FanSided NBA Mock Draft Pick No. 24: Cleveland Cavaliers Select Andrew Nicholson

The FanSided NBA network is conducting a Mock Draft of the first round of the 2012 NBA Draft. The Cleveland Cavaliers have two picks, Nos. 4 and 24, in the first round, and as editor of Right Down Euclid I will be making the draft decisions for the Cavaliers. We will now continue with the No. 24 pick. Cleveland is back on the clock…

With the fourth pick in the FanSided NBA Mock Draft Zachary Kolesar, the general manager of Right Down Euclid (representing the Cleveland Cavaliers), has selected Andrew Nicholson of St. Bonaventure.

Team Name (site name): Right Down Euclid

Player name: Andrew Nicholson

Position: PF

Height: 6’ 9”

Weight: 234 lbs

School: St. Bonaventure

Short summary of the player and his stats from college:

Andrew Nicholson played four seasons at St. Bonaventure, putting up solid all-around numbers, including averaging over 20 points in his junior season. Nicholson was able to help lead his team to its first NCAA tournament appearance in twelve years, as he averaged 18.5 points, 8.4 rebounds and 2.0 blocks in his senior season. He also put up staggering numbers from the field, shooting 57.1 percent from the field and having a 43.4 percent clip. He is also one of the best shooting big men in the draft this year.

Why the decision was made to select this player:

Antawn Jamison’s two-and-a-half years of being the Cleveland Cavaliers starting power forward is over. Now someone else is going to have to step in. Nicholson said it himself, that he is one of the best shooting big men in the draft. Jamison was the leading scorer for the Cavaliers last year, so Cleveland is going to have to be able to draft a player who will put points on the board. He scored 30 or more points three times in the last nine games, proving to scouts that he has the ability to take over a game. In those three games he shot 80.0 percent, 71.4 percent and 60.0 percent respectively, taking a total of 49 shots. This is the perfect player to replace Jamison.

How he will fit in with the team:

With the possibility of the Cavaliers putting a healthy Anderson Varejao at center, Tristan Thompson at small forward and the newly drafted Nicholson at power forward. Put Kyrie Irving in the mix (and maybe some Rudy Gay?) and you got yourself a pretty solid lineup. The Cavaliers were one pick away from having a much better lineup with Bradley Beal instead of the five-year veteran Gay. Nicholson will be able to make an impact right away if he plays in the absence of Jamison. He could start off by coming off the bench, but Nicholson will still see a lot of double-figure games in his future if he lands with the Cavaliers.

Best case and worst case scenarios for this player:

Best Case: Paul Millsap

Worst Case: Reggie Evans