3 ACC players the Cavs could take in 2022 NBA Draft

3 ACC players the Cavs could take in 2022 NBA Draft: Blake Wesley

Let’s momentarily leave Duke to hit on perhaps the only other ACC team likely to produce a first-round pick in the 2022 Draft: Blake Wesley, the Notre Dame freshman who had a better-than-expected season in South Bend. At 6’5″ Wesley has the size to play either backcourt spot and could be a valuable young bench piece for the Cavs.

Wesley is lanky and fast, with lots of versatility as a ball-handler. He can slither his way through defenders to get to his spots in the paint, whether for short jumpers or extension layups. He is a good passer, not the sort of clear lead ball-handler type that could slot in behind Darius Garland but someone who can comfortably serve as a secondary creator; he could grow into a viable full-time backup point down the line.

Wesley isn’t much of a long-range shooter at this point, hitting just 30.3 percent of his 3-pointers; that mark is only further undercut by his 65.7 percent shooting from the free-throw line. Even as the clear top option for the Fighting Irish he averaged just 14.4 points and 2.4 assists per game; those rose moderately to 15.5 and 2.8 respectively in ACC play.

As a defender, Wesley is long and active, the kind of player who is a positive in help defense and could reasonably hold up on some switches. He would be a bit of a reach at pick No. 14, but not incredibly so; there is also a chance he falls as a lot of teams picking in the back-half of the first half don’t need guards. Perhaps the Cavs could flip their early second-round pick into a back-end first to take Wesley.