Read More: Baron Davis (G – CLE), Antawn Jamison (F – CLE), Cleveland Cavaliers

The Cleveland Cavaliers have an amnesty clause to use thanks to the new collective bargaining agreement with Baron Davis being the mostly likely option to have his salary cleared from the books. Earlier Thursday it was even reported that the Cavaliers had decided on that option, but the latest reports indicate that Davis could remain on the roster.

The Cavs have not made a decision on whether to use the amnesty clause on Baron Davis, sources told ESPN’s Brian Windhorst. The report goes directly against what Yahoo! Sports counterpart Marc Spears reported earlier in the day, but considering Windhorst was previously a beat writer for the Cavs, it makes sense that he would still have sources in the city.

The Cavs could also use the amnesty clause on Antawn Jamison as he’s owed $15 million this season — just over one million more than Davis — but considering Davis has an extra season on his contract and the Cavs have three point guards on the roster without him, it would seem he would be the wiser cut from the books.

In the span of a single season the Cleveland Cavaliers went from first to second worst while enduring a 26 game losing streak that could have been 37 games if not for an overtime victory at home over the New York Knicks in mid-December.

The not unexpected result of suddenly losing the best young veteran in the NBA to free agency did have its silver lining. General Manager Chris Grant managed to trade Mo Williams to the Clippers for Baron Davis and an unprotected first round draft pick and the Cavaliers entered the draft lottery with two good chances at selecting first overall.

With a host of prospects on their roster and two top rookies, the Cavaliers enter this season with rebuilding their shattered franchise as their only priority. Every move the team makes now should be future oriented.

#1 Amnesty Baron Davis

Baron Davis has said all the right things heading into training camp. The Cavaliers believe him and are indicating that the most obvious amnesty candidate in the NBA will be on their roster this season.

The rationale for keeping the 32-year-old Davis is simple. The Cavaliers do not have many veterans and Davis can fill the mentor role for the team’s future star Kyrie Irving. Besides, paying Davis $28.6 million to play for someone else over the next two seasons is just too painful for management to contemplate.

There should be no question that Davis can still contribute significantly to a NBA team and he will likely remain on his best behavior in Cleveland. Davis knows his future in the NBA could depend on how he deals with this situation. This just isn’t enough of a reason to hang on to the veteran point guard.

The Cavaliers need to clear salary cap space for future moves and Davis’ contract makes him virtually untradeable. Head coach Bryon Scott is heading into a season where his team will lose a lot of games no matter what he does and Davis is just too tempting a player to have on one’s bench. Unfortunately, Davis is in the way.

The Cavaliers only took on Davis’ salary to net a second high draft pick and won bigger than they had any right to hope for by getting the first overall. The new collective bargaining agreement is providing them an opportunity to expand this win exponentially by freeing up Davis’ salary slot as well. The Cavaliers should amnesty Davis, but that doesn’t mean they will.

#2 Start Kyrie Irving

In a weak draft where several potential lottery picks returned to college, the Cavaliers got the top-rated rookie prospect, and just like last season’s top pick John Wall, Irving needs to start and play as many minutes as he can.

Irving was labeled as a potential NBA All-Star point guard heading into college, and even though injury shortened his college experience, he still retained that expectation. The 19-year-old Irving needs to play through his mistakes and develop his NBA game as quickly as possible. The Cavaliers future hopes are riding on his shoulders and will not be advanced by having Irving watch from the bench or deferring to someone else.

#3 Start Tristan Thompson

In a surprising move, the Cavaliers selected Tristan Thompson fourth overall instead of filling a potential future hole at center with Jonas Valanciunas or an obvious hole at small forward with Kawhi Leonard. Then they made room for Thompson by shipping power forward J.J. Hickson to Sacramento for small forward Omri Casspi and a future first round draft pick. Taking the two moves together, the Cavaliers look like they knew what they were doing.

The 20-year-old power forward’s game is still raw, but he impressed in college with his physical presence, and the Cavaliers have raved about his workouts.

There is no reason to hold Thompson back and nothing could be more important to the Cavaliers long term success than developing a strong chemistry between their two rookies by playing them together as much as possible.

