What would you do if you had your pick of anyone in the whole entire draft?
Would you go for true talent that could help you now or go for someone with so called “up-side?”
Personally I feel that it is crazy to not pick a player that can help you right away. Think about it you have the top overall pick because your team sucked it up the year before.
So why pick a player that may not be able to make a difference for a while?
The Cavs shot themselves in the foot by selecting Kyrie Irving. They already have three capable point guards on the roster with Barron Davis, Daniel Gibson and Ramon Sessions.
If I had to choose and I was going to select a point guard I would choose Kemba Walker or Jimmer Fredette. Both players have shown more at the college level then Irving.
Walker proved that he was a man-child with his clutch shots through out the season and especially over the Big East Tournament – where he lead the UConn Huskies in five wins in five nights — and the NCAA Tournament as he won a national championship.
Then there is Jimmer — this man can shoot a jumper in Madison Square Garden and nail it in the Rose Garden. The range that he shows is like no other and the fact he was one of the best scorers in the country speaks for its self.
Irving and WIlliams fight for a rebound. //Photo: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images
But really if I was the Cavs I wouldn’t have thought twice about selecting Derrick Williams with the first pick.
Williams averaged close to a double-double and shot over 50 percent from behind the arch.
So as Dan Gilbert sits and hopes Irving is everything people hope he is – David Kahn, the Timberwolves general Manger, sits in excitement and is probably dancing around like Mike Ditka was when he selected Ricky Williams in the 1999 draft.
The only difference is he didn’t have to trade the house away to get the pick and I’m sure that he isn’t smoking a cigar, talking about going golfing and hopefully Williams won’t turn out to be a head-case like Ricky.
Plus I’m sure that we won’t be seeing D-Will sporting a wedding dress on the cover of Sports Illustrated.
So, now all we can do is sit and watch to see if Irving is all he is cracked up to be, and watch and see if Williams will serve up NBA defenses like he did the Pac-10.
So once again I ask you – what would you have done?
Alan K. Fox can be reached at alanfoxjr@gmail.com and on Twitter @alankfox
Two counterpoints:
1) When Kyrie Irving was on the floor, aka not on the bench due to bad toe, he was considered the best player on the floor in every game by every analyst in the country. That means that he was rated higher as an individual player over Jimmer and Kemba. I mean the guy comes in the tourney after being out for months and puts up 28 pts in the game against arizona while the rest of his team fizzles. In the games prior to his injury the guy was not only scoring at will but also shutting down other players on defense. Look what he did to Michigan St. in December. You can’t say that about jimmer and kemba ( defense and offense skills combined)
2) How many truly talented point guards are there in the nba. Go to ESPN and look at a list of the top PGs in the league. You go down the list and after 8-10 names you start going seeing a drop of in talent. Do the same for PF/SF (positions Derrick Williams will most likely play) and you’ll see you go a further down the list then 8-10 names before you start seeing a huge drop off in talent. That is why all the experts say when you have the chance to draft a truly talented PG & C you do it because they are rare.
Cleveland made the right pick. Even though Derrick Williams is more of an instant impact player and may be a future all star….you have to take a guy who will at least be a rock at the PG position for you. Other wise your stuck with the three you mentioned. By the way those three names are arguably capable. Baron Davis is on major decline and major disinterest. Daniel Gibson talent (open 3’s) left with Lebron to south beach and Sessions is roller coaster ride of talent. Those descriptions are not ones that equate to capable anchor for a building team. Look at the Lakers, talented SF and PF and weak in the PG area and look what NO and Dallas did to them. They took advantage.
Two counterpoints:
1) When Kyrie Irving was on the floor, aka not on the bench due to bad toe, he was considered the best player on the floor in every game by every analyst in the country. That means that he was rated higher as an individual player over Jimmer and Kemba. I mean the guy comes in the tourney after being out for months and puts up 28 pts in the game against arizona while the rest of his team fizzles. In the games prior to his injury the guy was not only scoring at will but also shutting down other players on defense. Look what he did to Michigan St. in December. You can’t say that about jimmer and kemba ( defense and offense skills combined)
2) How many truly talented point guards are there in the nba. Go to ESPN and look at a list of the top PGs in the league. You go down the list and after 8-10 names you start going seeing a drop of in talent. Do the same for PF/SF (positions Derrick Williams will most likely play) and you’ll see you go a further down the list then 8-10 names before you start seeing a huge drop off in talent. That is why all the experts say when you have the chance to draft a truly talented PG & C you do it because they are rare.
Cleveland made the right pick. Even though Derrick Williams is more of an instant impact player and may be a future all star….you have to take a guy who will at least be a rock at the PG position for you. Other wise your stuck with the three you mentioned. By the way those three names are arguably capable. Baron Davis is on major decline and major disinterest. Daniel Gibson talent (open 3’s) left with Lebron to south beach and Sessions is roller coaster ride of talent. Those descriptions are not ones that equate to capable anchor for a building team. Look at the Lakers, talented SF and PF and weak in the PG area and look what NO and Dallas did to them. They took advantage.