Cleveland Cavaliers Already Swooning Over Joe Harris

When my favorite NBA team, the Cleveland Cavaliers, drafted former Virginia Cavalier Joe Harris in June, I was ecstatic.  Not only was I excited that the star of the UVa team that won an ACC title for the first time in 30 years was being drafted into the NBA, but he was going to Cleveland as well. After the Cavaliers added Lebron James, Kevin Love, Mike Miller, Shawn Marion, and James Jones, Cleveland became a title contender and I figured Joe Harris would relegated to the D League or only get playing time during blowouts. Last year only half of the second round picks even played in the NBA and only one of them had more than 40 minutes of total playing time and 15 points at this point of the season.

Luckily Joe Harris made the opening day roster, and even got some last minute playing time in three of Cleveland’s first five games. Then starting shooting guard Dion Waiters injured his back in the fifth game, allowing Harris to get extended minutes against New Orleans last week. The 23 year old rookie has not looked back since.

In the past three games, Harris has played an average of 20 minutes a game, hit 6 three pointers and has led the All-Star stacked team with a +/- of +65. In a close game against the Celtics, the second round pick played in the closing minutes including hitting a 3-pointer with 3 minutes to go.  Against Atlanta over the weekend, Harris entered in the first quarter and drained two 3-pointers igniting the rout of the Hawks. Only two players chosen #25 or later in this year's draft have more minutes or points than Harris.

Here is some of the praise from the Cavaliers' coach David Blatt so far:

"He's a very, very positive worker, nose to the grindstone, doesn't say a whole lot, listens to the veteran guys, fits in with what we're doing and he plays as hard as he possibly can regardless of the situation. That's what you want. Joe brought energy; he brought commitment to both ends. Our scouting department did a heckuva job getting Joe with that pick"

Even the best player in the world is on the Joe Harris bandwagon:

"He was huge," Lebron James said. "Joe Harris is going to be a big piece for our team.”

Now there are reports that the former Virginia Cavalier star could be in the Cleveland Cavalier’s starting lineup soon.

“With the way he is progressing and as well as he is playing, Joe Harris will be the starting shooting guard sooner rather than later. Much sooner. As in within a couple of weeks (or less), one source with knowledge of the team’s thinking said. At least one member of the Cavs’ brain trust is already in favor of the switch.”

It has been quite the rise for a player who only people in Charlottesville were swooning about last year.  I already have my jersey:

Cleveland Cavaliers Win Draft Lottery

The Cleveland Cavaliers took a big step in the post Lebron James era as they won the NBA draft lottery tonight. Not only do they have the number one overall pick (from a trade with the Clippers), but they have the fourth overall as well. Maybe David Stern rigged the bouncing balls to correct the carnage left in Lebron’s absence, or maybe it’s just the Clippers doing what they do best.

While there is no clear cut top choice like in previous years (Wall, Griffin, Rose, etc), two solid draft selections can be a great foundation for the team’s future. It would have been interesting to draft another hometown hero, Jared Sullinger out of Ohio State, but he is returning to school, and I’d be wary of drafting an OSU big man #1 anyway. There will be a lot of speculation on who the Cavs should draft (Arizona’s Derrick Williams, Duke’s Kyrie Irving, European no names), but maybe they should trade down since they need a lot of help. They would be drafting for potential, not immediate need since they had the worst record in the conference, but I wouldn’t mind seeing Williams and say Kemba Walker in Cleveland uniforms next year.

Cleveland Cavs hit rock bottom without LeBron

After last night’s 108-100 loss to the Suns, the Cavaliers have officially hit rock bottom. At 8-29, Cleveland now has the worst record in the NBA. They have lost 10 straight and 20 of 21 overall. That is only one win since November 28th! Now one of their best players, Anderson Varejao, tore a tendon and is out for the year. Even their team statistics are awful. Out of 30 teams, they are 26th in offense scoring, 23rd in defense, 29th in shooting percentage, 27th in defensive %, 24th in three point %, and 30th in defensive 3pt %. Meanwhile the attendance numbers are second highest in the league, reflecting all the disappointed fans who already bought tickets during the offseason. The team was going to predictably struggle after Lebron left, but no one imagined it would be this bad so soon. Owner Dan Gilbert might as well start trading away what’s left, since this season is done.

My second favorite team, Wizards, are not faring much better either. At 9-26, they are the second worst team in the Eastern Conference and are 0-18 on the road. Luckily Washington has their superstar already in John Wall, who unfortunately has missed 12 games due to injury contributing to their poor start.

Maybe the Cavs can draft Ohio State’s superstar freshman Jared Sullinger in next year’s draft, since taking the home town hero worked out so well last time.

Building a New “Wall” in Washington

“Mr. Prokhorov, you can’t tear down this wall”

There is a new era in Washington as the Wizards won the draft lottery for only the second time in franchise history in DC. Even though they had the sixth best chance of earning the top spot, they lucked out over several teams to draft first overall in June 24ths’s draft. The New Jersey Nets had the best chance, who, with new Russian billionaire owner Mikhail Prokhorov at the helm, were trying to entice Lebron James to come to Brooklyn with the #1 pick and Jay-Z.

The consensus best player in the draft is Kentucky freshman point guard John Wall, followed by Ohio State’s Evan Turner. Luckily this gives the Wizards the perfect opportunity to part ways with Gilbert Arenas and usher in a new era for the franchise. After jettisoning Jamison, Butler and Haywood, Washington can now ship out the gun-toting Arenas and the rest of his $100 million contract to make room for Wall.

Another part of the new era of the franchise is the arrival of new owner Ted Leonsis, taking over for the late Abe Pollin. Hopefully he follows his model with the Capitals, which includes drafting Ovechkin, Backstrom, Green, Semin and Varlamov, and not the Wizards’ formula. The Wizards either draft well, but trade the players before they reach their potential, like Devin Harris, Steve Blake, Richard Hamilton, and Rasheed Wallace, or makes a colossal bust. At least Jordan isn’t around anymore to work out the players before hand and botch the only other time they had a #1 overall pick with Kwame Brown.

This will be the fourth #1 overall pick since 2004 for DC area sports teams, which isn’t surprising for the city with the longest 4-team title drought. While Strasburg has yet to pitch a game, and the Nats have not even drafted their #1 pick this year yet, the Wizards can only hope that Wall will pan out as well as Ovechkin has for the Caps. They could easily trade down and draft more players to fit their many needs, but the Wizards desperately need a new face of the franchise.