#4 Go after a free agent shooting guard now

This year’s free agent class has a lot of shooting guards, unfortunately the ones the Cavaliers should be most interested in are all restricted free agents. This doesn’t mean the team should sit quietly on the sidelines and just watch. The biggest hole in Cleveland’s line-up is a quality shooting guard who will still be in his prime when the team’s rookies are ready to lead the Cavaliers back to the playoffs.

The best free agent shooting guard for the Cavaliers roster would be Arron Afflalo from Denver, but Afflalo has a long list of suitors and the Nuggets are expected to match almost any offer. Cleveland should still make the attempt.

If Cleveland approached Afflalo with a four-year $30 million offer, they would get his attention and at the very least drive the price up to the point where the Cavaliers could take a more modest run at Denvers’ Gary Forbes. The end game of bidding on Denvers’ restricted free agents could become Wilson Chandler. If Denver is stretched holding onto their free agents now, when Chandler returns from China in March, Cleveland may be one of a very few teams who will have the salary cap space to make a compelling offer.

#5 Let Antawn Jamison’s contract expire

The 35-year-old Antawn Jamison is in the final year of his massive contract and the timing couldn’t be better for the Cavaliers. Unless Cleveland can find a trade partner willing to give up a first round draft pick, inexpensive prospects, and very limited future salary commitments, the team should let Jamison backup Thompson until his salary comes off the books at the end of the season.

If the Cavaliers are not active in free agency now, the team can free up over $30 million in salary cap space for the potentially exciting free agent summer of 2012 by getting both Davis and Jamison off the books.

Jamison has always been a good teammate and consummate professional, there are no reasons to be concerned about having him around on a rebuilding team for one year.

#6 Get a top lottery pick in 2012

No team should tank a season by not trying to win, and if Irving, Casspi, Thompson, Anderson Varejao, a shooting guard, and the Cavaliers prospects are good enough to win games, so be it. This is not what the team should expect however.

The upcoming draft class looks strong and a top 10 pick will significantly help the Cavaliers continue the rebuilding process. Squeezing out extra victories by playing older veterans like Davis, Jamison, or possibly the popular free agent Anthony Parker is not going to speed the return of the team to respectability.

The Cavaliers should be playing for another top lottery pick in 2012.

The moves the Cavaliers should make are not easy ones for an organization to accept or admit to before a season starts. It is painful to eat salary and then watch your team win even fewer games than your low preseason expectations say should happen.

The Cavaliers need to get their two best and most expensive players off the books this season and let the rookies play. This season is just a stepping stone to future success and the future will be closer if the front office can endure the pain of making this season worse than it has to be.



At least for this season, the NBA has come up with an amnesty clause which allows teams to take one entire contract off the books.

It is a way to allow a franchise to get out from under a bad deal, and to potentially clear cap space to pursue new free agents. The organization still has to pay the contract, but none of it gets counted against the cap.

The biggest contracts on the Cavaliers books are Baron Davis at $13.9 million this year and $14.8 next year. Antawn Jamison is owed $15 million this year and he’s off the books next season.

Whatever the new cap is, the Cavaliers are way under it. But should they take advantage of the amnesty clause and release Davis, or keep him on the team so he can tutor rookie point guard Kyrie Irving?

 

Should the Cavaliers release Baron Davis under the amnesty clause?

CLEVELAND, Ohio — The tentative deal on a new collective bargaining agreement between the NBA and its players — expected to be ratified within the next 10 days — calls for a 66-game regular season schedule, beginning on Christmas Day.

The season will likely open with a triple-header featuring six of the league’s most high-profile teams.

The Cleveland Cavaliers would almost certainly begin their season on Monday, Dec. 26 or Tuesday, Dec. 27.

The Cavs have numerous flaws — as their 19-63 record last season indicates – but they do have depth at point guard.

Certain to get significant time leading the offense is Kyrie Irving, the first overall pick in last June’s draft. Irving played just 11 games at Duke last season as a freshman because of a toe injury, but there was a general consensus that he was one of the two or three top players available in the draft.

Cleveland’s returning point guards include Baron Davis and Ramon Sessions, and also Daniel “Boobie” Gibson, who also sometimes plays the two-guard despite his lack of height.

Davis, despite being the most accomplished of the Cavs’ playmakers, is considered a candidate to be waived under an “amnesty” provision in the new collective bargaining agreement. Davis, 32 and about to begin his 13th season, is owed about $27 million over the remaining two years of his contract. The amnesty clause will allow a team to waive one player without having his contract count against the salary cap, although that player would still be paid and become available to other teams.

