2022 NBA Draft Safari

[Smooth]

Smooth, do you think Murray can play the 3? And not a Lauri-esque 3, but a legitimate NBA wing? If so, I'm definitely in on him. I admittedly haven't watched enough.

I think he falls into the scope of Harrison Barnes/Saddiq Bey/Miles Bridges/Franz Wagner/De’Andre Hunter/Pascal Siakam combo forwards that start at the 3 and play up in small ball situations — this prototype seems to be littering the NBA right now..

What you’re looking for on the wing is size and shooting, and he brings that in spades.. He should be able to withhold shuffling between both forward spots and provides and the big wing the Cavs need.. I don’t anticipate him being a + wing defender but if he can provide all the other ancillary tools he profiles as, his defense should be passable for what the Cavs need..

 

[ajz20]

Jeremy Sochan of Baylor Is interesting. His form on the jumper looks better then the results and seems to bring a ton of what Eason and Brown bring on the defensive end. It's interesting because all 3 have a similar skill set. Eason is probably ahead in terms of development but Sochan is also younger.

 

[Smooth]

Question for those advocating for Branham/Agbaji/Mathurin/Davis— where do they fit on the defensive end with this team?

There’s already Osman, LeVert, Okoro and Sexton as your 2-guards, and all the above present little defensive versatility therefore adding any of the noted draft picks creates an even bigger long jam at the 2-guard spot.. Adding any of the above just creates further defensive issues, unless any of them measure as legit wing h/w/l at the combine..

Even if you get rid of one of Osman/LeVert/Okoro/Sexton, you still run into the same issue.. If you’re wanting to fit in one of Agbaji/Branham/Mathurin/Davis, you’d need to get rid of at least two of the above current rostered players..

Question for those on the Sochan/Brown/Daniels bandwagon— did you see the difference in offense with Lauri hitting shots vs the Okoro/Rondo minutes?

This team needs spacing to allow Garland to operate, and open up the pick-and-roll with the bigs — only further condensing it creates issues.. The Cavs already have two non-elite outside shooters with Mobley/Allen, so they need to be incredibly careful not to add anymore and only add shooting to surround them..

 

[MD13]

I think he falls into the scope of Harrison Barnes/Saddiq Bey/Miles Bridges/Franz Wagner/De’Andre Hunter/Pascal Siakam combo forwards that start at the 3 and play up in small ball situations — this prototype seems to be littering the NBA right now..

What you’re looking for on the wing is size and shooting, and he brings that in spades.. He should be able to withhold shuffling between both forward spots and provides and the big wing the Cavs need.. I don’t anticipate him being a + wing defender but if he can provide all the other ancillary tools he profiles as, his defense should be passable for what the Cavs need..

Awesome. We desperately need that archetype right now. We just don't have lineup flexibility because we have no wing to play up, despite the fact that Mobley is potentially going to be a game breaking 5 in a few years when he works on his jumper and nails the dribble drive game from the perimeter.

Let me do more work on Murray now that I've got the time.

 

[cavsfever]

Yeah, we can’t afford another good defense mediocre offense player. We need not just shooters but shot creators. Unless and until Mobley takes a leap on the offensive end, our ceiling on offense is too low to compete with the top teams. Sexton might have an effect on that but it’s unclear. Not just because of the injury, but because we don’t yet know how he will fit in overall, including defensively, or how his ability to be a volume scorer on a terrible team will translate to being a go-to scorer on a good team

 

[CavsFanJapan]

May 17th, the first thing I want to hear is:
And the 14th pick in the 2022 NBA draft goes to the Charlotte Hornets

 

[Smooth]

One other thing: We know Koby relies heavily on his Team USA connections (Sexton, Okoro, Mobley, Garland have all been through the circuit)..

Guys in this draft who have been in the Team USA system--

Patrick Baldwin Jr
Johnny Davis
Jaden Ivey
Kennedy Chandler
Harrison Ingram
Peyton Watson
Wendell Moore Jr
AJ Griffin
Jabari Smith
Max Christie

 

[Randolphkeys]

One other thing: We know Koby relies heavily on his Team USA connections (Sexton, Okoro, Mobley, Garland have all been through the circuit)..

Guys in this draft who have been in the Team USA system--

Patrick Baldwin Jr
Johnny Davis
Jaden Ivey
Kennedy Chandler
Harrison Ingram
Peyton Watson
Wendell Moore Jr
AJ Griffin
Jabari Smith
Max Christie

That can also be seen as international youth connections in general. I say that because I like Team Canada's Bennedict Mathurin quite a bit, and he played against Team USA regularly.

