Birds of the Week: Volume 3

Birds of the Week is a weekly column cooked up by RDE senior writer Zak Kolesar. Every Friday, Zak will dig through the depths of Twitter to find what you may have missed regarding your Cleveland Cavaliers and the League as a whole. Wondering about the name? Think of Austin Carr’s famous “bird” calling (it’s something you missed!). If you find something interesting on Twitter that you want to see discussed on this column, tweet your ideas to Zak at @ZKoltrane or @RDECavaliers. Enjoy!

Cleveland’s Birds of the Week

1. Kyrie Irving shows off his baseball skills for Cleveland Indians

It’s always fun when Cleveland sports teams support each other. This past week, Irving joined the Cleveland Indians for a day filled with batting practice, throwing around the ball, chatting it up with the team and throwing up the first pitch. In the link above you can see just how fun Kyrie’s day was and how he fared from the pitcher’s mound.

2. Because it just can’t be a normal week heading up to the draft

We had to deal with some Joel Embiid drama last week, but what went down on Thursday/early Friday added to the craziness that is the NBA Draft. With the day that the Cavs pick No. 1 overall just under a week away, Cleveland will take the next five or so days to decide if they want to take the risk and select Embiid, look long and hard at Jabari Parker and Andrew Wiggins or think of ways they could trade down in the draft and select a player like Australian guard Dion Waiters.
Some things that were popping into my head trade wise would be flipping the first pick to the Philadelphia 76ers for then potential 2013 No. 1 pick Nerlens Noel, giving the 76ers the opportunity to go all in for Embiid. With the No. 3 pick, the Cavaliers would – if the cards get dealt in their favor – be choosing between Parker and Wiggins. The Bucks have been pretty high on Parker, so having Noel and Wiggins land in the Cavs’ hands would be a dream come true for Cavs fans. Use these crackpot theories like the one above to distract you over the next few days.

3. An old piece on new Cavaliers head coach David Blatt

In case you forgot, before the 2010 World Championship, Blatt and Team U.S.A. head coach Mike Krzyzewski had some words to exchange with the legendary Duke leader. Blatt, a prideful man, sounds like a coach that Cleveland will love having on its sideline this season. Since Blatt seemed to be the least known of the many finalists mentioned for the Cavs’ head coaching job, start here by reading up on the fiery Massachusetts boy. NBA’s Birds of the Week

4. Charlotte Hornets reveal new jerseys 

And they look really nice. Aside from the traditional Hornets color scheme, there is a hornet logo located in the waistband of the shorts and the brand new Hornets logo located on the left side of the shorts. On the home jerseys, instead of the new Hornets logo, a crown with the initials for the team is featured on the left side of the shorts. The home jerseys are white dominant, the away jerseys purple dominant and the alternate jerseys light blue dominant.

5. Greatness was drafted 30 years ago this week

The documentary “The 84 Draft” aired on NBATV on June 9, but the actual anniversary of the Hall of Fame-filled class occurred this past Thursday. With just one more week to go until the 2014 NBA Draft, maybe we will see the same greatness come out of this class as we did in ’84. Check back in 12-15 years.
Make sure to stop by next week for more birds, and remember to tweet Zak at @ZKoltrane or @RDECavaliers!