Unless the Cleveland Cavaliers make a move to trade up into the first round, the Wine and Gold won’t be making a selection through the first 30 picks of the 2025 NBA Draft.
However, they do have two second-round selections and could still find a solid player or an intriguing development project in the closing picks of the draft.
Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo of ESPN posted their latest mock draft earlier this week. With their picks, the Cavaliers are selecting two upside players.
The duo of analysts projects that the Cavaliers will select F Michael Ruzic with their first draft selection.
Ruzic, 18, is a perfect example of a project player who could potentially impact the Cavaliers down the line. The Croatian native has played overseas for Joventut as part of the ACB.
Ruzic only averaged 10 minutes in the Spanish league, but he still showed plenty of potential to be a two-way NBA player at some point in his career and has an intriguing NBA scouting report.
Unlike Cleveland’s first projected selection, the Cavaliers are predicted to select more of an NBA-ready player with their second selection.
In this mock, Givony and Woo predict Cleveland to select Indiana forward Mackenzie Mgbako with the penultimate pick of the draft.
Mgbako just wrapped up his sophomore season with the Hoosiers. He averaged 19.3 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 1.7 assists while shooting 43 percent from the floor and 33 percent from behind the arc.
Mgbako has the potential to be a solid player at the next level, but he needs to become a more efficient shooter to come close to cracking an NBA rotation.
There’s still over a month before the big night, but the Cavaliers should be happy if they emerge from the draft with a win-now player and a prospect with plenty of upside down the line.
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