pick give me a grade abcdf we’ll read some comments but ABCDF let me know what you guys think on the Tyrese Proctor uh selection a Cavs took the Duke guard with the 49th pick in the draft i’m guessing he starts in the GLeague but who knows could show out in training camp if Darius is hurt that opens up another spot early on for Proctor to potentially get some minutes and uh it certainly feels like the Cavs had a plan going into this that they didn’t feel like the gap between the mid30s and where they were selecting at 49 was that drastic and I guess I guess I’m purely speculation i guess that’s why they tried not to package their two picks and move up in the draft i I am genuinely curious and I’m sure we’ll get a chance to ask Kobe Alman in the coming days if they had those discussions if that was something the team in the front office at least discussed as a possibility before taking Tyrese Proctor because as I mentioned earlier we saw Phoenix trade up two second round picks to get up earlier in the draft we saw Orlando trade four second round picks to move up in the draft it was up on the table two second round picks were able to get you 10 15 spots higher in this second round the Cavs decided not to do it will it work out we’ll find out but uh let’s get over some of these Tyresese Proctor grades isaac S says B matthew Gerber says B mr king with the D chris Lowry with the C brian Wessle with the B bra Antonio with the D the Pigeon with the B dj Lord Jazz with the C we have a B here excuse me be here from No Bev a D from Eric Clawson K Dude with a B KW Outdoors with a C I with a C minus Creative Juice with a B Thomas with a C Drama City with a C uh Brett C minus where’s the toughness G Boogie B+ Ty uh Tyra five Taylor Carter by the way the pick out of Liberty for the Pacers black Dog five with a C plus Jason with an F rd Castro with an A++ plus Brett says they said he gets a roster spot does that mean a 12man roster spot or a 15-man roster spot i don’t I don’t have the um I don’t have the sound on obviously so if they said something I totally missed it let me text let me text Luca and ask if I missed what he said but there is a Hold on live stream now did they say Proctor gets a roster spot or a two-way i’ll let you know what he said in case I in case I missed it my guy Luke is on that stuff he uh he doesn’t miss but yeah it seems like the consensus from you guys is somewhere in the C++ B minus range i probably give it a B like I said he’s a guy that was a little higher in the consensus big board rankings than 49 dropped a little bit it’s so hard to um It’s so hard to tell sorry I’m I’m reading text from Bull he’s asking me about this guy tell him to tune into the live stream hey listen consensus in the second round is useless to look at every team values players differently once you get past that top 15 top 16 let’s say top 20 just to be safe there’s no real consensus it’s what teams want it’s skill sets teams want kobe Alman as we mentioned earlier he likes younger players high school recruits guys that were productive in college specifically guys that have made all conference teams teams value especially in the second round certain traits and skill sets and intangible things so much higher than other teams and there’s not a right or wrong way to do it uh one of the things that if you could measure I think would be measured and will be measured and weighted incredibly high is competitiveness and myself anyone out there who’s not in those individual workouts and those individual interviews it’s so hard to gauge how truly competitive a kind of player is on the one hand I hated the fact that Tyrese Proctor did not pass the ball to Coniple or Cooper Flag in that final four game against Houston decided to take it into his own hands he missed the free throw but at the same time I kind of love the fact that he had the balls to be like “This dude’s going to be the first overall pick in the draft this guy’s going to be a lottery pick no I’m the one i’m I’m the veteran i’m the leader i’m the one that should be taking these free throws it obviously backfired but on the one hand I kind of like that irrational confidence now if he does that in an NBA game when Donovan and Darius and Evan and those guys are the ones he’s turning down then I’ll rip my hair out and go absolutely bananas but I kind of like the move in college even if it’s in a Final Four game and it backfired I like the irrational confidence from a second round guy it shows a little bit of extra competitiveness that you know you may not get an insight to without those little moments so Tyresese Proctor’s the pick i give it a B it’s not overly exciting it wouldn’t