Cavaliers fans are quite familiar with Gibson, whose entire five-year NBA career has been spent in Cleveland. Gibson endeared himself to fans during his rookie season with some clutch outside shooting that helped the Cavs reach the NBA Finals. Gibson, his height generously listed at 6-2, has ample experience at both point guard and shooting guard.

Sessions has played four NBA seasons, coming to the Cavaliers in a trade with the Minnesota Timberwolves prior to last season. Sessions played 26.3 minutes per game in the 2010-11 campaign, averaging 13.3 points and 5.2 assists while leading the Cavs with 47 percent shooting from the field.

Sessions and Gibson are both considered to have some trade value. It would surprise many observers if Davis, Sessions and Gibson are all on the opening day roster, to go with Irving, the Cavs’ certain point guard of the future and, maybe, the present.

Some pundits believe Sessions, 6-3, could play some at the two (shooting) guard spot. He’s not a pure outside shooter, but has proven that he can get to the basket. 

A Cavaliers blog, Fear The Sword, features a player profile of Sessions. Conrad Kaczmarek asks Aaron McGuire about Sessions’ abilities as an NBA point guard. McGuire answers (the “18-4-8″ referring to Sessions’ point-rebound-assist averages in February):

I’ve always been a fan of Ramon’s game — sure, he’s not a shooter, and he penetrates too often. Certainly wouldn’t make a good guard on a team with, say, LeBron and Wade. But he’s the kind of guard that at his best can make one or two truly crafty passes per game, rebound better than virtually any non-Kidd point in the league, and get you buckets when you’re in a crunch. He’s fearless, and that’s a big plus at the NBA level. It’s true that his defense is among the worst of anyone at the guard position in the league, though. And while I think that given a starting role in his prime he could come close to his February numbers (18-4-8 with a 20-22 PER is his season-average ceiling, I think), his defense and lack of a good shot is always going to keep him from reaching that “franchise point guard” tier. Still. I think at his peak Ramon could be a top 15, fringe top 10 point guard in the league. And as he’s a willing backup guard, he could potentially be the best backup guard in the league. A good peak value, I’d say.

With the lockout apparently over, Plain Dealer and cleveland.com Cavaliers coverage is about to kick into full gear. Terry Pluto talks about the Cavs, along with the Browns and new Ohio State football coach Urban Meyer, in a podcast today. Pluto earlier wrote that having an NBA season is good news for the Cavaliers as they continue to rebuild.

Baseline to baseline

Baron Davis looks forward to playing in Cleveland, but he does understand there is a chance he could be waived. By Ramona Shelburne for ESPNLosAngeles.com.

Fear The Sword featured a player profile on Daniel Gibson, by Conrad Kaczmarek and Aaron McGuire. And, Kaczmarek provides an early preview of the team.

A new wrinkle in the NBA’s tentative labor deal could benefit teams below the salary cap, like the Cavaliers, Jason Lloyd writes for the Akron Beacon Journal.

Baron Davis hosts a charity game in Los Angeles. By Eric Pincus for HoopsWorld.com.

On NBA.com/cavaliers, an excerpt from the book, “Joe Tait: It’s Been a Real Ball.” Tait, the Cavaliers’ radio announcer who retired at the end of last season, wrote the book with The Plain Dealer’s Terry Pluto.

The Cavaliers should keep Baron Davis, Dylan Lowther writes for the Bleacher Report.

A Cavaliers records quiz on NBA.com/cavaliers.

If Baron Davis is waived by the Cavaliers, several teams — contenders, especially –will likely show an interest in acquiring him. For the Bleacher Report, Thomas Galicia wonders whether the Miami Heat would be interested in Davis, and Mike Chiari writes that Davis would be an ideal fit for the Los Angeles Lakers.

Betty White is a Cavaliers fan. Well, at least her character, Elka Ostrovsky, is in the sitcom “Hot in Cleveland.” The TV Land series premiered in June 2010, and in addition to White, stars Valerie Bertinelli, Jane Leeves and Wendie Malick. Soon, Cleveland Cavalier Baron Davis(notes) will join the cast for an episode.

