The NBA Combine will take place June 6th-8th in Chicago and basically every prospect will be in attendance. The official list of confirmed participants was released yesterday. All the big names that the Cavs would be interested in with their first pick are on the list.

I haven't examined the list yet, so if there is a name that you don't see on the list, point it out and I'll do my best to find out why he isn't participating. Remember, scouts put varying levels of stock in the combine. Kyrie Irving hardly participated at all last year because he was still rehabbing from a toe injury. Reggie Jackson didn't participate much either and was still drafted by the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round.

Here's the full list, courtesy of DraftExpress.com

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How's it going, everybody? You guys ready for the NBA Draft? Having a good summer so far? Good.

Days until the NBA Draft: 37 Days

Days until the NBA Lottery: 8 Days

Getting pumped yet? I booked my train down to NYC for the Lottery on the 30th. Can't wait.

Highlight of the Day:

Wanna see something disgusting? I introduce to you -- Dexter Pittman. The Miami Heat's useless big man (who for some reason started Game 3 of this series) threw his entire weight and elbow into Indiana's Lance Stephenson during garbage time of Miami's win last night. Stephenson had made a choke gesture in response to LeBron James missing some free throws earlier in the series and apparently LeBron didn't like that. So, in response, Miami retaliates by having one of their scrubs cheap shot Stephenson in the throat with an elbow. Classy. Stephenson had x-rays on his collarbone and they were negative. Going at a guy's throat is completely ridiculous and totally unnecessary. Not that it matters, but Pittman should be gone for 10+ games. Just when you thought you couldn't hate Miami anymore...

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According to EuroHoop.net, Sasha Kaun has reportedly a three-year extension with CSKA Moscow, meaning the odds of the Cavaliers ever seeing their prized stashed Center is looking even worse. I could write more about this heart-breakingly depressing situation, but instead, I'll defer to Captain Kirk to sum up the feelings in the hearts of Cavs fans world-wide:

Khaaan!!! (via IQuip4U)

To the shock and surprise of absolutely nobody, Kyrie Irving led the NBA's All-Rookie first team. After dominating the Rookie of the Year vote, Kyrie was the only unanimous 1st team selection,the NBA announced today. Tristan Thompson received two first place votes, but ended up landing on the All-Rookie second team.

2011-12 NBA ALL-ROOKIE FIRST TEAM

Player Team First (2 pt) Second (1 Pt) Total Kyrie Irving Cleveland 29 - 58 Ricky Rubio Minnesota 21 7 49 Kenneth Faried Denver 19 8 46 Klay Thompson Golden State 16 11 43 Iman Shumpert New York 15 10 40 Kawhi Leonard San Antonio 14 12 40 Brandon Knight Detroit 13 14 40

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2011-12 NBA ALL-ROOKIE SECOND TEAM

Player Team First (2 pt) Second (1 Pt) Total Chandler Parsons Houston 10 13 33 Isaiah Thomas Sacramento 5 17 27 MarShon Brooks New Jersey 3 12 18 Derrick Williams Minnesota 2 12 16 Tristan Thompson Cleveland 2 12 16

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In a strange occurrence, Jonas Valanciunas received zero votes for either team. Weird.

Until the NBA Draft on June 28th, I'll be giving you guys a daily blog post. I plan on giving you guys the number of days left before the incredibly exciting day and then just some scattered thoughts about the draft, Cavs, and NBA playoffs in general. Hopefully this helps kill some time before the draft and gives us all something to talk about/look forward to.

Days until NBA Draft: 38 Days

Days until NBA Draft Lottery: 9 days

Highlight of the Day:

Russell Westbrook and the Oklahoma City Thunder ousted the Lakers last night in part because of this absurd and-1. The Thunder were really just an overall better than the Lakers. Kobe Bryant scored his points, but Mike Brown and company just failed to utilize their two huge advantages in Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum. Furthermore, former Cavalier Ramon Sessions really failed to live up to expectations for the Lakers. It was a smart trade for the Lakers to make, but did he really help them get any further than they would have otherwise? Lots of the time it was Steve Blake playing during crunch time. The Lakers are a mess and the Cavaliers have the right to swap Miami's first round pick with the Lakers' first round pick in 2013. Considering how good Miami likely will be, that could be a difference of about 7 or 8 draft spots.