be who I would have taken but I I understand the vision i understand the reasoning if you think of it as a long-term Sam Merrell replacement I I think you could talk yourself into it merryill was listed at 6’4 proctor is taller than Meill he’s got a longer wingspan than Merrill will he ever be the caliber three-point shooter Sam Marrow was maybe maybe not but 40% on six attempts this year at Duke certainly says the kid can shoot he’s not going to be coming into a situation where he’s intimidated by the moment knowing that he just played at the biggest stage ever in front of the thousands of Cameron crazies and the NCAA tournaments all the games they play at MSG the ACC tournament three years in the NCAA tournament like I said so I I I see the vision i see the vision i don’t love the fact that physicality is a bit of an issue for him you know you talk about Darius and Donovan if they were going to go with another guard I wanted to see a guy that had some some elite athleticism just to kind of counterbalance the skill sets they already have on the roster but I’m not sure if that guy was available at this pick you know the 49th pick you’re you’re drafting from a limited pool you only have so many options you have to make the best out of what’s available and I’d be lying to tell you guys as I look at ESPN’s top available i’m not sure there’s a guard out there i mean Hunter Salis is but he he’s not a shooter he’s not an offensive weapon that’s simply a defensive pick not sure if there’s a guard out there jackson Robinson maybe maybe from Kentucky that’s like a surefire no doubt nobrainer perfect compliment alongside a Darius and a Donovan one guy I thought who could have been if he was available and I was surprised to see him go so high was uh Elijah Martin from Florida who ended up going 39th overall the ninth pick in the second round cam Jones was a guy I liked as well he went the pick before the eighth pick in the second round and Chaz Laneir another shooter not much of a defensive guy he went with the seventh pick in the second round 37th to the Detroit Pistons from Toronto via Dallas that whole kind of confusing crazy three-part uh pick swap that eventually landed uh Chaz Laneir so Elijah Martin was a guy or Micah Peavey for example who went 40th that had they been on the board I would have been standing up screaming from the top of the mountains this guy has to be in a Cavaliers uniform the physical skill set they bring to the table would have been able to complement Darius and Donovan and given you that pest that physical onball defense that uh those two don’t necessarily provide on a night innight basis but looking at who was available when they picked I’m not sure anyone frankly really did that i like John Tan but it wasn’t like he did that i’d be lying to say I know a lot about Tayen Peter out of Liberty maybe he does maybe he doesn’t i I’d be lying to say I know a whole lot kobe Sanders has the size he’s 67 but he’s got a negative wingspan limited athleticism and got torched on defense just because you’re big doesn’t mean you’re a good defender he’s a pretty good playmaker and passer but you know Proctor was the 43rd ranked prospect on ESPN the 37th ranked prospect on the Athletic he had some fans that got the 49th pick so I do think it is pretty decent value there for the Cavs and I I think long-term he is your eventual Sam Merrill replacement is that this year is that next year is that ever we’ll find out how quickly he can progress but um he’s got a chance he’s got a chance cavs are up next by the way the Memphis Grizzlies just made their pick which means Orlando’s on the clock with the 57th selection cavs are back on the clock with the 58th selection so let’s take a couple more comments here per Majoot says Kobe’s going to die in the hill that small backcourts can win a chip in today’s NBA nate says in Kobe we trust die to live says we need more three-point shooters okc and the Pacers are blueprint for building roster and style of play well if three-point shooting is your concern then that is absolutely a pick that you should be uh in favor of wade Brier says “Nice pick let’s go uh let’s see let’s see let’s see never Bloom says “Who do you want to see the Cavs take at 58?” Vlad Golden right now would be my pick uh Adam Baker I agree vlad time big backup that is who I would go with right now of the best available players he’s in the top three on just about every board you look at i would have liked him at 49 like if he was the guy they took at 49 I would have been absolutely 1,000% on board and said “I like that pick.” And if you give at 58 even better him and Hunter Salis would be the two guys that if I