“Hot in Cleveland” takes shots at our beloved city, from the eyes of three friends from Los Angeles who move to Cleveland. Having Baron Davis, the former Los Angeles Clipper, join the cast for some fun is only appropriate. Baron Davis landed in Cleveland back in February right in the heart of our very bad season. Baron was traded to the Cavaliers along with a first round pick for Mo Williams(notes) and Jamario Moon(notes).

In the upcoming episode, Betty White’s character will be giving Davis some advice on how to improve his game. It looks as though Davis does not need to improve his game, he would rather have Betty White’s career, or something similar!

NBA players are having to look into other options during the current lock-out. Some took their talents across the pond to play in other countries, others went back to school. Davis is prepping himself for life outside of the NBA having already appeared in the film “The Cookout” and an episode of “Lincoln Heights.”

Davis is also using the NBA lockout to work on a documentary. “American Schlub” is his attempt to showcase the demise of American men’s style. He challenges men to rethink the way they are dressing. “We used to be fashion forward,” Davis said, “we’re more of a sweats and Ugg boots type of society. We wanted to challenge men, from that perspective.”

“Crips and Bloods: Made In America.” was also produced by Davis. It looks like Davis is well on his way to a promising second career. Other players following this path include New York Knick small forward Carmelo Anthony(notes) who is showcasing his acting skills on “Law & Order” and “Nurse Jackie.” Chris Paul(notes) even took his family to appear on Family Feud.

While the episode will be filmed Thursday, Nov. 17, it will not air until sometime in February. It will be worth the wait to see White encouraging Davis to bring back Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s skyhook shot. In the meantime, Cleveland Cavalier fans with time on their hands during the lockout can go ahead and tune into the third season of “Hot in Cleveland” which begins at 10 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 30.

More by Sylvie Branch:

Players walk out on deal, on season

NBA 2011-2012 season final hope

Friday NBA Talks End Again Without Resolution: Fan Reaction

Cleveland Cavaliers season pushed back: A fan’s reaction

NBA cancels first 43 preseason games, will hurt struggling metro areas: A fan’s reaction

Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Cavaliers guard Baron Davis returned to Cleveland on Wednesday for a day of community service. He visited a couple of schools, made a stop at the Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center to salute service men and women ahead of Veterans Day on Friday and talked about sports and music at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

“I didn’t want the fans to think that any of us forgot about them,” Davis said. “That’s why I’m here.”

When he invited questions from a rapt audience of about 40 invited guests at the Rock Hall last night, he got at least a dozen questions — but not one about the lockout that has kept him and his teammates off the court at The Q a few blocks away.

The closest query was about how basketball had changed for him from when he started playing at the age of 4.

“A lot of the innocence is lost,” he said. “It’s a business first, and the stakes are a whole lot higher.”

As Davis made his way around his new hometown, NBA owners and union representatives were meeting in New York to try to bring an end to the lockout, which reached Day 132 on Wednesday.

“Today, for me, is not really about the lockout,” Davis said after the event. “It’s about why am I here in Cleveland. It’s about the veterans at the VA. Veterans Day is coming up, so let’s go in there and talk to these guys and hang out and make them feel their worth for their sacrifice and everything they’ve done to keep us safe.

“Today was a day of impact, a day of inspiration. That’s what it’s all about. That’s what we’re all capable of as a union, as a league. We’re capable of affecting people’s lives. I think a lot of times that gets forgotten.”

Looking fit and energized, Davis said he was starting to get jittery waiting for basketball to start. But he has been keeping busy, he said. Although he was enrolled at UCLA over the summer, he didn’t enroll for the fall semester because he thought he would be going back to work.

He said that was also the reason there never were workouts organized for his locked-out teammates.

“Every time we’d get ready to organize, we [thought] we were on our way back,” he said.

He is trying to organize a charity game in Los Angeles later this month that would feature some Cavs players, and he said he would like to do the same here, although he did not provide specifics.

“We’ll get together, probably even do some type of charity game here in Cleveland for the fans, like a giveback game in Cleveland for the fans,” he said.

Wednesday’s schedule was a step in that direction. Asked what he got out of spending the day with Cleveland-area students and veterans, Davis said: “I don’t want to get anything. I want to give. I’m not here in Cleveland to do anything but give. I want to give to the people. I want to give to these kids and I want to inspire whomever is out there willing to listen.

