The Cleveland Cavaliers have apparently narrowed down the 2013 NBA Draft's No. 1 pick to either Nerlens Noel (scouting report) or Alex Len (scouting report), according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. One of the two players were the consensus top pick in nearly every mock draft over the past couple of weeks, but there was speculation more players were in the discussion prior to Wojnarowski's report.
NBA Draft rumors: Cavaliers deciding between Alex Len and Nerlens Noel, according to report
Kentucky’s Nerlens Noel and Maryland’s Alex Len are reportedly the final two players in discussion to be this year’s top pick in the 2013 NBA Draft.
SB Nation's Jonathan Tjarks ranks both players in the top five on his NBA Draft big board, but has Len ranked third while Noel is fifth in Tjarks' player rankings -- with Anthony Bennett (scouting report), Ben McLemore (scouting report) and Michael Carter-Williams (scouting report) rounding out the top five heading into Thursday night.
The differences between Noel and Len are plentiful as Noel is more of a defensive force whereas Len showed a solid offensive repertoire in college, but there is one similarity: both will miss the start of the NBA season due to injury. That has caused some to call for the Cavs to consider drafting a healthier player with the top spot in the draft, but talented big men -- currently injured or not -- aren’t exactly a dime a dozen in the NBA.
If anyone’s interested in playing armchair GM, by the way, our friends over at Draft Express put together a video comparing Noel and Len during their head-to-head matchup last season.
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