Cleveland Cavaliers

This is a sponsored post. Slacker Radio is running a campaign and wants us to talk a little bit about the music featured in our NBA Arena. When I first heard about this, one thing immediately came to mind -- Machine Gun Kelly. I know that lots of people have varying opinions about MGK, but it seems as though the Cleveland Cavaliers have fully embraced him as the voice of Quicken Loans Arena. As you probably know, MGK is from Cleveland and makes that apparent in virtually every song he writes. That kind of civic pride is something that the Cavs appreciate. Dan Gilbert and the Cavs even invited MGK to the NBA Draft Lottery. He looked a little bit out of place but if the brief moments when I got to talk with him, he seemed sincerely happy to be there with the rest of the entourage. At the beginning of last season, the Cavs used MGK and his music in their pre-game intro video. The intro with MGK's "Invincible" was awesome every time on TV, but if you didn't get to witness it in person, I feel bad for you. The whole arena basically shook when the intro starting and then huge flames burst out of the scoreboard and burned your face off. It was epic. The Cavs seemingly always have awesome intro videos and I'm excited to see what they have in store for us next season. Whatever it is, don't be surprised if Machine Gun Kelly is front and center once again.

The NBA Draft is Thursday (next Thursday). That means it's coming up pretty soon. ESPN's Chad Ford released the 50683rd version of his mock draft and I was anticipating this version quite a bit, actually. It doesn't have much change in it as far as the Cleveland Cavaliers are concerned, but that's a good thing. Recently, various people have been reporting that they think the Cavs are leaning towards selecting Alex Len with the first overall pick. If Chad Ford got on this bandwagon too, I'd really start to get concerned. However, Ford stuck with what he has been saying all along. 1. Cleveland Cavaliers select Nerlens Noel Here's part of Ford's blurb about this selection: "Sources in Cleveland strongly suggest that the Cavs have yet to make their decision. Anthony Bennett, Ben McLemore, Victor Oladipo, Otto Porter, Alex Len and Noel all have visits and/or workouts scheduled in Cleveland this week. Noel is scheduled to visit the team Thursday and has a chance to seal the deal as the No. 1 pick if he performs well." 19. Cleveland Cavaliers select Reggie Bullock Here's what Ford says about the selection of Bullock: "If the Cavs grab Noel at No. 1, look for them to add a small forward or shooter with the second first-round pick. They would love to get their hands on Karasev, but I'm told they believe Bullock wouldn't be a bad consolation prize. Bullock shot 44 percent from 3-point range this season and has the size to play both wing positions." Other highlights from Mock Draft 5.0: Lucas Nogueira rose all the way up to the Utah Jazz at #14 Sergey Karasev rose all the way up to the Dallas Mavericks at #13 Alex Len fell to the New Orleans Pelicans at #6 Rudy Gobert fell to the Minnesota Timberwolves at #26 Giannis Antetokounmpo rose to the Atlanta Hawks at #18

Report implies that people around Noel may be trying to take advantage of him, but the speculation is somewhat diminished by the fact that Noel has hired agents.

The draft is a little more than 9 days away and I thought I would get a discussion going for your favorite draft scenario. Here is mine as I also included my free agent signings. 1. Trade back with Orlando to get Mo Harkless and #2 pick (I actually prefer Tobias Harris, but Harkless came on later in the year). 2. Draft Alex Len with #2 pick (if you really want Len, then you should just trade back for him, also you can get Noel here too.) 3. Trade 31, 33 to Dallas for #13 4. Draft Kentavious Caldwell-Pope with #13 pick (I would be fine the Shabbazz here too. 5. Trade CJ Miles,Marreese Speights and #19 for Danny Granger 6. Sign Seth Curry as undrafted free agent. 7. Sign Oden, Redick, and trade Ellington to a team for a pick. Roster: PG: Irving, Livingston, Curry SG: Waiters, Caldwell-Pope (Shabazz?), Redick SF: Granger, Harkless, Gee PF: Thompson, AV C: Len (Noel?), Oden, Zeller The draft is a little more than 9 days away and I thought I would get a discussion going for your favorite draft scenario. Here is mine as I also included my free agent signings. 1. Trade back with Orlando to get Mo Harkless and #2 pick (I actually prefer Tobias Harris, but Harkless came on later in the year). 2. Draft Alex Len with #2 pick (if you really want Len, then you should just trade back for him, also you can get Noel here too.) 3. Trade 31, 33 to Dallas for #13 4. Draft Kentavious Caldwell-Pope with #13 pick (I would be fine the Shabbazz here too. 5. Trade CJ Miles,Marreese Speights and #19 for Danny Granger 6. Sign Seth Curry as undrafted free agent. 7. Sign Oden, Redick, and trade Ellington to a team for a pick. Roster: PG: Irving, Livingston, Curry SG: Waiters, Caldwell-Pope (Shabazz?), Redick SF: Granger, Harkless, Gee PF: Thompson, AV C: Len (Noel?), Oden, Zeller Poll What do you think of this scenario? I love it Meh I hate it At least you don't have the Cavs taking McElmore Mine is better 0 votes | Results

Player B is Ben McLemore, Player A is O.J. Mayo. I pretty much throw up in my mouth whenever McLemore is listed as a possibility for the Cavs for this reason. I will admit that overall (TS%) McLemore had a better year than Mayo's freshman season but the argument that his athleticism will allow him to attack and finish in the NBA once he learns some more aggression is rooted in the fallacy that athleticism is the primary component in this skill. Mayo is, I believe, the perfect counter argument for McLemore, He has all the measurables you could ask for in a shooting guard but can't put it together and generate better than average offensive play. Basically I don't want any part of McLemore. Player B is Ben McLemore, Player A is O.J. Mayo. I pretty much throw up in my mouth whenever McLemore is listed as a possibility for the Cavs for this reason. I will admit that overall (TS%) McLemore had a better year than Mayo's freshman season but the argument that his athleticism will allow him to attack and finish in the NBA once he learns some more aggression is rooted in the fallacy that athleticism is the primary component in this skill. Mayo is, I believe, the perfect counter argument for McLemore, He has all the measurables you could ask for in a shooting guard but can't put it together and generate better than average offensive play. Basically I don't want any part of McLemore.