 

[Mcreek]

Yeah, we can’t afford another good defense mediocre offense player. We need not just shooters but shot creators. Unless and until Mobley takes a leap on the offensive end, our ceiling on offense is too low to compete with the top teams. Sexton might have an effect on that but it’s unclear. Not just because of the injury, but because we don’t yet know how he will fit in overall, including defensively, or how his ability to be a volume scorer on a terrible team will translate to being a go-to scorer on a good team

We need guys that can guard the likes of Trae Young

 

[foucault87]

We need guys that can guard the likes of Trae Young

Making moves to deal with just one player isn't a good strategy. This is what we did in 2010 by flipping Big Ben for Shaq so we had a body to deal with Dwight Howard, but weakening our matchup with most of the rest of the league. Ended up biting us in the ass against Boston.

 

[MD13]

Last few hours I've been watching a lot of tape on Tari Eason as a Cavs fit, specifically: he was primarily a college 4, can he be an NBA 3, and not just a Lauri 3/4? I think absolutely yes.

Can he dribble and create offense from the perimeter? Check out the video below. There's a lot of cases of him getting the ball outside the arc and chaining together a bunch of moves to get downhill. Between the legs dribbles, crossovers, spin moves, hesis. I think absolutely he can.

He's also an amazing foul drawer and can really draw contact on his drives.


Can he defend the perimeter? I think absolutely, with the caveat that he's extremely foul prone and that will need to change. He's a bit of a wild man where he's constantly hustling and trying to do everything, which leads to a ton of reach in fouls. Was this why he was their 6th man even as the unquestioned best player, to limit his minutes? But he's extremely athletic and I think he's got the foot quickness to defend 3s and even switch onto guards.

He's also probably one of the strongest guys in this class, and I think he can defend bigs on switches for a possession here and there.

Can he shoot well from 3? Not quite sure about this one. It's a bit of a funky catapult motion from his right shoulder, although the results have been very good. It's not particularly slow so I think he'll be fine as a catch and shoot guy, but shooting off the dribble is a big question mark I think.

 

[foucault87]

Last few hours I've been watching a lot of tape on Tari Eason as a Cavs fit, specifically: he was primarily a college 4, can he be an NBA 3, and not just a Lauri 3/4? I think absolutely yes.

Can he dribble and create offense from the perimeter? Check out the video below. There's a lot of cases of him getting the ball outside the arc and chaining together a bunch of moves to get downhill. Between the legs dribbles, crossovers, spin moves, hesis. I think absolutely he can.

He's also an amazing foul drawer and can really draw contact on his drives.


Can he defend the perimeter? I think absolutely, with the caveat that he's extremely foul prone and that will need to change. He's a bit of a wild man where he's constantly hustling and trying to do everything, which leads to a ton of reach in fouls. Was this why he was their 6th man even as the unquestioned best player, to limit his minutes? But he's extremely athletic and I think he's got the foot quickness to defend 3s and even switch onto guards.

He's also probably one of the strongest guys in this class, and I think he can defend bigs on switches for a possession here and there.

Can he shoot well from 3? Not quite sure about this one. It's a bit of a funky catapult motion from his right shoulder, although the results have been very good. It's not particularly slow so I think he'll be fine as a catch and shoot guy, but shooting off the dribble is a big question mark I think.

So just based on reading this, he sounds to me like a bigger Okoro in a lot of ways. I would not at all be opposed to getting a player like that, even if it costs us Cedi or Windler to move up. Do we know anything about his intangibles and off-court stuff? How is he as a leader and team player? Does he have that Sexton grindset?

 

[ajz20]

So just based on reading this, he sounds to me like a bigger Okoro in a lot of ways. I would not at all be opposed to getting a player like that, even if it costs us Cedi or Windler to move up. Do we know anything about his intangibles and off-court stuff? How is he as a leader and team player? Does he have that Sexton grindset?

Windler has very little value. He is just not good enough to be more then a guy at the end of a bench. Would not be surprised if he ended up
Playing overseas in a couple years.

 

[foucault87]

Windler has very little value. He is just not good enough to be more then a guy at the end of a bench. Would not be surprised if he ended up
Playing overseas in a couple years.

Color me optimistic. If we can get Monte McNair drunk enough I am sure we can do Windler+Cedi for their pick.

 

[MD13]

So just based on reading this, he sounds to me like a bigger Okoro in a lot of ways. I would not at all be opposed to getting a player like that, even if it costs us Cedi or Windler to move up. Do we know anything about his intangibles and off-court stuff? How is he as a leader and team player? Does he have that Sexton grindset?

I'd argue that in many ways he's the anti-Okoro. He's trying to do everything, all the time. His mistakes are more that he takes bad shots and make decisions because he's trying to force things, but he's not the kind of guy who will pass up an open shot. Even just watching his box score plays from a few games, there are many cases where he's in good defensive position but ruins it by reaching in and fouling the guy. Being passive on either side of the ball isn't in his nature.