Cavaliers GM Chris Grant keeps his plans for the draft quiet, but says he got "the two best humans" for the franchise.
INDEPENDENCE, Ohio -- The Chris Grant Era for the Cavaliers is one of quiet maneuvers, plenty of phone calls, secret plans and little, if any, hat-tipping.
That's why Kyrie Irving had no idea he was going to be the No. 1 selection in the NBA draft Thursday. Everyone else in the NBA seemed to know it. Every other player who was to be drafted appeared to expect it.
But while the Cavaliers were the only team Irving worked out for before the draft, general manager Grant, coach Byron Scott and owner Dan Gilbert never told Irving to buy wine and gold-colored apparel.
"They gave no indication they were going to choose me," Irving said in a conference call with Cleveland reporters Thursday night. "I was just as surprised as everyone else."
He shouldn't have been. Grant said Irving and the Cavs' pick at No. 4, forward Tristan Thompson, both were at the top of their list throughout the draft preparations.
"They're the two best talents and the two best humans for this team," Grant said.
Irving's selection was long expected, even if he wasn't certain until NBA Commissioner David Stern called his name. Tristan Thompson's pick at No. 4, however, was a greater surprise as the 6-8 defensive specialist played one season at Texas and plays the same position as J.J. Hickson, the power forward who is supposed to be one of the main building blocks for the Cavaliers.
Grant said the team sought to choose the two best players, regardless of position.
Now, however, the face of the franchise belongs to Irving. The 6-2 point guard from Duke played only 11 games because of a toe injury. He said he's eager to learn from veteran Baron Davis, the point guard who joined the team in a midseason trade. Irving said he has modeled his game after NBA All-Stars Chauncey Billups and Chris Paul, and expects to be just as important to the Cavaliers as those players are to their respective teams.
"I really want to be the cornerstone, the piece of the team they build around and have a lot of great players around," Irving said.
One of those players is Thompson, an energetic defender who was Big 12 Freshman of the Year his one season at Texas. Thompson said he has been working with former Cavaliers coach John Lucas in Houston, trying to improve his outside shooting. Thompson is seen as a player who might be undersized to compete at power forward in the NBA, but his long arms help him defensively. He averaged 2.4 blocks per game for the Longhorns last season.
Even with all of Grant's attempts at trade and moves during this draft, little materialized. The splashiest move was sending the 32nd pick, Richmond forward Justin Harper, to Orlando in exchange for second-round picks in 2013 and 2014.
The Cavs' final pick at 54, Milan Macvan, is a Serbian that Grant called "one of the toughest, nastiest power forwards I've ever seen." He expects to allow Macvan to continue to play overseas and develop next season.
Source: http://www.cleveland.com/cavs/index.ssf/2011/06/cleveland_cavaliers_keep_their.html
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