Might Maryland center Alex Len be the Cavaliers' first pick? Could former Cavs coach Byron Scott take over the Clippers?

Will LeBron James rise or fall in tonight's Game 6 against the San Antonio Spurs?

Ok, these guys have been bugging me all week. They seriously won't let go of these petty arguments. Now they are all up in each others grill (grills are still a thing, right?) about who is a better 3 pt shooter. These are their freshman year stats. Player A: 40.9% from 3, 6.5 attempts per game Player B: 42% from 3, 4.7 attempts per game. Settle this for me wont you FTS? You guys are my heroes. Ok, these guys have been bugging me all week. They seriously won't let go of these petty arguments. Now they are all up in each others grill (grills are still a thing, right?) about who is a better 3 pt shooter. These are their freshman year stats. Player A: 40.9% from 3, 6.5 attempts per game Player B: 42% from 3, 4.7 attempts per game. Settle this for me wont you FTS? You guys are my heroes. Poll Who is the better 3 pt shooter? Player A Player B MMMMMM bacon 8 votes | Results

Two young basketball stars got in an argument today, and they asked me to mediate. Each claims he is a better athlete than the other and I don't see a way to break the argument so I am posting a poll here. Here are their combine numbers Player A: 200 lbs, 41in vert, 7 reps, 11.04 agility, 3.14 sprint. Player B: 189 olbs, 42 in vert, 6 reps, 11.87 agility, 3.27 sprint. So what does FTS think? Two young basketball stars got in an argument today, and they asked me to mediate. Each claims he is a better athlete than the other and I don't see a way to break the argument so I am posting a poll here. Here are their combine numbers Player A: 200 lbs, 41in vert, 7 reps, 11.04 agility, 3.14 sprint. Player B: 189 olbs, 42 in vert, 6 reps, 11.87 agility, 3.27 sprint. So what does FTS think? Poll Who is the better athelete? Player A Player B I'm hungry, who smells bacon? 8 votes | Results

I know I'm going to get a lot of heat for this but oh well. If the Cavaliers pick Nerlens Noel I will be extremely disappointed and here's why. Offensively there's nothing. He doesn't have any type of jump shot. He isnt great around the rim and he sucks at the free throw line. All he really can do is dunk and run the break a lot better then most C's. That's it. He's underweight for a Center as well and will get bullied around in the low post for years. Ok so he's good on defense and we all know that the Cavaliers need to improve on D. But there's still question marks. When he comes back from his injury how do we know he still can "dominant" defensively. You guys act like he's going to come straight into the league and just change the Cavaliers defensive woes. Its not going to happen like that. And if it does we'll be waiting a long time. Time we dont have. We don't need a player that can't contribute for awhile, can't do any of the offseason rookie workouts or rookie games. We need a player that glues everything together. That contributes more then just on defense. That's why I want Otto Porter but that's another story. Now if I was a contender and I had the number 1 pick say the Thunder I would consider picking Noel. Because with or without him they're still going to win. If he turns out a bust then its not much of a big deal because they still will be a top team in the league for years to come. Unfortunately we dont have that luxury. We're at the bottom trying to climb our way out. We dont need to draft an injured player that sucks on offense and was good at defense in college. Believe me he wont be able to do what he did in college defensively in the NBA. So you can cut that out already. For all of you that compare him to Tyson Chandler, would you have picked Tyson Chandler overall? I dont think so. I know I'm going to get a lot of heat for this but oh well. If the Cavaliers pick Nerlens Noel I will be extremely disappointed and here's why. Offensively there's nothing. He doesn't have any type of jump shot. He isnt great around the rim and he sucks at the free throw line. All he really can do is dunk and run the break a lot better then most C's. That's it. He's underweight for a Center as well and will get bullied around in the low post for years. Ok so he's good on defense and we all know that the Cavaliers need to improve on D. But there's still question marks. When he comes back from his injury how do we know he still can "dominant" defensively. You guys act like he's going to come straight into the league and just change the Cavaliers defensive woes. Its not going to happen like that. And if it does we'll be waiting a long time. Time we dont have. We don't need a player that can't contribute for awhile, can't do any of the offseason rookie workouts or rookie games. We need a player that glues everything together. That contributes more then just on defense. That's why I want Otto Porter but that's another story. Now if I was a contender and I had the number 1 pick say the Thunder I would consider picking Noel. Because with or without him they're still going to win. If he turns out a bust then its not much of a big deal because they still will be a top team in the league for years to come. Unfortunately we dont have that luxury. We're at the bottom trying to climb our way out. We dont need to draft an injured player that sucks on offense and was good at defense in college. Believe me he wont be able to do what he did in college defensively in the NBA. So you can cut that out already. For all of you that compare him to Tyson Chandler, would you have picked Tyson Chandler overall? I dont think so. Poll Who should the Cavaliers draft Noel Len Porter Someone else 2 votes | Results