The Cavaliers view Jalen Williams as a peripheral prospect with the No. 14 pick, but he’ll get a chance to change their minds at a workout Monday, writes Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. Williams said that session will be his last one before Thursday’s draft and only his third for a lottery team, with the Spurs and Thunder being the others. Williams has reportedly been moving up draft boards and believes his lack of exposure at Santa Clara caused some teams to overlook him.
“Teams haven’t seen me a lot just due to the fact that we were a west coast team playing late at night,” he said. “Just showcasing that I’m a lot bigger than what it looks like on TV and I’m more athletic. Honestly, just playing my game, going in there and competing with other dudes that are doing the same thing as me. Just show a good, positive attitude throughout the whole workout. Everyone here can hoop so try to do the little things to stand out.”
The Cavs might have a greater interest in Williams if they trade down, which is under consideration, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype. Scotto hears from league sources that Cleveland would be willing to move backward in this year’s draft in exchange for a future first-round pick.
There’s more from the Central Division:
- Trade rumors continue to surround Pacers center Myles Turner, but he prefers to stay in Indiana, Scotto notes in the same story. Turner, whose season was ended by a foot injury in mid-January, wants a chance to play alongside Tyrese Haliburton, who wasn’t acquired from the Kings until February. Turner reportedly views Haliburton as the best passing point guard he’s ever had a chance to team up with. He also expects a larger role in the offense now that Domantas Sabonis is in Sacramento.
- The Cavaliers have interest in bringing back free agent guard Ricky Rubio, Scotto adds. Rubio helped Cleveland get off to a fast start last season before suffering a torn ACL in late December. He was sent to the Pacers in February as part of the Caris LeVert deal.
- Zach LaVine appears increasingly likely to re-sign with the Bulls shortly after free agency begins, Marc Stein states in his latest column on Substack. Teams that were believed to have interest in pursuing LaVine are being warned that he may not be available, Stein adds.
Rubio is one of those guys who didn’t live up to expectations but has a ridiculously good game anyway. It would be nice to see him get a good playoff runs before he fades away.
Yeah,i like his game.that injuried hurt him.just like lonzo ball. Both are pass 1st pg with good defense. And both are injury prone..too bad…
You know what guys I’m going to go against the grain on Rubio. Watching him in Utah made me cringe. He would make a few excellent plays and make some amazing passes but overall that flat jumper of his that he continues to INSIST on taking from three-point land is something I want to turn away from looking.
Then I guess it’s probably normal for a guy who pushes the ball up the floor, but some of his turnovers and horrendous ball decisions also make me cover my eyes and say, what the heck is going on here?
Not saying you guys are wrong and he did really an amazing job in Cleveland, but the Utah days, my goodness, I just wanted to scream at the TV and say bro, what are you doing?
Funny, i’ve never looked at his stats… Not that great… except for on-off. Plus 9 and career plus 5, no minuses. Not surprised— he probably does much on his own, and I would call it a cutting quality using the pass, that begins quickly in the offensive possession while still far from the rim… High risk high reward per possession… But pressuring the defense at all times makes its own reward. The GSW/Kerr scheme revolves around that.
It’s a good contrast to slow-driving Garland and fast-driving Sexton, using their tools more closer to the rim.
Is playing on the west coast an impediment to being scouted? The NBA is finding talent all over the world but playing in Santa Clara is the same as playing on the Moon…I think not.
The Tony Gwynn syndrome. As old as Sports itself.
I often spend the winter in Florida and I get the shoulder seasons of the Red Sox and a lot of Warriors games. It’s rough when I START to watch a Warrior home game at 10:30. That’s the START of the game. And wouldn’t you know it, the Warriors often start at 7:45/ 10:45 !!
I think with a lot of the writers, reporters, many teams beat writers who are on the East Coast, they don’t stay up till 1 in the morning to watch West Coast games.., especially College !! They might catch a highlight real on ESPN or YouTube but catching the live game is probably not as often as we hope.
Yeah, & scouts are typically old guys who don’t know how to program their vcr, much less a tivo. And on too tight a budget to travel from New York, where they all live at MSG.
I can’t wait for the draft so that all these stupid trade and rumors speculation will go away for good and hopefully there will be facts to read again for a change.
Bro… it’s in the name of the site. You may just be at the wrong place.
Yeah, It’s the name of the site. But some of the one hit wonders that post here have absolutely no idea just how hard it is to pull off even a simple trade in the NBA, Much less the zero chance ones they suggest is quite maddening. There are so many rules connected to making trades that even some of the supposed writers on this site are incompetent. I mean, even when you look at trading a draft pick now, They put so many conditions on them that they are really just fantasy. I’m surprised the League can even make a trade. You would expect they’d get tired of trying to figure them out and put a stop to it. So spout on.
Couple of things, one I hope the Cavs don’t trade down. I like a lot of players in this draft and at 14 we could really get someone special. But I understand if they do see a player worth taking who is lower. Second is that as I been saying for awhile now… it’s not news that the Cavs want Rubio back!!!! Ricky is exactly what we need, a pg who we can rely on when DG is out!