3 players Cavs could maybe target in 2nd round if they purchase a pick

Isaiah Roby

Nebraska’s Isaiah Roby is a player that could provide good value for the Cleveland Cavaliers as a defender in the coming years, and potentially be one of their better help and/or weak side defenders as a rotating rim-protector due to his great timing and feel when coming over as a shot blocker.

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Though Roby was only listed at 6-foot-7 and 214 pounds (per NBA.com), his block splits in college were outstanding (a career block average of 1.6 per game and a block rate of 6.7% over three seasons), and his ability to sit and slide to mirror opposing ball-handlers on the perimeter is a big reason why the Cleveland Cavaliers should consider purchasing maybe an early to mid-second round pick for him.

Currently, ESPN has Roby as the 39th-best prospect on their big board, and Woo has Roby listed as his 39th-best prospect as well, for the record.

With Cleveland lacking defensively on the perimeter especially, adding a player that has good technique both individually against 3’s and small-ball 4’s and solid feel off the ball in Roby could be very valuable for their rebuilding effort (Cleveland had the worst season-long defensive rating in 2018-19 since that statistic was recorded by Basketball Reference).

I would like to think that John Henson, if he can get healthier by next year’s trade deadline, can help Cleveland over the first few months of the 2019-20 season if they choose to keep him around until then, and being around a quality shot blocker in him could only help Roby in his development, and allow Roby to play more of a significant role if Cleveland does indeed eventually deal Henson near the deadline, as he could provide some value for a contender as an expiring shot blocking piece.

Additionally, Roby, who is an effective roller, also flashed some ability as a secondary playmaker at Nebraska and showed good intentions as a passer, as was previously detailed by Ben Pfeifer of NBA Analysis Network, and with Beilein’s offense predicated on unselfishness, that would be a nice plus, too.

The jury is still out on whether or not Roby can be a perimeter shooter at the NBA level, but he is reportedly working tirelessly on that, and his career 33.6% clip from deep at Nebraska provides some evidence of that (think of the improvement of Larry Nance Jr. last year in that area, too); plus, his career free throw hit rate of 70.2% is a positive in that regard.

We’ll see if Cleveland does indeed want to add a player in the second round of the 2019 NBA Draft, too, come June 20.

Unless otherwise referenced, all statistics for this article were gathered from Sports-Reference.com’s college basketball statistics.