Rick Bonnell ‏@rick_bonnell
Waiters the story of this draft. There were NBA smart guys desperate to keep him secret. Didn't happen.

Roda bitching, as usual. The way he makes it sound, it was Chris Grant who's junk shriveled up and didn't pull the trigger on the Beal trade? I was under the impression that the Hornets nixed the deal?

http://www.espncleveland.com/common/more.php?m=49&post_id=1375

I like the picks, I dont understand the negativity beyond not getting a household name.

Commander of Awesome;1214887 wrote:I like the picks, I dont understand the negativity beyond not getting a household name.

I like the picks too. We got players that fit the roles we need. People just like to bitch because they can.

I lol'd at this article. What an idiot. Drummond gets an A+ but Waiters and Zeller is the worst draft?

http://basketball.realgm.com/article/221871/Great_Drafts_Bad_Drafts_And_All_Drafts_In_Between

Mulva;1214833 wrote:We'll see. I don't support taking a hustle/defense player #4 overall when the team needs literally everything except a starting PG, and your 2nd best player (after your new PG) is a hustle/defense player who also plays the 4.

Tristan is a legitimately awful offensive player. He was 194/442 shooting. He had 66 dunks. Even if he somehow missed 10% of his dunks, that still leaves him at 128/371 on non-dunks. 34.5%. Not to mention he has 0 passing ability and basically 0 ball-handling ability.

Offensive rebounds and help defense are worth the #4 pick? Until he proves he's more than that, I'm not the stupid one.

But what you don't realize is the guy is 21 years old and no one expected him to come in last year and put up 20 and 10 on 50% shooting. Obviously he isn't a prototypical #4 overall pick, but that was an incredibly weak draft class and that was what we had left to pick. It's still a good pick in that he will be in our starting 4 spot for many, many years. His offense is only going to improve. I like the Ibaka comparison. I think that's about right...just w/ a higher ceiling offensively.

And what is soooo wrong with offensive rebounds and good defense? lol

Rotinaj;1214894 wrote:I like the picks too. We got players that fit the roles we need. People just like to bitch because they can.

Yeah, agreed. These aren't going to be superstars (though Waiters ceiling, imo, is very, very high), but they'll be solid starters...we just picked up 2 good starters in our lineup, and people are bitching lol can't hit a homerun every at bat. Gotta go for some singles. Now if I can only get some chick in Chicago tonight to go for a single...(me).

BR1986FB;1214884 wrote:Roda bitching, as usual. The way he makes it sound, it was Chris Grant who's junk shriveled up and didn't pull the trigger on the Beal trade? I was under the impression that the Hornets nixed the deal?

http://www.espncleveland.com/common/more.php?m=49&post_id=1375

It sounds like the Hornets wanted 4, 24, a draft pick next year and Andy

That price tage is waaaay too high to move two spots in the draft

KR1245;1214910 wrote:It sounds like the Hornets wanted 4, 24, a draft pick next year and Andy

That price tage is waaaay too high to move two spots in the draft

Agreed...wow, fuck off MJ

I wouldn't even want to give up #24 to move up to #2.

I'll take Waiters + Zeller over just Beal.

KR1245;1214910 wrote:It sounds like the Hornets wanted 4, 24, a draft pick next year and Andy

That price tage is waaaay too high to move two spots in the draft

Then Roda needs to shut his hole. His ass buddy, Fedor, also posted an article whining about how they didn't take Harrison Barnes at 4.

Alex Kennedy
@AlexKennedyNBA

Kyrie Irving and Dion Waiters will be fun in Cleveland. In Vegas, prospects would argue over who gets to play on Waiters' team. He can ball.

Haven't seen 1 grade online above c+ for the cavs. D+ from USA today... Worst in the league. C- from. Nbadraft.net

Mulva;1214944 wrote:Haven't seen 1 grade online above c+ for the cavs. D+ from USA today... Worst in the league. C- from. Nbadraft.net

Worse than the lakers? LOL

Draft day grades 12 hours after the fact are a joke.

hoops23;1214838 wrote:And what exactly don't you like about Waiters? Did you like Beal? Who DID you like?

He's an undersized ball dominant combo guard without an elite outside shot. I think there were better players and better fits available.

I've posted who I liked several times, going back for months.

Mulva;1214947 wrote:He's an undersized ball dominant combo guard without an elite outside shot. I think there were better players and better fits available.

I've posted who I liked several times, going back for months.

He's also extremely athletic and dominant at getting to the basket. He's not undersized either IMO. 6'5" is fine for a SG, nor is he a combo guard. Beal is more of a combo guard than he is.

In the NBA 2K pic, Dion and Rivers were standing right next to eachother. Dion was slightly taller.

Also, Wojo from yahoo sports claims a trade with the Bobcats was never close.

Commander of Awesome;1214948 wrote:He's also extremely athletic and dominant at getting to the basket. He's not undersized either IMO. 6'5" is fine for a SG, nor is he a combo guard. Beal is more of a combo guard than he is.

