The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Toppin, Avdija targets in NBA draft
The Cavaliers have not played a basketball game against a team from another city in more than eight months — March 10, to be precise — when they lost to the Bulls, 108-103, in Chicago.
To say they are eager for the 2020-21 season is an understatement, especially since they won five of their last 11 games when J.B. Bickerstaff took over as head coach following the All-Star break.
“We felt we had great momentum,” General Manager Koby Altman said on Zoom. “J.B. really had a grasp of the job and the team and our young guys. We had incredible momentum. Being on pause for (eight months) is really difficult.”
But things are cranking up. The two-round NBA draft begins at 8 p.m. Nov. 18 on ESPN, and less than five weeks later the new season gets underway Dec. 22. Teams will play 72 games instead of the normal 82-game season.
The Cavaliers have only one pick in the draft. They finished 19-46 in 2019-20 — the secondworst record in the league — and came out of the draft lottery with the fifth pick. They have enough capital to acquire another first-round pick, but that would likely mean trading forward Kevin Love.
“We like where we are at five,” Altman said. “We feel like we’re going to get a really good player that’s a cultural fit but a talent.
“We’re going to add a piece that will be helpful right away and add to this complement of really good young talent.”
Two names have been linked the Cavliers in most mock drafts: Obi Toppin, a 6-foot-9 power forward from Dayton, and Deni Avdija, a 6-foot-9 forward from Israel.
Avdija played for Maccabi Tel Aviv. He averaged 12.3 points and 5.9 rebounds a game in 21 games in the 2019-20 season.
The scouting report from NBA.com has this to say about Avdija: “Point forward with an advanced feel for the game ... creative ball handler and playmaker ... plays with toughness and swagger
... competes on the defensive end.”
The knock of Toppin is he is not a fierce defender. The NBA.com scouting report on Toppin describes him as “a capable defender and rim protector.”
Most of the praise for Toppin centers on what he does at the offensive end: “Explosive leaper and finisher ... runs the floor exceptionally well ... scores both inside and out.”
Topping averaged 20 points and 7.5 points a game as a sophomore with the Flyers last season. He shot 63.3% from the field and 39% from 3-point range.
Altman said there is no clear-cut No. 1 pick in this draft. The Timberwolves, Warriors, Hornets and Bulls pick before the Cavaliers.
The consensus is the Timberwolves will take Georgia guard Anthony Edwards, but just about anything could happen after that. The Warriors have been linked to Memphis center James Wiseman if they don’t trade the pick, with LaMelo Ball going to Charlotte third and Iowa State guard Tyrese Haliburton going to the Bulls fourth before the Cavaliers are on the clock.
In other news, multiple reports have Andre Drummond picking up his $28.7 million option to stay with the Cavaliers for the 202021 season.