Thursday, May 26th, 2011 at 9:51 am  |  23 responses

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Mock Draft: Enes Kanter, No. 4

Go big or go home.

by Rodger Bohn / @rodgerbohn

Don’t call it a comeback! After grabbing our point guard of the future three picks ago in Kyrie Irving, ‘ya boys are back on the clock looking for another piece in the puzzle. Before we get started, we’d have to give a big thanks to Clippers GM Neil Olshey for giving us a little more flexibility along with the No. 1 pick in the Draft. Sure, we had to take a guy who plays every other night in Baron Davis, but we can live with that beard in exchange for another top-5 pick.

We have virtually no scoring from the wings in a league that’s driven by scorers. I don’t see Christian Eyenga or Alonzo Gee filling the role of 18 ppg scorer anytime soon. In typical Cleveland fashion, there happen to be no swingmen even remotely worthy of being picked here on our big board. We’re loaded at the power forward position and don’t have a true center on the roster, which makes a few Europeans intriguing right now. If this lockout lasts into the start of the season (which it inevitably will as of now), we’d have the option of sending an import player back across the pond to develop for a portion of the year, or even potentially the entire season.

You’ve got to play the cards you’re dealt and in this extremely weak Draft, we’ve got to go with the best player left on our board. That said…

With the fourth pick of the 2011 SLAMonline Mock Draft, the Cleveland Cavaliers select…

Enes Kanter from the University of Kentucky.

We our dire need for a scoring threat on the perimeter, we tried to swing a deal with Memphis with this pick and our trade exception. No bueno. Harrison Barnes would have been looked at long and hard here, but he decided he’d rather take sophomore Calc than play Russian roulette with this lockout.

Lithuanian center Jonas Valanciunas was also a viable option here at 4. He’s better at Kanter at playing pick and roll basketball and is longer, but there are some serious questions about whether or not he’s ready physically to come in and help out from day one in the League. Valanciunas aside, there weren’t too many other guys who we really thought were considerable options here with the fourth pick, though Kanter does have his question marks.

After playing a year of mid-level prep school ball at Stoneridge Prep in Cali and missing the entire season at Kentucky, its been nearly two years since the kid has played a meaningful game of basketball. Just a few days past his 19th birthday, that game experience is crucial for the development of a young big man.

Enes’ track record in Europe speaks for itself, though. He’s dominanted the International Game at the Jordan Brand Classic, Nike Hoop Summit, European U-16 Championships, and European U-18 Championships (where he got the better end of Valanciunas). When we say dominated, we mean that he killed to the point that was either named MVP or should have been named MVP. We’re basically forced to do a large portion of our scouting off of workouts like this. Kanter really is something else physically, coming in at 6-11, 259 pounds with 5 percent body fat. Throw in the impressive showing at the combine and engaging personality that he has, and you see why he was a no brainer for us.

The main thing that we’re drafting Kanter for is his rebounding, though. The guy has a chance to come in and be a double digit rebounder from day one. You throw in the fact that he offers the versatility of playing a traditional 5 or serving as a pick and pop threat, you see why he’s was a no brainer for us at 4. Any time that you can have a guy who can come in and fill a need at more than one position in this league, you’ve got to jump on it…FAST!