“I think if I were to say what I get out of that: I get an opportunity to learn something new about myself, learn something new about Cleveland as a whole and as a community. For me, it’s all about giving at this point in my career, at this point in my life.”

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: [email protected], 216-999-4668

On Twitter: @pdcavsinsider

Read More: nba lockout, Baron Davis (G – CLE), Dwyane Wade (G – MIA), Cleveland Cavaliers

The second day of NBA lockout talks are underway with ”enormous consequences” looming, according to Commissioner David Stern, if the two sides aren’t able to move closer to an agreement. Luckily, according to the first reports out of Saturday’s discussions, Cleveland Cavaliers point guard Baron Davis makes it seem as if the talks are progressing.

“We’re working, we’re working,” Davis said while leaving Saturday afternoon, according to Newsday’s Alan Hahn. “Both sides are willing and able.”

In all honesty, those quotes don’t mean much, but at least his reason for stepping out in the middle of the negotiating session doesn’t sound like it was done because something negative — say Commissioner Stern poking his finger at him — had happened inside the bargaining room. In fact, Davis told NBA.com’s David Aldridge that Friday’s report of the dust-up between Dwyane Wade and Stern was actually “blown a little out of proportion.”

Luckily, Davis also addressed his business-super-casual-like-if-casual-meant-what-you-wear-when-chopping-wood attire: ”I’m funny looking, so that helps ease the tension.”

So see, you guys, there’s a reason for his looking out of place. This probably deserves a bump up in the NBA lockout power rankings.

About 11 months ago, the irate owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers Dan Gilbert promised fans his team would win an NBA championship before LeBron James.  That famous rant cost Gilbert a $100,000 fine from the league, but for now at least, he hasn’t been proven completely wrong.

James made the Cavaliers a contending team, and with the roster Gilbert funded only another player of James caliber would return that team to the finals immediately.  As obtaining another James was not on the horizon, Cleveland reluctantly started the rebuilding process.

The Cavaliers do have an advantage over many other teams as they rebuild.  Gilbert is not afraid to spend money, and at the trade deadline, Cleveland traded Mo Williams to the Clippers for Baron Davis and the Clippers’ unprotected first-round draft pick.  By taking on about $12 million in additional salary commitments, the Cavaliers acquired the pick that would become first overall at the NBA draft lottery.  

Lottery luck has ensured Cleveland has their choice of Duke’s point guard Kyrie Irving or Arizona’s forward Derrick Williams.  The first overall pick of the 2011 draft will not be traded.

With the second-worst record in the NBA last season, the Cavaliers had their own lottery pick, but that pick dropped to fourth giving the team two picks in the top four of this year’s draft, hadn’t happened since the Houston Rockets did it in 1983.

Cleveland received a $14.5 million traded player exception when James joined Miami in a sign-and-trade deal and Gilbert has proven his willingness to spend big on his team.  Therefore the obvious question becomes, should the Cavaliers use the fourth pick in the draft plus the trade exception to go after an impact player who could accelerate the team’s return to contention, or should the team keep the pick and rebuild slowly through the draft?

As of now the Cavaliers roster has no depth.  The over 30-year-olds Baron Davis, Antawn Jamison, and Anthony Parker (free agent) could significantly boost the team’s win totals if healthy, but this is fool’s gold as none of these players will be around when this team is ready to compete.  The 25-year-olds Daniel Gibson and Ramon Sessions would be decent back up guards for Kyrie Irving next season, and the 28-year-old Anderson Varejao is a good energy guy, but after that, the Cavaliers are a team of recent late-first and second-round draft picks plus a collection of undrafted players.  This is not a team where one could add a quality starter and leap into contention.

While some of the team’s young players may develop into decent backups or even starters, the Cavaliers do not have enough high potential youth to rebuild and need to hang onto their draft picks.  If possible, the team should even acquire additional lottery picks for this year and next.  The only trade involving the fourth pick should be as part of a deal to acquire the second pick from Minnesota.

Everyone anticipates that the Cavaliers will select Irving first overall.  This should leave them with several interesting center and small forward prospects to choose from with the fourth pick.

Jonas Valanciunas, Lithuania, Center

The 6’11″, 19-year-old center played at the highest level in Europe last season and is considered to be a good pick-and-roll player, however the rest of Valanciunas’ game is still raw at both ends of the floor.

