Obi Toppin is not a 2020 NBA Draft prospect that’d likely have the potential to be a good defender for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Obi Toppin took home the Naismith and Wooden awards for his performance in 2019-20, and he was a huge reason why the Dayton Flyers had a banner campaign and finished out with a 29-2 record. Toppin had 20.0 points, 7.5 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 1.2 blocks and 1.0 steals per outing, and could potentially be a target for the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2020 NBA Draft.
Cleveland has the fifth overall selection in the upcoming draft, and there, it would seem realistic for them to target wings such as Auburn’s Isaac Okoro, Florida State’s Devin Vassell and Deni Avdija of the I-BSL’s Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv.
I could see the Cavaliers looking at USC big Onyeka Okongwu in that spot also, and while it seemingly wouldn’t be as likely, perhaps the Cavs could look at point guards such as Killian Hayes of the BBL’s Ratiopharm Ulm or Iowa State’s Tyrese Haliburton there.
Swinging back, the Cavs again could be having their eyes at Toppin if he’s on the board at their selection, though. Furthermore, The Athletic‘s Sam Vecenie (subscription required) gets a sense that Cleveland is seemingly well zeroed in on Toppin and Avdija as their key targets at #5.
But frankly, it is evident that Toppin could mightily struggle on the defensive end, so that could be a key red flag for coming years for him, and I’d rather the Cavs go with a wing or Okongwu, in particular. Avdija would be a fine selection, though.
Also, regarding Toppin, a Bleacher Report post on Friday emphasizes how he wouldn’t help the Cleveland Cavaliers defensively.
As Cavs fans are well aware of, the squad is fresh off having the league’s worst defensive rating the past two seasons. Clearly, pieces such as Darius Garland, Cedi Osman, and more so in the team sense last season I believe, Collin Sexton had some issues. I’m not going to knock Sexton nearly as much, however, as he did seemingly make strides in the individual sense and I’d think could keep progresssing there.
At any rate, when looking at Toppin, he could feasibly be a nice offensive piece for the Wine and Gold next season. Toppin again had 20.0 points per outing in 2019-20 for Dayton, and he has low post scoring ability, has nice rolling instincts, is a heck of an athlete vertically and flashed some face-up/spot-up touch.
Obi Toppin hitting 39.0 percent of his 2.6 three-point attempts per outing this past season was a positive, and perhaps being around Kevin Love could further aid him in terms of perimeter/off-the-catch shooting.
Nonetheless, as was touched on, Toppin doesn’t project as a player that’d likely help the Cavs defensively, and Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Wasserman emphasized that and recently stressed that Cleveland may want to avoid Toppin in the 2020 NBA Draft. Here was more on that rationale/defensive issue, via Wasserman in a piece published on Friday.
"“The NBA’s worst defense may want to avoid drafting Obi Toppin, an explosive finisher and productive college scorer who’s limited with his ability to guard the perimeter, cover pick-and-rolls and protect the rim.It becomes a tough call for general manager Koby Altman if he feels Toppin is the best player available in a vacuum.As a rookie, he wouldn’t have the chance to play big minutes behind Kevin Love and Andre Drummond. And pairing Toppin with either one would result in a poor defensive frontcourt playing behind a vulnerable defensive backcourt in Darius Garland and Collin Sexton.”"
Now, Bleacher Report’s Dan Favale recently did seemingly suggest that the Cavs might want to go with Toppin for frontcourt depth with Tristan Thompson having a good chance of signing elsewhere this offseason.
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If the Wine and Gold do eventually end up trading Kevin Love down the road, I somewhat understand where Favale was coming from if that’s the Cavs’ approach, when thinking long term also and with the uncertainty it would seem involving Andre Drummond following next season.
That said, as Wasserman again emphasized, given the Cleveland Cavaliers’ issues defensively with other pieces, and with quality defensive wings such as perhaps Avdija, Okoro and/or Vassell on the board for Cleveland at #5, they’d be a considerably better selection in my mind.
That’d be for honestly the short and long term, because while Toppin does show activity as a rotator on the interior, with how the league is now, whether he can eventually be able to be more competent in switchouts is a huge question mark.
Is Toppin a player that can realistically end up becoming a viable stretch big, too?
While he was efficient last season on three-point shots, I can’t say it’ll end up being a certainty that translates, and he’s more of an interior offensive presence.
The Cavaliers need to prioritize defense in the 2020 NBA Draft, and while I can understand some maybe wanting Toppin for them at #5, the Cavs would be much better off going with high quality defensive wings or Okongwu, who is a considerably better defender, most notably.
Wasserman emphasizing how Toppin wouldn’t help the Cavaliers defense I’m sure got an amen from plenty of Cavs fans overall, too.