Irving and Tristan Thompson is the pick..

[J Dilla]

You can listen to one of the Colangelo interviews on FAN590.com in the hot audio section.

It could've been that (because Colangelo is an excellent salesman), or it could've been you guys avoiding a big risk and going safer by taking Tristan. Guys with buyout issues historically drop, and the teams that usually take them end up taking a huge risk. Look at Minny, no Rubio for 2 seasons, and didn't do **** in Europe in those two years. Fran Vasquez said LAWL EFF U to the Orlando Magic after being selected by them. Its less likely, but JV can probably stay in Europe for more than a year.

But yeah, I can see what the disappointment is about. I would take a 7'0/240 pound C anyday over a 6'8-6'9 PF. But also, this draft was pretty bad. It could be the worst draft since 2000. Don't really like the players that went in the top 10, like Vesely, TT, Biyombo, JV, Kanter (Who IIRC didn't even play a single game).

Raptors have sucked balls in drafting big men, and in general, its really hard to find a quality big man in this league. I feel that if there's any impact players in this draft, it will most likely be the guards that were drafted.

[Triumph36]

I don't really think Rubio (and esp not Fran) is a great comparison, though. Jonas, by all accounts, wants to come over to the NBA ASAP. Rubio on the other hand was iffy, and him even wanting to play in MIN at all was a concern.

Jonas already said he wants to come over as soon as possible, and Cleveland would be able to bring in Z, who JV looks up to, to help mentor him.

Him not coming over for years hurts everyone. His Euro team is supposedly struggling for money, Jonas wants to play in the NBA, and the team that drafted him would obviously want him to come over too. That's why I didn't believe it when some said it could take up to 2-3 years....nobody involved would want that. Yes, waiting a year would suck, but TT isn't going to come in and be an impact player either. Waiting a year for a bigger player with higher upside isn't bad at all IMO.

As far as the "safe pick" I think TT's risk is being a little understated. No, it's not quite the same as Jonas, but he's not a lock to be great either. Even more importantly though is how going into the draft the Cavs had arguably the worst young core in the league. They don't need safe picks, they need the best talent possible.

[Piston Boris]

Had the Pistons drafted Melo but not traded for Rasheed they wouldn't have won the championship that they did nor would they have been in the finals as many times as they did.

That's a reasonable deduction.

[Piston Boris]

As far as the "safe pick" I think TT's risk is being a little understated. No, it's not quite the same as Jonas, but he's not a lock to be great either. Even more importantly though is how going into the draft the Cavs had arguably the worst young core in the league. They don't need safe picks, they need the best talent possible.

I felt that Chris Grant made a reach for Tristan Thompson.

Neither Thompson nor Valanciunas are locks, but Valanciunas has more upside. And with the likelihood of a strike-shortened season, the Cavs would've been in an OK position to draft Valanciunas and let him play overseas for a few years before finally coming to the NBA.

[Baseline Runner]

I fail to see this mythical superior upside that Jonas supposedly has. In my opinion their upsides are about the same, Jonas is taller while Tristan is more athletic. Both have the potential to be very good defensive/rebounding big men.

[Relentless88]

I just read the first couple of pages and I'm not sure why many are disappointed with the Thompson pick. I've been following him for a while (some of my friends went to school with him in Brampton). He's a great kid, and already has good chemistry with Kyrie. He's also a very hard worker. Yes, he's raw, but he has a good work ethic. Two very good building blocks for the Cavs in Kyrie and Tristan.

[Benedict_Boozer]

Thanks for the info..

BTW, I was also initially a bit disappointed with the pick. The truth is we got the best player in the draft in Kyrie. This draft was not top heavy and whoever we selected at #4 was going to be a bit of a disappointment. I personally would have chosen Jonas V but the Cavs FO is more in tune with the buyout situation and they personally worked out both TT (2 times) and JV before the draft. Apparently they felt TT was the BPA at 4. I hope that is the case and they didn't avoid JV due solely to buyout issues. Some are arguing that TT is a bit redundant with JJ but in the long run I am happy if Grant selects the BPA regardless of position. Honestly we are still 2-3 years away from being a good team during this rebuilding period and need to collect assets regardless of position and not worry so much about putting the puzzle pieces together yet.

This is where I am at.

I was not that pleased with the #4 pick initially but at worst Tristan will be a top flight rebounder and defender which has definite value at the 4 spot. We are several years away from contending regardless so at the end of the day as long as we picked up assets we are good.

[mup]

If the Pistons had drafted Carmelo instead of Darko, they would have been a dynasty.

Prove it.

Even without Carmelo, they made the Eastern Conference Finals every single year for a while. So you certainly cannot say that drafting Carmelo over Darko had no impact.

These sentences contradict each other.

Not drafting Carmelo didn't hurt the Pistons at all. They were a great team before they didn't draft him. They were an even better team after they didn't draft him. I don't think they lost any sleep over that pick, especially as they were holding the trophy the following June.

What Valanciunas does or doesn't do will not have any impact on whether this draft is successful. It will be all about what Irving and Thompson do or don't do.

[mup]

I just read the first couple of pages and I'm not sure why many are disappointed with the Thompson pick. I've been following him for a while (some of my friends went to school with him in Brampton). He's a great kid, and already has good chemistry with Kyrie. He's also a very hard worker. Yes, he's raw, but he has a good work ethic. Two very good building blocks for the Cavs in Kyrie and Tristan.

Agreed. I liked the pick, especially given there was no clear cut #4 pick. They could have gone 4 or 5 different ways there and gotten a player with similar upside.

Yes, Thompson might have been a "reach" at #4, but so was Valanciunas. So was Knight. So was Vesely. I don't think there was anybody better than Thompson on the board and that sucked. It's like this draft had a #1, #2, and #3, and then went straight to #9.