Cleveland Cavaliers: 2021 NBA Draft Preview
2021 NBA Draft Preview: Potential draft prospects
Teams picking lower down the draft board are overwhelmed with options, both because this draft has a very flat middle, and because the variations on how the draft board plays out increase with each pick. Up at the top, those variations are tighter, and realistically only a handful of players are in play for the Cavaliers.
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Evan Mobley is the popular name right now, and the overwhelmingly likely pick if the board plays out as is commonly expected. The Detroit Pistons are almost certainly going to take Oklahoma State wing Cade Cunningham at first overall, and G League Ignite shooting guard Jalen Green has been linked to the Houston Rockets for quite some time. If that’s how the first two picks go, the Cavaliers are expected to take USC big man Evan Mobley at No. 3.
Mobley is a highly-skilled power forward, able to impact the game on both ends of the court. He can handle the ball, pass, shoot reasonably well and finish inside. Defensively he is a difference maker, a rim protector who is comfortable guarding space and stonewalling opposing ball-handlers off of switches. He is a historically high-level option at the No. 3 pick.
If Jalen Green is available at their pick then the Cavaliers would gain an incredible athlete and scoring threat, a player with the upside to drop 30 a game down the line. The team could also fall in love with Gonzaga’s Jalen Suggs as a big point guard who can defend and has a leader’s mentality, and worry about the fit with Garland and Sexton later.
Scottie Barnes and Jonathan Kuminga would fill the gaping hole on the roster as combo forwards, with Barnes elevating their team defense and Kuminga giving them the most upside for a two-way star. Both are likely not candidates all the way up at No. 3, but it wouldn’t be insane to take them there. At the end of the day, though, it’s probably going to be Mobley being called third on Thursday night.