Dash Posted June 28, 2012 Report Share Posted June 28, 2012 (edited) NEW YORK – The Cleveland Cavaliers' intrigue with selecting Syracuse guard Dion Waiters with the fourth overall pick in Thursday’s NBA Draft has gathered significant momentum, league sources told Yahoo! Sports. The Cavaliers haven’t been able to get Waiters to visit Cleveland for a workout and meeting with officials, but it hasn’t extinguished management’s ever-evolving fascination with choosing Waiters at No. 4 – especially if the Cavaliers are unable to secure Florida guard Bradley Beal. Syracuse's Dion Waiters has quickly climbed into the top half of the draft lottery. (Getty Images)Cleveland has intensified its background checks on Waiters, and sources in direct contact with Cavs officials believe Waiters would be the franchise's choice over Kansas’ Thomas Robinson should the Charlotte Bobcats select Michael Kidd-Gilchrist at No. 2, and the Washington Wizards take Beal at No. 3. Because Waiters, a 6-foot-5 combo guard, had a promise later in the lottery, he stopped making visits to teams highest in the lottery. Nevertheless, Cleveland still believes it has strong intelligence on Waiters, an explosive scoring guard the Cavs can pair with Rookie of the Year Kyrie Irving. Cleveland still has a strong desire to move to No. 2 to get Beal, but has resisted Charlotte’s attempts to attach Tyrus Thomas to a trade. Thomas has three years and $26 million left on his contract and has become unproductive and largely uncaring as a pro. As one league source connected to the talks said, "The rest of the deal would have to be very strong for [the Cavs] to take on [Thomas]."The Toronto Raptors have stayed aggressive in their pursuit to move past the Golden State Warriors at No. 7 and secure Waiters, league sources said. Multiple league executives believe Toronto (No. 8) and Phoenix (No. 13) made it clear to Waiters’ agent they wouldn’t let him slide past them. At the start of the process, Waiters was projected to go in the Nos. 15-25 range. He has rapidly ascended into the top half of the lottery. There’s a small pocket of Golden State management that’s a proponent of drafting UConn center Andre Drummond with the seventh pick, but several Warriors officials are less enthusiastic about him. Waiters has strong support among the Warriors' front office and coaching staff, along with North Carolina’s Harrison Barnes. Waiters' ability to attack the basket and get to the foul line is appealing for a Golden State team that ranked among the league’s worst in free-throw attempts. Golden State has also shown a willingness to trade the No. 7 pick and move back in the first-round if none of the team's desired targets are available. The Warriors also own the 30th pick. http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nba--syracuse-s-dion-waiters-drawing-interest-from-cavaliers.html Edited June 28, 2012 by Dash Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owner Real Deal Posted June 28, 2012 Owner Report Share Posted June 28, 2012 From 2-4, you have: RobinsonMKGBarnesBealDrummond Did not add Lillard, since he's a PG (and they have Irving). And the Cavs want Waiters???? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Make It Naaaashty Posted June 28, 2012 Report Share Posted June 28, 2012 It would be hilarious if the Cavs took Waiters. Wayyy too much talent is available before him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Built Ford Tough Posted June 28, 2012 Report Share Posted June 28, 2012 Let me first say that I think this is all a bunch of BS and people blowing smoke up everybodies asses. Every year we see these kind of smokescreens where a whole bunch of stuff comes out of nowhere and everybody is trying to trade up for everyone. This year is obviously now different. However, with that said, I honestly wouldn't be shocked if the Cavs were actually considering Waiters with the 4th pick. It sounds crazy, but the Cavs are notorious stat junkies and are very big on statistical analysis. They picked Thompson last year because he scored very high on their statistical analysis (and, apperantly he dominated Kanter during a workout prior to the draft) and if you go out and look at all of these stat junkies and their draft rankings, Waiters is in the top 5 of almost all of them. Considering how much of a premium the Cavs organization puts on these metrics, I could see them being high on waiters. At the end of the day, I don't think they pick him, but I wouldn't put it past them either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DunkinDerozan Posted June 28, 2012 Report Share Posted June 28, 2012 That would be hilarious. I hope they do it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Check my Stats Posted June 28, 2012 Report Share Posted June 28, 2012 That would be amazing if they did, for the Raptors at least. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flash Posted June 28, 2012 Report Share Posted June 28, 2012 Lol with all the talent available at 4.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flash Posted June 28, 2012 Report Share Posted June 28, 2012 Chris Broussard @Chris_Broussardsources: Cavs offering 4, 24 and 33 picks for Charlotte's 2 and 31 picks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flash Posted June 28, 2012 Report Share Posted June 28, 2012 MJ has to take that deal no? That's a steal for Charlotte if the deal goes down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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