Enes Kanter, (Kentucky) Turkey, Center

The 19-year-old Kanter has center-worthy measurements at 6′ 11.25″ tall, 259 lbs, and a 7′ 1.5″ wingspan, however he was ruled ineligible by the NCAA last year and didn’t play in any games for Kentucky.  Kanter worked out for the Cavaliers this past week.  

A very intriguing prospect, Kanter is not a sure thing.

Bismack Biyombo, Congo, Power Forward/Center

Biyombo came out of nowhere when he joined the senior roster of Baloncesto Fuenlabrada in January, averaging  6.4 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 2.3 blocks in 17 minutes, and has shot up draft boards everywhere.  

Still only 18 years old, Biyombo is 6′ 9″ tall and 243 lbs with an incredible 7′ 7″ wingspan.  This is a guy to watch.

Kawhi Leonard, San Diego State Sophomore, Small Forward

The top-ranked wing player in his draft class not named Derrick Williams, Leonard averaged 15.5 points, 10.6 rebounds, and 1.4 steals for the Aztecs last season and projects to be a very good defender at the next level.

Jan Vesely, Czech Republic, Small Forward

NBA teams have been following the 21-year-old Vesely for some time and his play around the rim has drawn (generous?) comparisons to the Clippers Blake Griffin.  The athletic 6′ 11″ small forward’s game may be even better suited to the NBA.

It would be understandable if the Cavaliers were underwhelmed by their choices with the fourth overall pick in the 2011 draft.  Usually a pick this high would involve a player who would be more of a sure thing and less of a prospect.  In this situation, Cleveland should be acquiring the most proven center available with a high upside and that choice will lead them to taking Valanciunas, if he’s still on the board.

Since the Cavaliers own the first overall pick, they control the board, and if they are willing to make a bold move in an attempt to maximize the talent from their first and fourth draft picks, the Cavaliers could get all they want from this draft.

There is just enough doubt and discussion for the Cavaliers to select Williams ahead of Irving and put even more pressure Timberwolves to do something with the number two pick.  Minnesota has just signed the fifth pick of the 2009 draft Ricky Rubio and still has the sixth pick from that draft Jonny Flynn on their roster.  Both of these players are point guards.

If Minnesota selects Irving, the pressure to do a draft day deal will be intense, and Cleveland would be happy to trade them the number four pick.  If Minnesota picks a center based on need, then one of Irving or Brandon Knight will fall to the Cavaliers at four.

Bold moves can produce bold results, and when a team is trying to rebuild an entire roster, no move is too bold.  

In the event Minnesota takes Irving and will not do a deal with Cleveland, Williams is still a solid first overall pick in this draft, and the Cavaliers can do no worse than obtaining the NCAA champion UConn Huskies’ point guard Kemba Walker with the fourth pick.

If Gilbert wants the Cavaliers to be built into contenders again, he is not going to give away his top draft picks.  Cleveland needs to acquire as many young players with star potential as possible through the draft this year and next.

The Cavaliers should make a bold move and control this draft by taking Williams first overall and then do whatever it takes to use their fourth pick as bait to acquire Irving.  

Send me your comments or questions about what the Cavaliers should do, the NBA draft, the Toronto Raptors, or anything else in the NBA to

Read More: Virginia Cavaliers

To Irving or not Irving. That is the question on the board for the Cleveland Cavaliers when discussing their plans for the first and fourth overall selections in the upcoming NBA Draft. ESPN’s Chad Ford says that Kyrie Irving is most likely the choice at this point, but the Cavs decision one way or the other also speaks volumes about the team’s overall direction and opinion of the draft class in general.

Specifically Ford finds a Cavaliers source and discusses the reasoning why the team would pick him when they already have point guards in house in the form of Baron Davis, who is virtually untradeable unless Isaiah Thomas somehow lands a general manager post again, and Ramon Sessions.

While Cleveland has yet to commit to Irving with their No. 1 pick and will bring in a number of prospects, sources close to the Cavs say that it’s very likely they’ll select Irving. Not only are they enamored with him as a player, but they also feel he’s the type of player who Cavs fans can get behind in Cleveland. “He’s a really great kid,” one Cavs source said. “He’ll get out into the community and I think he can help us rebuild our relationship with the fans. The only way I see us not taking him is if there’s a problem with the medical.”