was making the selection if I was the president of basketball operations of the Cleveland Cavaliers that is who I would target with this 58 pick depending on who Memphis and Orlando eventually take i can’t believe Memphis’s pick isn’t in yet they keep saying it’s in i keep getting the alert the pick is in and they keep not announcing it it was stupid we had a second day of the draft anyway like let’s be honest guys uh in the comments let me know do you like the second day of the draft should this have just been a one night event we have just gotten all 60 picks first round and second round done in one night they made it a two- round event last year to accommodate Bronnie James because they knew they had a name that would drive second round ratings i don’t think the ratings this year are going to be anywhere near what we saw last year when Bronnie James went was it the 53rd pick the 55th pick to the Lakers uh here comes a deputy commissioner ready to make the announcement on Memphis’s pick at 56 taking his sweet old time hey we got streams to do we got beds to sleep in man let’s let’s get this growing we don’t need a three-hour round two after they started the draft 20 minutes late the draft was supposed to start at 8 they officially went on the clock with the first pick of the second round at 8:20 which is crazy like why do we need 20 minutes to preview what we just previewed all day like we spent all day the Grizzlies took Will Richard the guard out of Florida by the way who uh just won the national championship richard not much of a shooter but an athletic uh versatile guard it’s a decent pick decent pick he’s super high uh super hot and cold i mean when he’s bad he’s bad when he’s good he’s real good that is a complete up and down but I just don’t think we need two nights of the NBA draft i don’t 60 picks is not a lot second round should be three minutes each let’s go boom boom boom boom boom like keep it moving and we should be able to knock this out in one night i understand why they did it last year for the Bronny James phenomena gave them crazy numbers but I mean let’s be honest there’s no Bronny James in the second round of this draft do you think anyone’s getting excited to find out where Eric Dixon of all people go or RJ Lewis Jr like no it doesn’t have the same appeal it doesn’t have the same swag it doesn’t have the same uh intrigue from a national audience so Orlando’s on the clock right now even though I believe this pick ends up going to the Boston Celtics another thing I’m going to complain for a second while I wait for the Caps to get on the clock can ESPN just change the name of who’s picking to the team that’s actually picking like Orlando traded those four second round picks to move up to 32 boston got those four second round picks so this is truly Boston’s pick even though it’s technically Orlando selection this player will be going into the Boston system why can’t ESPN just update it to put Boston on the board and for these guys who are in the green room who go up and shake the deputy commissioner’s hand and yesterday who shake Adam Silver’s hand why do we ruin the moment by having them wear a hat that they know they’re not going to play for like for example Malawak the 10th pick in last night’s draft took a picture in a Houston Rockets hat that pick was traded to the Phoenix Suns the Phoenix Suns made that pick malawak should be taking that picture in a Phoenix Suns hat the NFL draft does it why in the world can’t the NBA figure that out it It shouldn’t be that complicated it shouldn’t be that hard it’s not like it’s a rocket science if we can figure it out on Twitter and we can change it on ESPN.com is it really that hard to change it on the ESPN graphics the Chiron machine listen never worked for ESPN i’ve never done a live draft so maybe it is maybe I’m talking out of my ass i have no idea but it doesn’t seem like that should be that hard of an issue to change because earlier tonight I got duped kobe Bryer was drafted and it said it was a Golden State selection and I had the sound on i was like “Oh my god they’re getting Klay Thompson to pair up with Steph Curry.” Now he’s not the caliber of defensive player he’s not the athlete Klay Thompson was but in terms of just shooting it’s like “Oh my the best shooter in the drafts now joining the best shooter in the history of the world.” only to be reminded that that pick was traded to Phoenix earlier in the night but they didn’t say it on the screen all right the Magic are on the clock and the deputy commissioner commissioner is at the podium making the announcement with the 57th pick in the draft the Orlando Magic have selected drum roll please