The CSL

We broke the report yesterday that apparently the Trailblazers, if they keep their #1 overall selection, will most likely select F Justin Anderson out of Virginia. Today we are hearing rumors that the Dallas Mavericks who own the #2 selection, are leaning towards choosing F Noah Vonleh and passing on C Joel Embiid.
Joel has seen some negative feedback recently as he sustained yet another small injury. Known to be injury prone, teams drafting early this off-season fear Embiid ends up being the next Greg Oden. Oden is a good player, there's no denying that. However if you knew the ceiling of Oden would he have gone #1 overall? Perhaps not, and perhaps Embiid doesn't even go #2.

The Cavaliers have entered full rebuild around superstar G Kyrie Irving. After initially attempting to start a winning path, they quickly reverted their plans after the lackluster season F Zach Rnadolph had. The Cavaliers were able to re-acquire their draft pick from the Wizards by trading them G Dion Waiters. C Joel Embiid is worth the risk for Cleveland. Embiid can bring the low post presence that Zach Randolph couldn't bring alone. Embiid can focus on rebounding and shot blocking (similar to C Andre Dummond of the Pistons), perhaps allowing Randolph to open of the high-post and turning into a scoring threat again. The re-emergence of Randolph paired with Joel Embiid and Kyrie Irving could be just the core to bring the Cavaliers back into the playoffs.

I wonder how much truth there is to this rumor...

Myles wrote:I wonder how much truth there is to this rumor...

We're hearing from sources that we are very reputable.

I actually thought the same thing myself - that Embiid was going to drop to 3. Which likely means DePaula #4 and then us doing whatever the hell we do at 5.

It could be true - Justin and Vonleh are better prospects as far as we can see

I feel like if Portland passes on him as they are rumored to do, both Cleveland and I are going to get a lot of trade offers.

I wholeheartedly believe Embiid is going #1

WillyJakkz wrote:I wholeheartedly believe Embiid is going #1

Me too. It's simple put too much talent to get past the #1. Injuries? Ok.
Julius Randle is very injury prone. And went 4th

Embiid is a one-of-a-kind C, someone who'll dominate the position with extremely good defensive rebounding, efficiency, scoring, shot blocking. He has it all you could ask in a C. And he fits perfectly well with the Blazers and Lillard.