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It looks more and more like what the Cavaliers want to do from the Duke star R.J. Barrettand if that is indeed the goal, they will probably have to make real maneuvers to get there.
Barrett is a choice among the top three choices; the Cavs have the fifth overall selection.
Do the math and you can see that in the current state of things, the Cavs will not end up with Barrett. But according to several opposing leaders at the NBA Combine this weekend, Barrett is what the Cavs really want.
Basically, if the Cavs only hang on to the fifth choice, it's probably only because they feel they can recruit Barrett to that location. Or it's because no one would trade with them.
At the moment, the third choice belongs to the New York Knicks.
No. 1 belongs to David Griffin and the pelicans of New Orleans. Griffin is the former general manager of the Cavs and is now leading the New Orleans basketball club. He will advance the dynamic duke Zion Williamson.
The second choice belongs to the Memphis Grizzlies. Rumor has it that they are locked up in the custody of the Murray State Ja Morant.
That leaves the Knicks … and Barrett, the third favorite hope of all.
Where is he?
Like Williamson, Barrett hails from Duke. Barrett is also 6 feet 7 inches with great potential in the NBA. Some scouts compared him to a youngster Grant HillBarrett is an excellent athlete who finds a way to put the ball in the basket. Everyone expects his game to translate extremely well for the pros.
But there has been talk of the Knicks preferring a third player from Duke to Barrett. It would be none other than Reddish cam, another striker with a lot of promise. Of the three Blue Devils entering the project, Reddish arrives with the most points of questioning.
He averaged only 13.5 points and shot a paltry 36 percent of the field as a freshman last season. Meanwhile, Barrett averaged 22.6 points on a 45% shot. He also collected 7.6 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game.
Still, many scouts seem to think that Reddish has the chance to become a very productive pro – perhaps as productive as Barrett – in the right frame.
It's hard to say if the Knicks are the right setting for anyone these days, but that's not Cavs' concern. Apparently, they know who they want in this project and they will apparently explore all the options to land it.
So how could the Cavs go about getting Barrett?
Well, it's way too early to say.
They could perhaps send the Knicks the fifth choice and a third-choice player.
They could find an agreement before the draft, where the Knicks would name Barrett third. The Cavs should then hope that the Los Angeles Lakers pass on Reddish with the fourth choice, so that the Cavs can retreat too. Then the Cavs and Knicks could exchange Barrett and Reddish in a live exchange.
(This type of scenario would be more beneficial to the Knicks, because if the Lakers took Reddish, they would only keep Barrett and keep a player they really like – theoretically, anyway.)
Or the Cavs could not do anything and just hoped that Barrett would rank fifth. This scenario is highly unlikely.
If all this sounds a little confusing to you, just know that the Cavs apparently want Barrett more than any other hope that they can recruit at number 5. Much more.
And if that's true, they'll call the Knicks by June 20. Wherever it goes, it would be entirely to the Knicks.
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