Max Schulga out of VCU another guy I thought uh would have been a good pick if the Cavs were looking for a bigger guard with a little bit of offensive prowess he was the A-10 player of the year this year but that means the Cavs are on the clock guys drop in the comments who do you want the Cavs to take with the 58th pick i want Vlad Golden i’m I’m planting my flag officially on Vlad Golden Island he is in my opinion not only the best player available but he fills a need for this Cleveland Cavaliers roster they need a backup big i’m over the Dean Wade DeAndre Hunter as my backup big experiment let’s get a real sevenfooter with a little bit of physicality who can give Evan and Jarrett some spot minutes if needed i love Tristan Thompson a great guy to have in a locker room but you cannot count on Tristan Thompson to play minutes in valuable games and I’m not saying that if they take Vlad Golden or if they take any center here that that player will be able to step up early in his career and play in these big time moments but you have to start developing him at some point and it feels like this season if the Cavs are as good as we think they can be again they’re going to be in a lot of blowouts which means a lot of fourth quarter minutes to go around for a young rookie a backup big something this roster just currently doesn’t have i’m going to read you the Vlad Golden uh measurables again because I am just going to try and speak this into existence what did Lavar Ball say i’m going to speak it into existence well I am going to speak Vlad Golden into experience i keep seeing some people say Eric Dixon so Eric Dixon did work out for the Cavs he was the leading scoreer in all of college basketball last season he’s listed at 68260 my question to the people who want Eric Dixon how many guys that play with their back to the basket as a low post center who aren’t really three-point shooters succeeded in the league at 68 it is so rare it is so few and far between and he’s not a great defensive player it’s kind of heavy-footed can he succeed maybe like he’s a really really talented offensive scorer but being a 68 offensive scorer in the Big East is a lot different than being a 68 offensive scorer in the NBA the ESPN ticker says the Cavs pick is in it is a matter of seconds now until we get who that selection is who who that selection is but the pick is in the Cavs did not use their entire clock to make this selection which tells me they had a guy circled that guy was available and the Cavs are going to get the guy they wanted with the 58th pick we’ll find out who that is any second now as we wait to see the deputy commissioner come back on screen to announce the pick but some of the options Eric Dixon Vlad Golden Victor Lockan Dink Pate Hunter Salis Ryan Nemhard all options for Cleveland right now I’m planting my flag on Vlad Golden Island i am not getting off Vlad Golden Island uh wine and Golden i like that black Dog Five that is a very very very catchy nickname there uh DJ Newell says “I’ll trade Garland for Suggs and Anthony Black.” Uh that is off the table not going to happen anymore so uh we could unfortunately drop any trade rumors it’s just it’s not the Darius trade ain’t coming right now especially for uh Suggs so let’s see who they take this is the longest pick is in of all time we are waiting anxiously we’ve been live streaming now for 45 minutes of me talking to myself i appreciate you guys for tuning in we got 750 people in here right now for a round two live draft stream hopefully I was able to give you guys some information that will make you smarter at the water cooler tomorrow and we are asking or when you are asked what they think about the Cavs second round picks we are still waiting for this selection to come in i want Vlad Golden i’m going to die on the hill he’s not as talented as an overall player as Eric Dixon but I don’t think Eric Dixon brings something to the table that the Cavs particularly need they don’t need a low post throw it in get out the way score and I’m not sure guys at 68 translate i’m I’m sorry i just don’t think 68 centers work in today’s NBA you go back to like Dewan Blair like great college players not great NBA players vlad Golden may not have the ceiling but he certainly has the upside and here’s the deputy commissioner so I’m going to turn the sound up on my TV stand by and it ends up being a draft and stash salu Niang is the pick with the 58 selection he was mocked to the Cavaliers earlier in the draft he is a 68 200lb guardwing from Sagal i’ll read you the strengths the weaknesses and the verdicts from ESPN’s Jonathan Gavon he was the guy that was mocked in multiple mocks the Athletic