Now that the 2014 NBA draft has officially concluded, it's time to take stock of where each of the Association's 30 teams stand. With selections made, trades finalized and the NBA landscape shifting before our eyes, there has been considerable movement over the past 24 hours that's changed how franchises across the league are being viewed.
Not only do prized rookies like Andrew Wiggins, Jabari Parker and Joel Embiid have new homes, but veterans like Omer Asik, Tyson Chandler and Arron Afflalo are getting situated in new, exciting locales as well. Whether your favorite team's stock is up, down or holding steady, it's time to evaluate how each club's future prospects were altered by a hectic and thrilling draft process.In some ways, Wiggins' offensive game is a perfect fit for Cleveland. His shooting could use some sharpening, though his NCAA splits (.448 from the field; .341 from three; .775 from the free-throw line) suggest that he's starting from a solid base. Until he becomes a knockdown threat, Wiggins should find ways to score as a cutter in half-court sets and as a freakishly athletic wingman in transition.Above all else, Wiggins doesn't need the ball in his hands to be an effective player on the offensive end. He can be a target for Irving's passes, a benefactor of the double- and triple-teams that his fellow former No. 1 pick draws so frequently. He can complement Irving's game without detracting from his spectacular on-ball skills.
That is, until Wiggins improves to the point that he can comfortably handle being a go-to guy on a good team. The Cavs understand full well that, right now, Wiggins isn't the sort of player who's going to take over, night in and night out.
Griffin went on to say:When you've got that level of athleticism, you need to make your presence felt more often than he understood how to. That was something we did have issues with, for sure. We talked very openly and candidly with him about that. Andrew understands there's another level to his game that we're expecting him to find, and he really, really wants to achieve it. He knows he's got more in the tank. Certainly it's more than he showed at Kansas. As Grantland's Brett Koremenos noted after the Jayhawks' early exit from March Madness, Bill Self's post-centric offense didn't do Wiggins, a slashing wing, any favors: But before heaping the blame on Wiggins, let me throw another number at you: two. That was the number of scripted plays called for specifically for the star freshman over the course of the entire game on Sunday. ...
While Wiggins has taken over plenty of games, despite Self’s offensive principles, it’s not a shock that a 19-year-old playing in the biggest game of his career, against an opponent using multiple defenses, failed to find his rhythm. ...Had Self looked to call more quick hitters for Wiggins or perhaps let him, instead of Black or Ellis, operate near the foul line when Stanford went into its 2-3 zone, that might have allowed the young star to get into a better rhythm.But by sticking to his tried-and-true methodology, Self failed to get Wiggins into the game, and perhaps because of it, his Kansas team won’t be playing another one this season.
The Cavs can only hope that new head coach David Blatt will do a better job of deploying Wiggins than Self did. Blatt's widely considered a smart offensive practitioner who shaped his sensibilities partly by his experience playing for the legendary Pete Carril at Princeton.
It's easy to imagine Wiggins having his way in the scoring department as a cutter in Carril's famed Princeton offense, traces of which are sure to be found in Cleveland under Blatt.In any case, the Cavs won't look to Wiggins to carry them on either end of the floor in 2014-15, and they should not. They want to be in the postseason next spring. Irving, not Wiggins, is currently their best bet to get them there. A strong campaign as Kyrie's sidekick would be enough to make Wiggins' debut season a success.
And if he rakes in an award or two, it's all the better.greater importance is how Wiggins develops thereafter.He may never have to be an alpha dog so long as he plays alongside a budding superstar like Irving, but if he can become a great running mate, like James Worthy (the No. 1 pick in 1982) was to Magic Johnson or Scottie Pippen (the No. 5 pick in 1987) was to Michael Jordan, he'll lay to rest the concerns of Cavs officials and armchair psychologists alike...and then some.
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