PS: I am DYING to have Quicken Loans absolutely ROCKING like this arena was last night. Goosebumps.

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Sorry to miss this feature Sunday night. Sometimes, Pracs does get in the way of life. I'll get it back to Sunday night again next weekend.

1. Get on the Spurs bandwagon. Man, I love that team. They're going all the way.

2. How is Boston winning games with Ray Allen doing nothing and Paul Pierce contributing about the same?

3. The big day is rapidly approaching. As some of you may know, Conrad is going to be at the Draft Lottery on May 30th. I'm pretty pumped to watch the Cavs celebrate winning that thing.

4. Isn't the American media pretty nuts? Wasn't it so obvious that as soon as they overreacted and absolutely buried Miami after being down 2-1 (which is hardly scary) the Heat are probably going to win the thing 4-2 and then have home court in the next round and maybe have Chris Bosh back. For a minute there I thought they media had just given them the boot from the playoffs. Ridiculous.

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As Cavaliers fans anxiously await May 30 to figure out just where the team will be slotted in the 2012 draft lottery, there are already rumblings about different teams' plans for improving. After the jump, see what people are talking about.

1. From Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, It sounds as if the Oklahoma City Thunder, and perhaps the Boston Celtics, are interested in the Power Forward from St. Bonaventure, Andrew Nicholson. From Wojnarowski's Twitter account:

St. Bonaventure's Andrew Nicholson works out for Boston and OKC this week. OKC's long been on him but C's looking hard with 21st-22nd picks.

If the Celtics took Nicholson before the Cavs' 24th pick, it could be seen in two ways: either as a good thing because we didn't want him and it leaves someone else that we did want on the board, or as a bad thing because he is someone we were looking at taking ourselves. Here is what DBrimstone wrote about Nicholson in a fanpost, ultimately comparing him to a Carl Landry type player:

In his 4 year college career his basketball IQ has improved tremendously as have his post moves. He started off only being able to dunk and now he's got what draftexpress.com calls a "very refined post game." He's even added a perimeter game too. He didn't shoot a 3 his first 2 years, then he shot 26% as a junior, and then 43% as a senior. His offense will be his biggest draw as he's very proficient on that end of the floor.

2. And while we are on the subject of Nicholson, ESPN's draft insider Chad Ford recently wrote about players who could see their stock rise as the result of workouts for teams. If you have insider, you can read it here. Without delving into the analysis, he has SG Terrence Ross of Washington, SF/PF Perry Jones III of Baylor, PF Terrence Jones of Kentucky, and SF Quincy Miller of Baylor alongside Nicholson as being guys who can really impress GM's and scouts in the next month or so.

Of course, you would love to be able to predict a player's future success based on the tape of actual games. Unfortunately, the NBA and college games aren't perfectly congruent, and different skill sets are rewarded. While it is important not to get too hyped on guys following strong workouts (Yi Jianlian, Darko Milicic), you cannot deny the effect they have on where and whether guys get drafted. Tristan Thompson, for example, benefited last year from solid workouts.

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The Los Angeles Lakers fell to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday night by a final score of 106-90. The Thunder won the series 4-1 and will now advance to their second straight Western Conference Finals.

There has been tons of talk about how the Cavaliers need to follow the same model as OKC to rebuild their team. It's easier said than done, but Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook are showing that if you can execute the model -- it works. The Cavaliers may have their superstar already in Kyrie Irving, but nailing the draft and getting some other solid pieces to create a complete team is crucial.

I know it's really hard to do, but for a small market team like Cleveland or OKC, there is no other option. The NBA Lottery is May 30th and the actual draft is in late June. The Cavaliers will take another big step towards rebuilding a contender and following in the footsteps of the Thunder.

Chris Grant and company have their work cut out for them, but to reach the heights of the Thunder, it's the best way. It's the only way.