Cavs: Draft reportedly similar to HC search is encouraging to hear

It seems as though there are tons of possibilities when it comes to the 2019 NBA Draft for the Cleveland Cavaliers, which is similar to how their head coaching search was, as reporters have touched on.

The Cleveland Cavaliers have the fifth and 26th overall picks in the 2019 NBA Draft, thanks to their unfortunate lottery draw (as we’ve discussed, and in relation to number five) despite them being tied with the Phoenix Suns for having the second-worst 2018-19 record in the NBA (19-63, per NBA.com).

They can still find a valuable piece at their fifth pick for the coming years, though, and it seems as if, based on his track record (a career collegiate 829-468 record, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski), Cavaliers new head coach John Beilein has the potential to get the most out of that said piece.

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As has been often noted, Beilein does not have any experience coaching at the NBA level, so him being able to get the most of out that pick is not a foregone conclusion, but based on what so many have reportedly said about Beilein, it is not far-fetched for him to get the most out of the fifth pick, the 26th pick (if Cleveland does not move with their second pick) and current Cleveland players such as Collin Sexton, Cedi Osman, Kevin Love and Larry Nance Jr., among others.

As far as potential pieces, our own Robbie DiPaola hit on three possible wings for Cleveland to target, and our own Corey Casey hit on the wing front, too, and both seem to like Duke’s Cam Reddish, who Cleveland was set to meet with on Friday, according to The Athletic’s Joe Vardon.

Though it’s been reported that some New York Knicks talent evaluators are “fans” of Reddish, according to SNY’s Ian Begley (and h/t Forbes’ Evan Dammarell), I still have a hard time believing New York doesn’t go with a pretty sure NBA starting near-20-point-scorer in Duke’s RJ Barrett at number three overall.

Reddish is a piece that, objectively, underwhelmed in his one collegiate season, as he averaged 13.5 points and had just a 45.9% effective field goal rate (including a three-point hit rate of 33.3%, per Sports Reference), despite being one of the most highly-recruited players in the country.

Along with that, Reddish struggled with his decision-making and did not seem to have good feel as a passer, as evidenced by him having 96 turnovers and just 70 assists in his one collegiate season, but clearly, it was not easy for Reddish to adjust to being not the second, but third fiddle on his Duke team that also had Zion Williamson and Barrett commanding a ton of possessions and/or playmaking opportunities, as both DiPaola and Casey noted.

Now, I agree with DiPaola and Casey for the Cavs at five, because Reddish, though I don’t expect him to be a high-level secondary playmaker in terms of passing at the NBA level, is very intriguing as a pick-and-roll scorer, due to his pull-up shooting ability at 6-foot-8 (with shoes), his fluid release and his reported 7-foot-and-a-half wingspan offering a better avenue to get off clean looks  (h/t ESPN/DraftExpress‘ Jonathan Givony).

Additionally, what is, to me, much more of a positive in regards to Cleveland feasibly considering drafting Reddish, is he has shown some ability to shoot off of movement, which would seemingly be a particularly useful skill in Beilein’s motion-driven offense, and Reddish has elite NBA defensive potential, which should not be glossed over.

The Cavs’ defense couldn’t have been worse last season, and for several years has been an underlying problem, especially on the perimeter.

Reddish showed he is more than capable of being isolation-sound with his footwork and has great anticipation off the ball, and his 2.1 steals and 0.8 blocks per 40 minutes (per Sports Reference) flashed that potential impact at the next level, and of course, as we’ve mentioned, Texas Tech’s Jarrett Culver and Virginia’s De’Andre Hunter project as plus wing defenders in the NBA, too, like Reddish.

It would seem that at least one of those three would be there at number five for Cleveland, and though I don’t particularly love Hunter’s lack of offensive polish/playmaking ability off the bounce, I can’t argue much if the Cavs pick him, considering he shot 41.9% from three-point land in two seasons in college and, like Culver, looks to have real value on the defensive end on the wing, in relation to his switchability on to pick-and-roll primary playmakers, too.

It was also reported by Fedor that Cleveland met with USC’s Kevin Porter Jr. on Thursday, and that the Cavs will consider drafting both him and Bol Bol as “wild cards” for that fifth overall selection in the 2019 NBA Draft.

Both of those players are talented as well, but had underwhelming freshman seasons as Fedor noted, thanks to an indefinite “personal conduct” problem for Porter and a season-ending foot injury for Bol.

The aforementioned Casey noted how Fedor said that the Cavaliers could be feasibly a team that will trade up to get potentially a third first-round pick or package the 26th pick to get near the late or near lottery, and according to Casey, could try to land a player like Bol (if he drops) due to J.R. Smith‘s contract providing much-needed cap relief to teams in need of it.

That’s an idea I could definitely get behind, too, because with the Cleveland Cavaliers’ focus on player development in the coming years and with Smith’s contract specifics (which we’ve often discussed) being so valuable for both Cleveland and a potential trade partner, they should be able to do that sort of thing, especially because of owner Dan Gilbert’s willingness to spend to help general manager Koby Altman and company in Cleveland’s rebuild.

In addition, the Cavaliers could seemingly go a ton of different directions with the 26th pick in the 2019 NBA Draft.

I would be perfectly fine if, given his connection to Beilein, Cleveland were to take, say Michigan wing Ignas Brazdeikis, who projects as a capable bench scorer on the wing, which could definitely help Cleveland in the coming years.

The Cavs could realistically draft Kentucky two guard Tyler Herro, too, who could potentially be a solid pairing with Sexton in the near future, especially if the Cleveland Cavaliers eventually trade Jordan Clarkson, who is expiring at the end of next season.

A defensive stalwart in Washington’s Matisse Thybulle intrigues me for the Cavs’ second pick, too, given that Cleveland obviously needs quality defensive pieces as much as any NBA team.

Vanderbilt point guard Darius Garland, who reportedly left the draft combine early and hasn’t spoken with Cleveland (according to Vardon) could theoretically be an option, but I don’t love the thought of potentially stunting Sexton’s growth.

Plus, with the Los Angeles Lakers at the fourth overall pick, and with Garland being represented by the same agency as LeBron James (Klutch Sports), and Garland reportedly possibly having a “promise” from a lottery team being the reason he left the combine (per Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium), combined with Lonzo Ball‘s injury history already, I see L.A. as a logical fit for the deep range shooting prowess of Garland.

In summation, though, it’s good to see that the Cavaliers are going to exhaust all possibilities in the 2019 NBA Draft. Are they very set on one prospect at this point, anyhow? I’m not sure on that, and maybe considering how the ever-exhausted head coaching search went with them seemingly going with Beilein without any reports of them being interested in him throughout the process, maybe a “wild card” will their draft moves, too.

Either way, I think it’s actually a good thing that I really don’t know what the Cavs will do. Ultimately, I trust Altman and the front office, though, because them having a player development focus leads me to believe they’ll think long-term with their picks and draft pieces that will align with Beilein, which is what matters more than anything at this point.