and ESPN for Cleveland uh earlier today so I’m going to text real quick real quick let me text my guy and ask about Saluda all right according to ESPN the strengths and weaknesses of Salude Dang the Cavs new draft and stash wing strengths uh one of my Western Conference guys said “I’ve never heard of him before.” Well that’s that that’s a great start that’s a great start uh strengths niang is a physically gifted wing on an impressive trajectory who emerged from uh obscurity and developed into an impactful player in the Italian League and the Euro Cup for Trento weaknesses his offensive profile is questionable as he has little shooting range hitting 11 threes in 45 games while posting more turnovers than assists the verdict: Nyang’s defensive versatility rebounding and intensity enabled him to contribute against highle competition this season finding ways to contribute on both ends despite lacking significant offensive polish he’ll likely have to find some type of shooting range to have any chance of playing a role in the NBA but he has the upside to tap into based on the improvement he has shown over the past two seasons a draft and stash guy a draft and stash guy which frankly was to be expected um with Vlad with Vlad Golden sitting on the the table there I thought okay it’s worth taking him because he’s a guy that I think could contribute right away not a big role but 10 minutes a game fill a few minutes of foul trouble if needed salu Niang will not be a guy that is contributing right away i would be absolutely shocked to see him with the NBA Cavs next season i’m not even sure if he’s a charge guy next season and he may be a draft and stash guy for a couple years like they did with Luke Travers who stayed another year in Australia before coming over or Khalifa Jop who played overseas before coming over to America strengths physically gifted wing player with an impressive trajectory who emerged and developed into a packactful developed into an impactful player in the Italian league weaknesses he can’t shoot and he turns the ball over more than he more than he has assists versatility rebounding intensity high energy guy allowed him to play but that’s about all I got i I’ll be totally honest i I knew he was a possibility but the general consensus on Salyang is he is two three four years away from being anywhere near an NBA contributor he’s young i mean he’s he’s he’s really young according to ESPN uh that did not take me where I wanted it to take me let me do a salang real quick he’s 21 years old so young he’s projected second round pick so I mean he’s he’s in that territory i I don’t have a lot of thoughts on Sal i’ll be honest i wanted Vlad Golden Bull called it technically i mean he read a mock draft and that’s what they had but yeah he was I I mean he was the most consensiously mocked guy to the Cavs at the 58th pick and whoever had that uh whoever had that information was clearly right because the Athletic Jonathan Gavon of ESPN they all had Sally Yunyang as the guy for the Cavs at 58 i see a lot of players a lot of people in the chat upset with the pick uh listen I would have taken Flag Golden i’ll be totally honest i would have taken Flag Golden i think he could have played tomorrow but technically he is now a undrafted free agent and the Cavs could still sign him so we’ll see before it’s before the overreaction occurs let’s wait to see who the Cavaliers bring in as undrafted free agents that’s how they found Craig Porter Jr a couple years ago it’s how they ended up getting guys uh was Dean Wade a second round pick dean Way was an undrafted free agent one of two I forget but they’ve done a pretty good job actually of turning undrafted free agents into at least G-League guys who may one day contribute on the NBA level so overall with the 49th pick the Cavs take Tyrese Proctor with the 58th pick they take Salu Niang proctor projects as a Sam Melo replacement niang projects as a draft and stash long-term investment for the Cavs who could be at one day a long athletic wing that this roster desperately needs but we are two three years at minimum away from seeing Sally Sally Niang in an NBA uniform we’ll have more reaction tomorrow on the Ultimate Cleveland Sports Show but my voice needs a break and I got to go to bed so we’ll see you guys tomorrow on UCSS i appreciate all 800 of y’all for tuning in and uh we’ll give some draft grades out tomorrow morning i appreciate y’all and we’ll see you tomorrow peace [Music]
The Cleveland Cavaliers didn’t have a first round pick in this year’s NBA Draft but they have two Round 2 picks. Who will the Cavs take at #49 & #58?
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