Cavs meet with seven draft prospects

The Cleveland Cavaliers seem to have their sights set on selecting a shooting guard in the 2017 NBA Draft. Could it be one of the seven guards they interviewed yesterday at the Professional Basketball Combine?

According to Basketball Insiders’ Alex Kennedy, the Cleveland Cavaliers met with seven draft prospects at the Professional Basketball Combine yesterday.

Because these players are expected to go no higher than the second round, it wouldn’t be surprising if people didn’t know who these players are and what they could bring to the Cavs. As for the latter question, there is one commonality among these players.

They all have is an ability to stroke it from deep.

Nonetheless, the question remains: Who are these guys?

While I’ll do more in-depth analysis on these prospects in future posts, I can give a brief rundown of their abilities and issues here:

Junior James Blackmon Jr. is a sensational guard from Indiana who had a smooth glide to his game and, at times, the ability to break opponents down off-the-dribble. Able to score at all three levels, Blackmon has no issue with spotting up from behind the line, pulling up from the midrange or finishing with a flush at the rack. His shooting stroke is very consistent. Defensively, the concern for Blackmon is his average athleticism and build. He’s not going to be a defensive stopper at the next level because he’ll give up too much perimeter penetration to quicker and more athletic players. Nonetheless, there are quite a few things to like about Blackmon’s game.

Senior Zeek Woodley loves pulling up from behind-the-line but it’s unclear whether he loves launching the long ball more than he loves launching himself at the rim. Woodley is undersized for the shooting guard position at 6-foot-2 but if he’s able to at least guard the point guard position, and with his athleticism that shouldn’t be an issue, his lack of height won’t matter much as the Cavs have a couple of combo guards on the roster. The biggest questions for Woodley are his lack of a true position and the level of competition he faced, as he played for the Northwestern State Wildcats of the Southland conference.

Junior Gian Clavell is perhaps the best isolation scorer in the group. He has a lethal stepback and solid court vision, both which make his ability to get to the rim off-the-dribble that much harder to defend. He certainly has NBA three-point range and a lot of confidence in his game. The issues for Clavell come off the court, as he’s been charged with false imprisonment with a domestic violence enhancement for incidents at Colorado State University. He didn’t hit anybody but he grabbed his then girlfriend’s arm as she walked away once and grabbed her bag while it had her keys in it another time. Only adding to the problem for Clavell is his age, as he’s 23-years-old. His older brother, Gilberto, plays for Santeros de Aguada of Puerto Rico’s BSN.

Sophomore Maverick Rowan either a good shooter or he’s a bad shooter but there’s no telling which it is right now. A big problem with Rowan’s game no matter how solid and consistent his shooting mechanics look, are that he’s only played two years of college basketball and the difference in his effectiveness from season to season is interesting. He played more in his freshman season at North Carolina State than his sophomore season (33.4 minutes per game compared to 22.9 minutes per game) but had a significantly higher field goal percentage in his sophomore season (42.9 percent compared to 36.0 percent). His three-point percentage spiked in his sophomore season too (33.6 percent compared to 36.1 percent). However, he’s an intelligent player who works hard on the court to make an impact in every area.

Sophomore Antonio Blakeney from Louisiana State University is another player who can score at all three levels but he’s particularly effective driving baseline and pulling up from the midrange, where his smooth gait and athleticism allow him to drive past and shoot over the top of defenders. He plays on-ball a lot and does a solid job of getting to the rim after using a screen but he seems much more interested in creating for himself than others. While Blakeney does have NBA three-point range, he only shoots 34.7 percent from three-point range. That’s where Blakeney’s questionable shooting mechanics are often seen. Blakeney also seems to struggle with shot selection, court awareness and defensive fundamentals.

Senior Jeremy Morgan from Northern Iowa State is a prototype three-and-D player who is rock solid in catch-and-shoot situations on offense (46.3 percent shooting in catch-and-shoot situation). Morgan also plays with relentless energy on the defensive end, never taking himself out of a play and showing an impressive ability to latch onto his man. He has length which, along with his fluidity and activity level on the court, make him a joy to watch. He’s not an isolation scorer but he does show the ability to contribute to a team in nearly every other area. Besides his catch-and-shoot numbers, Morgan averaged 5.8 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.8 steals and 1.1 blocks per game in his senior season.

Senior Canyon Barry, son of Hall of Famer Rick Barry, was bound to draw attention for his namesake alone. Barry is a solid shooter from all over the court and, because of a nice first step and long strides, he’s able to attack the rim off-the-dribble as well as he’s able to spot-up from three. He plays a smart, controlled game and makes good decisions with the basketball, something you’d probably expect from the son of an all-time great. Defensively, Barry’s motor and length allow him to do well enough against other wings but it should suffice to say that he’s not going to be a lockdown defender at the next level. The most interesting thing about Barry may be that he shoots his free-throws underhanded, like his father. He shot 88.3 percent from the line in his senior season.

The Cleveland Cavaliers could certainly use one of these guards, with Kyle Korver set to hit free agency this summer while he, Richard Jefferson and James Jones are over 36-years-old.

Looking at this group, Blackmon, Clavell, Morgan and Barry have the best all-around ability of the three players. With Arizona’s Rawles Alkins receiving a lot of attention, including from his hometown Brooklyn Nets, he may not be available by the time the Cavs acquire a pick. Even if he is, there are a few other options who could be rotation players for the Cavs one day.

Related Story: Cavs attend IMG Combine

What do you think of these seven draft prospects? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section or Twitter @KJG_NBA.