NBA Draft Rumors 2014: Could the Cleveland Cavaliers take Dante Exum?
It is widely believed that the Cleveland Cavaliers will take one of three prospects with the number one in the 2014 NBA Draft.
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Those prospects are a pair of former Kansas Jayhawks’ teammates, forward Andrew Wiggins and center Joel Embiid and former Duke Blue Devils’ forward Jabari Parker. However, the Cavaliers, who won the top-overall pick in last week’s draft lottery despite finishing with the just ninth-worst record in the league, could shock the NBA world, much like they did last year when they took former UNLV Runnin’ Rebels forward Anthony Bennett with the top pick.
Yannis Koutroupis of Basketball Insiders sees Australian point guard Dante Exum as a dark house number one pick.
"If there’s any player who has the potential to at least work his way into the conversation along with the three players mentioned above, it’s Australian guard Dante Exum. Clearly, the Cavaliers don’t have a need at the point guard position, or even the backup position with Jarrett Jack under contract through at least 2016 and potentially 2017. However, rumors of Irving wanting out of Cleveland have persisted for over a year now and they’re continuing to build as the window to negotiate a contract extension is set to open on July 1 and close on October 31. We’ve heard everything from Irving being unwilling to accept a max contract extension to the Cavaliers not even being willing to offer him one. Do the Cavaliers want to rid themselves of an unhappy All-Star before standoffs start happening at the negotiation table?"
This is obviously an interesting question because of the uncertain future of Irving. Of course, the Cavaliers could also opt to draft Exum and with his size (6’6), they could potentially play him off of the ball next to Irving and then trade guard Dion Waiters, the fourth-overall pick of the 2012 NBA Draft.