Sources tell cleveland.com that Akron native Chris Livingston, who is represented by Rich Paul’s Klutch Sports and surprisingly stayed in the draft despite an uneven freshman year at Kentucky, will come to town for a workout next week. Eastern Michigan’s Emoni Bates, once a ballyhooed prep star who started his college career at Memphis before transferring, is also scheduled to work out for Cleveland ahead of the draft.
The front office has invited some others, including Kansas State’s Keyontae Johnson, but he is unlikely to accept, believing he will go much higher than No. 49. Because of Cleveland’s current draft slot, many of these prospects try to limit their pre-draft exposure to places they believe they could end up. That makes it harder to line up pre-draft sessions.
The Cavs will look at all positions, experience and skillsets. Unless there is a ready-made prospect available at No. 49, they will likely target a young player with upside who can start in the G League and develop on a two-way contract -- like Isaiah Mobley.
It’s also hard to predict who will be available that deep into the draft. But Bates, Johnson, Livingston, Tristan Vukcevic, Sidy Cissoko, Marcus Sasser, Amari Bailey, Terquavion Smith, Seth Lundy, Julian Strawther are all names to keep an eye on -- if they are on the board at that time.
The Cavs could have used everything that Kevin Love theoretically brings in their first-round playoff loss against the Knicks.
www.cleveland.com