2019 NBA Mock Draft: Cleveland Cavaliers find taker for JR Smith’s contract
By Mike Graham
The Cleveland Cavaliers land three first-round picks in our final NBA mock draft, while also finding a home for JR Smith’s contract.
We’re all centering our attention on the Cleveland Cavaliers entering the NBA Draft, but it’s been a busy week since out last mock. How busy? Let’s start with Kevin Durant blowing out his achillies, Klay Thompson tearing his ACL. The Raptors are the new NBA champions, and people cared about that for approximately 32 hours.
The Lakers stole the show when they acquired Anthony Davis. You can’t blame Pelicans’ GM David Graiffin for landing the equivalent being traded to the Los Angeles Lakers for the equivalent of Noah’s Ark.
New Orleans now has the 4th fourth and has been shopping it for a week according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst.
Durant’s injury has ramifications because if he was healthy, and say New York-bound, the Knicks may have been more willing to talk a trade out of No. 3. With Durant now injured and presumed to miss most, if not all of next season, I don’t believe the Knicks–if they land him–will trade the pick.
They’ll pay Durat to rehab while they stink up the court and end up with another lottery pick to pair with him when he’s health ty play in 2020-2021.
And if they don’t land him, it will be a hellacious 10 days in New York, so without further ado, let’s take one more swing at a mock.