HOOPSWORLD | Basketball News & NBA Rumors

Irving Remains Cavs’ Top Choice

The Cleveland Cavaliers took a peak at Kentucky’s Brandon Knight and Enes Kanter on Monday, but the team remains committed to drafting Duke point guard Kyrie Irving with the first overall selection, according to a report by Ric Bucher on ESPN.com. Apparently the Cavs have considered taking Arizona forward Derrick Williams with the first overall pick in hopes that they could use their second lottery pick, the fourth overall, to take Irving. However, the team has come to fear that Irving could be chosen with the second or third selections, so general manager Chris Grant is taking the safest option available to him.

Bucher goes on to write that Cavaliers are open to trading the fourth pick (the first came from the Clippers in the Baron Davis trade, thank you reader Adam Resnick) and are also interested in obtaining the second overall selection from the Timberwolves in an effort to draft Williams.

In the likely event that Cleveland fails to acquire the No. 2 and keeps the No. 4, the obvious decision becomes Kanter or Lithuanian center Jonas Valanciunas. The two big men might appear similar on paper, but this actually represents a real litmus test for the franchise.

Kanter makes sense because he’s bigger (20 pounds heavier) and more polished around the basket. He’s not nearly the project that Valanciunas is, mostly because the Lithuanian needs to add muscle. But if the Cavaliers are patient, they’d be getting an actual pick-and-roll center in Valanciunas (scouts are raving about his timing on pick-and-rolls, which is something young centers tend to struggle with). Seeing as coach Byron Scott uses a lot of pick and rolls and Irving has professed a fondness for the play, Valanciunas might be the better long-term fit, even if he doesn’t have the bulk for the NBA game quite yet.

Also, if the Cavaliers value athleticism and speed in a big man—something Cleveland power J.J. Hickson readily possesses—Valanciunas becomes an obvious choice over Kanter, who isn’t considered an exceptional athlete. Some of criticism of Valanciunas is that he can become timid, but there’s no question that he moves well for someone who measures 6-11, 244 pounds.

Bob Finnan of The Morning Journal has been told by “multiple sources” that Valanciunas is the favored of the two, but it’s his European buyout, or lack thereof, that keeps the Cavaliers from fully committing. But if Valanciunas’ current employer Lietuvos Rytas doesn’t negotiate a buyout, the team risks missing out on a multi-million dollar payday. That might not be a lot of money to the Knicks or Lakers, but mid-level European teams almost need to sell their top talents as part of their business model.

{AUTHOR_BOX}Owners, Union Committed to Talks

The good news coming out of midtown Manhattan on Monday is that there will be more collective bargaining discussions between the league and union on Tuesday, according to a report by Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press. The bad news is that there might be too much to discuss to get a deal done before the July 1st deadline.

“There’s a very clear sense of urgency, but we’re not sure between now and July 1st if we can make up the gulf that exists between the two sides,” union president Derek Fisher said after Friday’s talks.

“We’re very far apart still on some big items as well as some small items but not afraid of the July 1st deadline in terms of giving up on this process,” Fisher continued. “We’re still committed to trying to get something done between now and July 1st.”

So far the league has agreed to give up their crusade to remove contract guarantees while the union has been open to reducing their 57% cut of basketball related income. But despite these concessions, the two sides remain at odds and a work stoppage seems very likely.

In fact, the league and union can’t even agree when progress has been made. One union exec, Wizards swingman Maurice Evans, said that he’s become frustrated by some ambiguities coming from the owners, who he accuses of pushing for terms previously deemed to be off the table.

“There’s still major changes to the system as we know it, and according to them, there is no system,” Evans told Mahoney. “So we’re starting from scratch, and that’s kind of hard to do in two weeks.”

Commissioner David Stern tempered hopes for a deal last week by saying he simply wants to continue an open dialogue with the players’ association.

“We had today,” he said Friday. “We’ll have Tuesday. If Tuesday might turn into Wednesday and Wednesday might turn into Thursday and I know union has all the player reps in on Thursday, and presumably if there were any significant progress across an array of issues they could be sequestered into Friday. We’ve even been known to work weekends around here. It’s not called for yet, but everyone is flexible.”

Of course, if everyone was as flexible with these terms as they are with their schedules, the NBA might enjoy labor peace this summer.

Kevin O’Connor Finds Himself in Donnie Walsh’s Shoes

Back in 1987 then-Pacers general manager Donnie Walsh had a problem on his hands. Hoosiers fans wanted him to take Steve Alford with the 11th overall pick, but Walsh had his eye on a spindly shooting guard from UCLA named Reggie Miller. Forget that future NBA legends Miller, Mark Jackson and Reggie Lewis would all likely available when the Pacers made their first-round selection, the team’s fan base wanted Alford—who was coming off a National Championship with the Hoosiers—to continue his professional career in Indianapolis.

Well Walsh isn’t from Indiana and he didn’t feel particularly sentimental about Alford. He went ahead and took Miller, and the rest is history.

Late 80s Hoosiers fans, in their infinite wisdom, didn’t know that Alford would stay on the board until the second round. They didn’t know he’d have a mediocre four-year NBA career. They didn’t know the league isn’t too kind to 6-2 shooting guards who struggle on defense.

Well now, 24 years later, Jazz general manager Kevin O’Connor is getting similar pressure from the local BYU fans. Jimmer Fredette, who averaged nearly 29 PPG during his final season with the Cougars, will be available when the Jazz make the third overall selection in Thursday’s draft and he could potentially still be on the board when the team makes the 12th overall selection as well. And while O’Connor probably won’t take the same heat as Walsh once did if he passes on Fredette at No. 3, the BYU faithful won’t be as forgiving with the No. 12 pick.

“I don’t envy Kevin O’Connor on this one,” former Suns executive and current TNT analyst Steve Kerr told the Associated Press. “If they don’t take him and he blows up and is really good, that’s a problem. Now they’re the team that screwed up and didn’t take Jimmer when he was right in their backyard.

“If (O’Connor) does take him and Jimmer doesn’t pan out, then it’s the opposite. You have to follow your gut. If you like him, take him. Either way it’s a lot of pressure.”

O’Connor probably has a tougher decision than Walsh did because Fredette is better than Alford was back in 1987. Still, there will be plenty of options for the Jazz with the 12th overall selection and nobody outside of the state of Utah is going to blame him for taking the best player available.

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