NBA Rumors: Cleveland Cavaliers interested in drafting Dante Exum
By Josh Hill
The NBA Draft is right around the corner and that means teams are in the 11th hour of finalizing draft strategies to try and land the players they think will take them to the next level.
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For the Cleveland Cavaliers, they own the No.1 pick in the draft and are eyeing as many as five prospects to take at the top slot. One of those players appears to be Joel Emibiid but recent news of a foot injury has caused the Cavs to immediately reconsider their plans and they’re now eyeing another one of the draft’s more electric players.
According to Adrian Wojnarowski as well was ESPN’s Jeff Goodman, the Cavaliers are now eyeing Dante Exum with more seriousness than they have been before, especially in wake of the Joel Embiid foot injury that may sink his draft stock.
As Jeff Goodman reports, Joel Embiid suffered a foot injury. Cavs want to workout Dante Exum for No. 1 spot now too, sources tell Yahoo.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 19, 2014
This makes a lot of sense for Cleveland as they’re not only in need of someone who can mesh with Kyrie Irving, but they may end up needing a replacement for him in the coming years if he leaves for another team.
There’s also the possibility of taking Exum and then flipping him later on in the draft to acquire pieces the Cavs truly covet, although Exum is a prized possession the Cavaliers wouldn’t easily give up. While it seems crazy to consider, let’s not forget that the Cavaliers shocked everyone by taking Dion Waiters high in the draft a few years ago, and that same brand of crazy still infects the Cavs straight from the top.