Cavs Prepping For Draft, With Zach Edey Among Those On Radar

June 6, 2024

The Cavaliers still need to hire a coach, and figure out their future with star guard Donovan Mitchell, but somewhere in there, they also need to make a selection in the 2024 NBA Draft.

Yeah, welcome to the offseason.

Anyway, this year’s draft will take place over two days, with the first round slated for Wednesday, June 26, and the second round a day later. As of now, the Cavaliers own just one pick — the No. 20 overall.

That can all change, of course. For whatever reason, it seems as if the Cavs have been involved in the second round quite a bit over the past decade. So it wouldn’t be surprising to see them get another second-rounder.

Anyway, per Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com, the Cavs are preparing for the draft by inviting in some prospects for workouts (no shock there) and have several names you may know on their radar.

And the list is massive.

Per Fedor: “Baylor’s Ja’Kobe Walter, Purdue center Zach Edey, Colorado forward Tristan Da Silva, Kansas swingman Johnny Furphy, Duke’s Kyle Filipowski, USC guard Isaiah Collier, Pittsburgh’s Carlton Carrington, Swedish forward Bobi Klintman, Illinois guard Terrence Shannon Jr., Virginia’s Ryan Dunn, California guard Jaylon Tyson, still-recovering-from-injury Kevin McCullar Jr., Arizona’s Pelle Larsson and Baylor center Yves Missi are all on the radar. According to sources, Larsson, Ellis and Tyson are among those committed to visit.”

Now, there’s no telling where any of these guys may actually go. This may be the most confusing draft in decades — with many of the top 20 or even 30 prospects being viewed as fairly equal in upside. This draft isn’t supposed to produce any stars, but it could give the NBA multiple regular contributors. And a star emerges every year.

But it all makes this draft hard to figure out for team executives. For instance, Edey could go in the lottery … or fall all the way to the second round. He’s more likely to land somewhere in between. We think.

What matters to president of basketball operations Koby Altman and the Cavs is to establish a draft board, so that when it’s time to make a pick, it will be a no-brainer. They have quite a bit of work to do before they get there, and that’s what all this pre-draft evaluation is for.