Tag Archives: Draft

Former Ohio State Player Refuses to Give Teams His Phone Number

deshaun thomas

Deshaun Thomas is preparing for NBA Draft and meeting with teams at the combine, however if a teams wants to get in contact with him they won’t be able to call his cell phone.

Thomas explained that if teams informed him they would be drafting him he would release his phone number to them.

“I can’t go around giving it out to everyone,” Thomas said Thursday with a laugh. “Now if they want to draft me, I’d be happy to give it to them.”

Thomas is projected to be a second round pick after finishing his junior year at Ohio State leading the Big Ten in scoring and is currently working out to decrease his body fat from 12% to 8-9% with the hopes of moving up into the first round.

The NBA Draft takes place June 27th.

Source Akron Beacon Journal

Brandon Weeden, Browns Agree to 4 Year $8.1 Million Contract

With their top draft choice signed and ready to go, the Browns turned their focus to the second pick in the 2012 NFL Draft and today inked Brandon Weeden to a 4 year deal worth 8.1 million with 3 years fully guaranteed and $900 thousand guaranteed in the final year as reported by ESPN and Adam Schefter.

The 4th year of the deal was a hold up in the negotiations but as time came closer to the start of training camp both sides agreed to a deal that was beneficial for both parties.

Now that Weeden is signed the Browns can turn their attention to their quarterback situation in regards to Colt McCoy and who will be the starter. Pat Shurmur along with the front office have held true to their stance of there being an open competition going into training camp. When asked during mini camps on when he would name his starter, Shurmur stated he would rather name his guy as soon as possible.

“Sooner than later, I think once we’ve made the decision, that’s the deal, If you know that he’s going to be your guy, then make it happen so everybody gets comfortable working with that guy all the time.”

While overwhelming opinion is the Browns will eventually name Weeden the starter by the start of the regular season, who’s say McCoy won’t make some miraculous improvement and actually beat out Weeden for the starting job? Who’s to say that starting Weeden from day one is the best thing for his development? Also, haven’t seen enough from this regime to assume that they’ll do the obvious. It’s obvious they need a veteran wide receiver, haven’t gotten one of those. They’ve needed help at linebacker, and they haven’t exactly gone out and gotten a Ray Lewis or Patrick Willis type player.

Just think its slightly pretentious to assume much of anything with this team, when they’ve marched the beat to their own drum from day one.

I agree they should go ahead and name Weeden the starter and allow McCoy to go elsewhere, however the business side of this wont allow that to happen. Watch them go into the season with their quarterback core as is, with the safety net of, if something happens to Weeden they can go to McCoy if need be. And with McCoy have the type of personality he does, they won’t have to worry about him causing drama in the locker room.

In a few weeks we won’t have to wonder, the end of August will be here in no time and we’ll have all the answers we’ll need.

Trent Richardson Signs 4 Year Contract with the Browns

The Cleveland Browns and number two overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft Trent Richardson agreed to a 4 year deal, worth $20.5 million, including $13.3 million signing bonus as reported by Cleveland.com.

During the offseason Pat Shurmur had nothing but high praise for their top draft pick;

“Wow, he’s a very powerful man and he’s powerfully built, don’t let the 5-9 1/2 fool you. He’s almost 230 pounds and that’s a lot of muscle packed into that body. I think he’s got a very powerful build, much like we thought when we drafted him and it shows up on the field.”

This comes on the heels of Andrew Luck, Robert Griffin III and Maurice Claiborne signing their contracts in recent days.

While the deal did go up until the day before rookies were to report to training camp, the important things is the deal got done. The Browns invested too much to have one of their top rookies hold out of camp over language in the contract. Now that he’s in camp, let’s all cross our fingers for good health, and hope the Browns come out on opening day an improved team.

Draft Day Attire Flashback Circa 1992

It’s always fun to go back and look at what people were wearing years back and say ‘ you used to wear that?!’. From funky color patterns, to the box top fade, there are just somethings some athletes will never be able to live down. And 20 years from now we’ll look back at the draft class and ask the same questions. Until then, let’s enjoy the hilarity that is this photo of Jim Jackson (drafted by the Dallas Mavericks), Shaquille O’neal (drafted by the Orlando Magic) and Alonzo Mourning (drafted by the Charlotte Hornets).

 

Cavs Draft Possibilities

The NBA Draft takes place on Thursday and the Cavs currently hold the 4th and 24th overall picks. With the Wizards, Bobcats and Rockets all making trades the last few days, the options for the Cavs have really opened up.

The Cavs who are in dire need of a wing player will more than likely have their choice between Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Harrison Barnes at the small forward position. The Cavs cant’ go wrong when choosing between these two soon to be rookies, even though they provide different contributions. Kidd-Gilchrist is thought to be a defensive maven, dangerous in transition and excellent at moving off the ball and driving the lane. While Barnes is a solid defender, excellent mid-range offensive game, and can catch and shoot with the best of them.

My fear with Barnes is, he struggled last year creating off the dribble, and creating space against competition that was smaller and slower. Now while that can be attributed to growing pains of a young player, I’m not so sure how quick he will improve that part of his game, once he starts consistently playing against guys who are stronger and faster than his counterparts at the college level. I’m not going to completely out rule the possibility of growing, but for most players that have the same struggle; it’s something that follows you to the league. However, many believe that Barnes has a game that will translate to the NBA, given his height and big frame and that is sure to fill out once his body matures.

With Kidd-Gilchrist, the knock on him is, his jump shot is pretty weak. While this is something you can improve on, his shooting motion may be something that delays the process. What works in his favor is, defensively he’s 100% committed on that end of the floor. As previously stated, he’s good in the open court and in space. He’s also a solid rebounder, which poses a threat to the defense when you have a 6’7’’ guy barreling down the court on the break.

Rumblings have been the Cavs could take Bradley Beal, who at 6’4’’ is considered to be undersized to play the shooting guard position. However, is a lights out shooter who has the ability to take you off the dribble and get to the rim and finish strong. Scouts say he’s a willing passer and plays with a high basketball IQ.

While Beal is an option, I just don’t think you can play with a backcourt of two players that are 6’4’’ with Beal and Irving. You leave yourself open to, too many mismatches on the defensive end when it comes to playing against some of the bigger guards in the league, as well as pick and roll situations with switches.

The Cavs as a long shot could choose to take one of the big men that will fall to them at #4 between Thomas Robinson and Andre Drummond. Though they are in need of a solid center to allow Andy Varejao and Tristan Thompson to play more at their natural position of power forward, I don’t think that would be wise considering you’re already grooming one young big guy. I’m not sure you want to bring in another one in considering we know typically big guys take a little longer to develop than other positions, based on all they have to develop, post game, foot work, help defense etc.

If I were the Cavs picking at #4 I’d go with either Barnes or Kidd-Gilchrist, while leaning hard on the side of Kidd-Gilchrist. I believe the fact that he should come in and be a solid defender from day one helps the team immediately. I have more faith that you can fix his jumper faster than you can fix Barnes’ issue with creating his own shot. Kidd-Gilchrist at the moment is a better ball handler and they both finish well in the transition. However, I’d prefer to see Kidd-Gilchrist in a Cavs uniform.