Cavs Work Out Akron’s Enrique Freeman, Ohio State’s Jamison Battle, Others

June 18, 2024

The Cleveland Cavaliers are getting ready for the NBA Draft just like everyone else — by conducting a series of individual workouts and interviews, aiming to find the best possible pick at No. 20 overall.

This year, the Cavs do indeed have to make a pick, thanks to a rule named after long-ago owner Ted Stepien. And The Stepien Rule states that you cannot trade first-round picks in back-to-back seasons.

Why? Because Stepien nearly ran the franchise into the ground by inexplicably trading away first-rounders for peanuts. We can come up with no good reason other than he may have been a little crazy.

Anyway, back to the here and now.

The Cavs’ scheduled workouts have included Akron forward Enrique Freeman, whose stock has been rising rapidly leading into the draft. We have a full profile on Freeman here. If you don’t want to check that out, just know that Freeman is viewed as sort of a Swiss army knife of a prospect, a power forward who does a little bit of everything and who could be a “small-ball” center in the NBA.

Taking Freeman at No. 20 may be a reach, but hey, it would certainly generate some buzz, given that he played at Akron and before that, St. Martin De Porres High School in Cleveland. Besides, the entire draft after the top seven or eight picks is considered a crapshoot.

In other words, you could get a player at No. 20 who is every bit as good as someone who is drafted at, say, No. 6. Freeman may be worth a flyer, and somebody, somewhere, is going to take him.

Along with Freeman, the Cavs have scheduled or worked out Cleveland State small forward Tristan Enaruna, Ohio State small forward Jamison Battle, Indiana center Kel’el Ware, California small forward Jaylon Tyson, and UCLA center Adem Bona, among multiple others (via HoopsHype). Ware and Tyson are viewed as mid-to-late first-rounders.

The 2024 NBA Draft is scheduled for June 26, with the second round to take place the following day. This marks the first time in league history that the draft will be a two-day event.

The Cavaliers do not have a second-round pick as of this moment — but that can always change. Also, it should be noted that while they can’t trade the pick, they can draft someone and immediately trade his rights.