He measured 6'2.5 and 6'4 in shoes. 6"7.25 wingspan which is solid but not great.

And he's absolutely a combo guard. That isn't even debatable.

Mulva;1214947 wrote:He's an undersized ball dominant combo guard without an elite outside shot. I think there were better players and better fits available.

I've posted who I liked several times, going back for months.

You are on the borderline of becomming another Iggy pride.

Mulva;1214954 wrote:
And he's absolutely a combo guard. That isn't even debatable.

Well ok, long as you said I guess it puts it to rest. Never mind what a Syracuse fan/NBA experts say.

If he is a combo guard as you say, good. We need someone to handle the ball when Irving is on the bench since we no longer have Sessions coming off the bench.

Commander of Awesome;1214961 wrote:Well ok, long as you said I guess it puts it to rest. Never mind what a Syracuse fan/NBA experts say.

If he is a combo guard as you say, good. We need someone to handle the ball when Irving is on the bench since we no longer have Sessions coming off the bench.

Who is an nba expert who has said he isn't a combo guard? Serious question.

Mulva;1214966 wrote:Who is an nba expert who has said he isn't a combo guard? Serious question.

They've said that he could be a combo guard with development. As it stands he's a SG.

Some interesting stuff from Hollinger. Not bad praise for a combo guard with a questionable J:

3. High-rated wings usually deliver

As I noted with Leonard a year ago, wing players -- especially bigger ones -- with strong Draft Rater marks virtually never fail. Of the eight players to rate above 13 in the past decade, the worst among them was Josh Childress. Five of the players have played in an All-Star Game, and Rudy Gay may play in an All-Star Game soon. The seventh player is Leonard.

This year, we have two names to add to that list: Dion Waiters and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. Kidd-Gilchrist is probably the safest pick on the board -- a big wing who plays defense, has strong stats and comes with no character questions. From a risk-aversion perspective alone he should be a top-five pick; I have him third on my board after Robinson. (See below for how I would rank the prospects, regardless of their Draft Rater numbers.)

I have Waiters fourth for similar reasons. His size, 6-foot-4, is more of a concern, but whatever team made him a promise did a wise thing. Waiters projects as the best small wing since Dwyane Wade, and he'd be a steal if somebody got him in the Nos. 8-10 range currently being discussed.

KR1245;1214910 wrote:It sounds like the Hornets wanted 4, 24, a draft pick next year and Andy

That price tage is waaaay too high to move two spots in the draft

Lol....if that is true, I am a little happier

At first I was luke warm on the Dion Waiters trade but reading some reports/watching film I am content with the pick. He seems like someone that can be a solid player in the league and fits on this team. While small, he appears to have good strength slashing to the rim. With Kyrie who has shown to be an above average 3pt shooter I can see Waiters getting to the hoop and kicking it back out.

Barnes/Beal are bigger names but live on the outside. Kyrie would have been relied on to get to the lane and kick it to those guys and personally I don't want him taking the beating going inside all the time. So despite being slightly undersized (we're really arguing over 3/4" in shoes shorter than Beal?!?) Waiters has a strong build that can sustain driving to the bucket.

Zeller is a good pick up as well. I'm glad big Z is in our front office now and can mentor little Z. They have similarities in their game with the exception little Z is a much better athlete. If he can develop that 15-18 foot shot I expect he can have a similar career arc and put up 14/8 consistently. He also complements the team by stretching the floor taking the center away from the hoop to allow Waiters and Irving to drive.

Overall I like what we've done the last two years. Kyrie, Waiters, TT and little Z all complement each others game and is very athletic. If we are active in free agency (sign Johnny Flynn, resign Gee) and look to trade AV for wing help (I'd really like Rudy Gay in the line up) I think we're not too far off from being back in the playoffs.

I dont understand what people wanted the Cavs to do with #4 once MKG and Beal were off the board. Who was left at 4 that would make you happy? Harrison Barnes? I will take Waiters over him all day long. Reach on Drummond? Lamb? T Rob?

Waiters is a solid pick. Cavs got two players that were predicted to go in the lottery. This talk of using picks 24,33 and 34 is absurd. The Cavs were never going to go into camp with 4 rookies, it wasnt going to happen.

KR1245;1215009 wrote:I dont understand what people wanted the Cavs to do with #4 once MKG and Beal were off the board. Who was left at 4 that would make you happy? Harrison Barnes? I will take Waiters over him all day long. Reach on Drummond? Lamb? T Rob?

Waiters is a solid pick. Cavs got two players that were predicted to go in the lottery. This talk of using picks 24,33 and 34 is absurd. The Cavs were never going to go into camp with 4 rookies, it wasnt going to happen.

Same situation with the Browns, 13 rookies weren't going to make the team. To be honest I don't understand the trade from the Mavs perspective.

Also I wouldn't have been upset with Barnes or Lamb. I like Lamb and think he'll deliver value.