NEW YORK: With no consensus sure-fire star as an obvious target, at today’s NBA Draft has a sense of suspense about it with numerous candidates for the Cleveland Cavaliers, who own the number one pick.
“This draft is really unpredictable,” 7-foot-1 (2.16 m) Ukrainian center Alex Len out of the University of Maryland, one of the top prospects in the draft, told reporters yesterday.
“You don’t have any LeBron Jamses, so it’s going to be interesting.”
Picking behind the Cavaliers will be the Orlando Magic, followed by the Washington Wizards, Charlotte Bobcats, Phoenix Suns and New Orleans Pelicans in the two-round draft conducted by the 30 teams in the National Basketball Association. That is, if teams maintain the pecking order rather than wheel and deal their picks in draft night swapping at the Barclays Center. The Cavs, who finished with a 24-58 record, have many needs beyond their premiere point guard Kyrie Irving. Besides Len or shot blocking big man Nerlens Noel of Kentucky, they could use a shooting guard to team up with Irving, raising the possibility of Ben McLemore of Kansas or Indiana’s Victor Oladipo. REUTERS
