At 7 PM ET tonight on ESPN, the NBA draft airs. I’m perhaps stupidly excited about it, primarily for the likely flurry of trades I suspect will happen after the Wizards select John Wall at #1. History suggests there will be a lot of wheeling and dealing, and my prediction is that the Cavs will be involved in one way or another.
In case you haven’t been paying attention to the chatter, here’s a few Cleveland-relevant items to keep an eye out for:
1) Availability of First Round Picks
According to multiple sources, the following teams are sending signals that their first round picks are on the market for the right price: Indiana (#10 overall), New Orleans (#11 overall), Boston (#19 overall).
In addition, a few teams have multiple first round picks and would seem likely to deal one or more away. Minnesota holds #4, #16, and #23; Memphis holds #12, #25, and #28; OKC holds #18, #21, and #26; New Jersey holds #3 and #27; and Washington holds #1 and #30.
First, let’s take a step back and think about this: between them, those 5 teams I just mentioned hold 13 of the first 30 picks in the draft. I suspect that’s unprecedented but am not going to do the research to confirm.
Second, if we assume that the multi-pick teams all hold onto their highest selection (which is by no means a guarantee, but let’s run with it) and combine them with the teams open to shopping their sole first round selection, that totals 11 first-round picks potentially up for grabs tomorrow night.
If the Cavs don’t manage to snag one of those, I’ll be thoroughly surprised and more than a little disappointed. Since the end of the season, the front office has suggested that getting back into the draft will be a priority. Right now, it looks like they’ll have ample opportunity to make good on that suggestion.
2) Trade-ability of Mo + Delonte
I should start by noting that this item isn’t necessarily mutually exclusive of the previous one. But it’s difficult to say since this is all hypothetical so far.
In the case of Mo, I have no doubt that the Cavs would want to get back a draft choice. Whether or not it would be in the first round is hard to predict. I haven’t seen any chatter about Mo’s possible departure since his desperate plea to remain in Cleveland earlier today, but I believe that part of that is the usual smoke screen. If Portland really does have “strong interest,” I would be shocked if Chris Grant didn’t listen very closely to what they’re offering, even if he’s not desperate to shed Mo’s onerous contract and streaky play.
That said, Windhorst continues to maintain that the front office is much more involved in trade talks regarding Delonte than Mo. I’m going to go on a slight limb and predict that come Friday, Delonte will no longer have a locker in the Cavs’ facilities. His volatility off the court and his regression on court this past season have reduced him, sadly, to a walking $4MM in cap relief in the eyes of most GMs. (Remember, his contract expires this upcoming season, but only 500K of his $4.5MM salary is guaranteed if he’s waived by August 5th). If stable, we all know that Delonte can be a terrific contributor on the floor, but at this point I would guess that the teams who are interested in him aren’t interested for that reason. With cap space at a premium thanks to the Summer of Money and the other handful of teams really struggling financially, $4MM in savings is worth getting in the ring for.
The final thought on this point: after being humiliated by Tom Izzo’s rejection of his coaching offer, Reptile is going to want to make some kind of a splash to try to impress LeBron. Whether it’s Mo, Delonte, or some mixture of one and other players on the roster, I full expect that at least one familiar Cavaliers’ face will be bound for a new city by the end of the day tomorrow. Whether it’s a good decision or a knee-jerk reaction to past failure, though, will very much be up in the air.
3) The Wild Cards
There are no specific rumors I’m pointing to here. But as usual, there are a couple of franchises in this draft who are so jacked up that their movements are literally unpredictable. Minnesota is one; Golden State is another; Detroit and Memphis remain on the list by default; and despite Jeff Bower’s supposed competency, New Orleans becomes another because of George Shinn’s desperate need for financial relief. That’s a minimum of 5 teams that could do something totally crazy at the drop of a hat. The question becomes whether or not Chris Grant can manage to use that to his advantage.
We’ll find out in a few hours.
-T
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