Fear The Sword: All Posts by Conrad Kaczmarek

NBA Draft 2013: Cleveland Cavaliers "likely" to take Alex Len first overall

2013-06-17T21:54:57Z

The Cleveland Cavaliers are on the clock in the 2013 NBA Draft. Actually, they've been on the clock for several weeks now and we still have no idea who they are going to choose. The first indication was that Nerlens Noel was the obvious pick. But now, it's gotten a lot more hazy as Chris Grant and the rest of the front office works through the rest of the prospects. I still believe that we won't know who the Cavs are taking until they've had a chance to meet with all of the prospects and do their due diligence -- but some reporters feel otherwise.

Jimmy Smith of the New Orleans Times-Pacayune is reporting that the Cavaliers are likely to select Alex Len with the first pick in the 2013 NBA Draft.

Hearing that C Alex Len, who visited with #Pelicans on Friday, is now the likely choice for #Cavs at No. 1 spot in next week's draft.
— Jimmy Smith (@JimmySmith504) June 17, 2013

I'm not sure how he would know this, seeing as the Cavs have been quite silent about their selection in recent years. But Smith was confident enough to report it, so I guess we have to believe him to a certain degree. This could be a smokescreen, although I'm not sure what good a smokescreen does when you're picking 1st overall. Anyway, that's that. How would you feel if the Cavs are leaning towards taking Alex Len?

NBA Draft 2013: What happens if the Cavaliers don't draft Nerlens Noel?

2013-06-16T06:48:44Z

The brain-trust at Fear the Sword has been leading the Nerlens Noel bandwagon for a long time now. I wrote during the middle of the season that Noel was the obvious top player in this draft and if the Cleveland Cavaliers had the first pick, the decision would be easy. However, it appears that the decision is a bit more complicated than we anticipated.

When Nerlens Noel tore his ACL and lost some weight following the surgery, people started to question just how durable he would be in the NBA. Reports are flying out of Cleveland that Chris Grant and company are not quite comfortable tabbing Noel as their top pick.

Over the course of this draft process, I have fallen in love with the idea of Noel on the Cavs and would be thoroughly disappointed if they end up going in a different direction. Beyond disappointed, I'll probably have a wide range of emotions depending on what the Cavs do during the draft. Assuming that they don't trade the pick and remain in the #1 spot, here's a ranking of how I'll react to each selection (ranking is from least upset to most upset, according to Nic Cage GIFs).

1. Alex Len

If the Cavs decide to take Len instead of Noel, I'll be pretty upset. I mean, I'll be upset regardless of what they do if Noel isn't their guy. Alex Len would probably make me the least angry because he's still a really nice prospect. He's big and fills a need. He's still huge and has great defensive upside, even if he isn't the otherworldly defensive prospect that Noel appears to be. There are questions about the stress fractures in his ankles, but if the Cavs take him then I assume they aren't too concerned about those.