Cavaliers select Meleek Thomas

    The Cleveland Cavaliers seem to have made a strong move by trading out of the first round and dropping five spots into the second round after their opening draft night deal with the Sacramento Kings.

Cleveland's selection of Arkansas guard Meleek Thomas added one of the better shooters in the draft and one who, at nineteen, has the potential to eventually be a key contributor down the road.

The 6'5 Thomas played one season in college at Arkansas for John Calipari, averaging just under sixteen points per game, shooting forty-three percent from the floor and an impressive forty-one percent from three-point distance.

Thomas was a five-star recruit for Arkansas after playing his high school basketball in Pittsburgh and entering the draft. He was rated by most as a mid to late first-rounder, so on talent, Thomas would seem to be a steal in the second round.

Thomas is regarded as an excellent shooter, has been described as a "Gifted Scorer", and his offensive game made me think of Vinnie "The Microwave" Johnson, the Detroit Pistons sixth man in the late eighties and early nineties.

Thomas does have some flaws, as he's been noted to play out of control and needs major league work on the defensive end, but at only nineteen, Thomas's potential is worth taking in the second round.

I'd park him with the G-League's Cleveland Charge for as many games as possible and hope he can improve enough to be a key contributor and an offensive catalyst off the bench.

Cavaliers trade out of Round One

   The Cleveland Cavaliers were rumored to have been shopping their first-round pick during the first night of the NBA Draft, and I thought they would move the pick.

Not on any brilliance on my part, but because I was very tired, and usually in these situations, the result isn't worth staying awake.

And the Cavaliers didn't disappoint, trading the next-to-last choice in the first round (29th, originally the property of the San Antonio Spurs) to the Sacramento Kings for the 34th pick (the fourth pick in round two) and a "future second-rounder".

I bracketed those words because the pick wasn't specified, but was described to Cleveland.com as "in the distant future".

The deal is uninspiring, but it makes sense because a second-round choice isn't automatically tied to the team's salary structure as a first-round choice would be, and, given the Cavaliers' cap situation, they need to save wherever they can.

Interesting prospects available in round two include center Henri Veesaar of North Carolina, forward Isaiah Evans of Duke, and guards Maleek Thomas of Arkansas, Ryan Conwell of Louisville, and Bruce Thornton of Ohio State