NBA Draft Rumors: Cavaliers have ‘honed in’ on Joel Embiid with No. 1 pick
By Bryan Rose
For the past few days, we’ve seen a rash amount of smokescreens seemingly coming out regarding what the Cleveland Cavaliers plan to do with the No. 1 pick in the 2014 NBA Draft.
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After being award the top pick, rumors suggested the Cavaliers were looking to shop the pick. Then came word that the had engaged in trade talks with the Philadelphia 76ers over the pick. But just as quickly, those rumors were rebuffed by many pundits suggesting the Cavaliers were going to keep the pick.
Who were they going to select though? It’s been long assumed that Joel Embiid could be the most dominate player in the draft when all is said and done, though he’s coming off a stress fracture in his back and likely isn’t to be a massive contributor during his rookie season. That lead some to believe that it’s possible Andrew Wiggins or even Jabari Parker could emerge as the favorite, which wouldn’t be all that shocking considering Parker was allegedly atop the Cavs draft board for the majority of year.
All that said, it appears the Cavaliers have zeroed in on Joel Embiid.
“Several NBA officials told me the Cavs have no desire to unload the top pick and have honed in on Joel Embiid,” says Gery Woelfel.
Of course, we’re still a few weeks away from the NBA draft and it’s likely we’ll continue to hear more and more misdirections as it nears. For now though, the consensus seems to suggest that Embiid is the favorite of the Cavaliers front office.