If Kyrie Irving is the No. 1 overall choice for the Cavs, that speaks volumes about two primary things concerning the team and the draft. First, it insinuates the team is committed to a long-term rebuild that ignores the present value they currently possess on their roster — current point guards be damned. That might not mean a fun team to watch this year, but it also means the Cavs aren’t interested in mediocrity.

Secondly, it means the Cavs agree that this draft is not an impact class by any means and that even with two of the top four overall selections, they won’t turn the corner. There’s a lot of the off-season left, so opinions might change, but by choosing Irving, the Cavs are admitting that other options like Enes Kanter, Brandon Knight, Jan Vesely, Derrick Williams and so on aren’t the franchise players a team can bank on. Of course, that’s only Cleveland’s perception, but it does reveal at least one view of what teams are getting at the top of this year’s draft.

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Let the guessing games begin.

From now until June 23, everybody will be guessing what the Cavaliers will do with the No. 1 and No. 4 picks in the NBA draft. But only the front office’s opinion counts.

I left the NBA combine in Chicago last week with the distinct impression that the Cavs had not decided exactly what they were going to do, keeping all their options open, including trades. While they may very well wind up drafting Duke point guard Kyrie Irving with the top pick and Enes Kanter of Turkey at No. 4, I don’t think they would definitively say that today.

Nor should they. By all accounts, they’ve barely met Irving. They were scheduled to have their medical staff meet and test Irving on Saturday, but that’s just the beginning of their process. There is plenty of time to do the comprehensive vetting they’ve become known for.

Certainly Irving would appear to be a perfect fit. Coach Byron Scott’s best teams have had dynamic young point guards, and one reason they brought Baron Davis on board was to run the team while mentoring a youngster such as Irving.

But there still are many questions to ask before the Cavs are ready to say Irving is the answer. Nonetheless, NBA observers will compile their mock drafts — even if some are doing so under protest.

Take TNT’s David Aldridge, who also writes for NBA.com. Under the headline “Mock draft: In act of lunacy, first attempt at first round,” Aldridge wrote last week, “I mock out of protest. The folks at NBA.com asked me to put a mock draft together after Tuesday night’s lottery. I hate mock drafts.

“There are people who spend months doing these things, and they always get 80 percent of the selections wrong — not because they don’t know enough, but because they may know too much. People tell you things, and you tend to believe them, even though a) they may well be lying, and b) they have no idea what the other 29 teams are thinking, because those other 29 teams are lying to them just like they’re lying to you. So the whole notion of predicting accurately five weeks before the actual draft is, to me, lunacy.”

Aldridge thinks the Cavs will take Irving at No. 1. “Rebuilding starts in earnest with the quicksilver point guard,” he wrote. He also thinks they’ll take Kanter fourth. “The line to move up to get Kanter or Jan Vesely starts here. But Cavs may not be able to pass up on a big who can come in and play right away.”

ESPN.com’s Chad Ford agrees on all of the above, including difficulty in making predictions now.

“At this point, very little is set in stone,” he wrote. “Expect this mock draft to fluctuate greatly over the course of the next six weeks. The process of team workouts has just started. The Chicago NBA pre-draft combine, the Reebok Eurocamp and hundreds of team workouts will dramatically alter the face of the draft.”

Of Irving, Ford wrote, “What a big win for Cleveland … Yes, the Cavs have Baron Davis, but he’s not a big part of their future plans. Irving can come in and immediately give them a backcourt foundation to fit with J.J. Hickson and the No. 4 pick.”

Of Kanter, he wrote, “Few teams watched Kanter play during the past year unless they saw a Kentucky practice, so they are projecting Kanter’s potential largely on the strength of a stellar performance at the 2010 Nike Hoop Summit.

“Kanter is tough, can play inside and out, rebounds the basketball and has a higher basketball IQ than most other players his age. While a bit undersized for a center, his toughness in the paint would be very welcome in Cleveland.”

Alliance native Chris Monter has been producing the Monter Draft Report since 1991 and has been dedicated to the draft longer than any other media person. It is a full-time, year-round job — and then some. But even he doesn’t do a mock draft year-round.

“I think that is crazy,” he said. “I wait until the lottery is over.”

He’s still working on his mock draft.

Those are just opinions. Google 2011 NBA mock drafts and you’ll have a choice of more than 67,000 entries. Just keep in mind that none belong to the Cavs.