Apr 2, 2013; New York, NY, USA; Maryland Terrapins center Alex Len (25) puts up a shot against the Iowa Hawkeyes during the first half of the NIT Tournament Semi-Final at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

Welcome to “Tuesdays with Right Down Euclid.” Every Tuesday the RDE crew of Zachary Kolesar and host Chris Manning will talk the latest Wine and Gold and NBA news to keep you informed on headlining topics in the form of back-and-forth discussion. We will cover the most important subjects in a four-quarter (and overtime) breakdown spanning from the shores of Lake Erie to all around the NBA (if it is relevant breaking news).

In the 33^rd episode, website editor Zachary Kolesar and contributing blogger Chris Manning are joined by Kevin Stankiewicz to talk about Alex Len, the impact of the Dion Waiters selection, Wayne Ellington’s future, Dwight Howard’s predicament and what’s next for Doc Rivers.

Below is the link where you can listen to this week’s episode as a whole:

You can also fast forward to the section of your choice by looking at the start time of each quarter:

First Quarter – What are your thoughts on the possibility of the Cavaliers selecting Alex Len at No. 1?

Starts at the beginning.

Second Quarter – Was it a mistake for the Cavaliers to take Waiters last June?

Starts at 6:30.

Third Quarter – Should the Cavaliers resign Wayne Ellington?

Starts at 14:15.

Fourth Quarter – What team is the best fit to take on Dwight Howard?

Starts at 19:32.

Overtime – Should the Clippers and Celtics go through with their proposed player-coach deal?

Starts at 24:35.

Make sure to join us next Tuesday for your weekly dose of “Tuesdays with Right Down Euclid.”

After breaking down the 19^th pick, the 31^st pick and the 33^rd pick, Right Down Euclid’s Chris Manning is back to do a three-part series on the No. 1 overall pick. In this post — the first of three — takes a look at the previous No. 1 picks in Cavaliers franchise history.

As I’m sure you’ve heard by now, the Cleveland Cavaliers will, for the second time in three years, select No. 1 overall. Historically, this is the fifth time the Cavaliers have held the first overall pick. Whoever joins Austin Carr, Brad Daugherty, LeBron James and Kyrie Irving as a top pick will (due to Irving’s face of the franchise status) have the least amount of pressure on their shoulders coming into their rookie season.

Without further adieu, take a look at the pervious first-round picks in Cavaliers history.

1971: Austin Carr, SG, Notre Dame

Career Stats: 10, 473 career points, 44.9 percent field goal shooting, 15.4 pecent three-point shooting, 80.4 percent free throw shooting

To put it simply, Carr was much better in college than he ever was in the pros. When he left Notre Dame, his career scoring average of 34.5 points per game was fifth all-time in college basketball. To this day, he holds tournament records for most points scored in one game (61), field goals made in one game (25) and most field goals attempted in one game (44). But in the NBA, knee and foot surgeries slowed a rookie season that ended in an appearance on the 1972 NBA All-Rookie team. By 1981 Carr was out of the league with pedestrian career averages of 15.4 points, 2.9 rebounds and 2.8 assists. That’s not, historically, production you would hope to get out of your No. 1 pick.

1986: Brad Daugherty, C, North Carolina

Career Stats: 10,389 points, 4,020 rebounds, 53.2 percent field goal shooting, 397 blocks

Daugherty was part of the late 80s/early 90s Cavaliers teams that were arguably the best in franchise history. Like his predecessor Carr, the former Tar Heel had his career cut short at age 28 due to back problems. After the 1993-94 season, he sat out two more seasons before officially retiring after the 19935-96 season. In 2000, Daugherty was a unanimous selection to the All-Time Cleveland Cavaliers team, and until 2008, he was the Cavaliers all-time leading rebounder. But while he was better than Carr, the injuries that ended his career kept him from reaching his full potential.

2003: LeBron James, SF, St. Vincent St. Mary High School

Career Stats: 27.6 PPG, 6.9 APG, 7.3 RPG, 49.0 percent field goal shooting, 9 All-Star appearances

James, without a doubt, is the best No. 1 pick in Cavaliers history. Even though he took his talents to South Beach in the summer of 2009, he inarguably accomplished more than his fellow Cavalier No. 1 picks. He took a pretty average Cavaliers team to the Finals in 2007 and almost took that team back a year later. He, regardless of what you think of him as a person, accomplished amazing things during his times on the shores of Lake Erie. Take any other premier talent on a team that overspent on average players, and you’d get pretty similar results. Plus, remember one cold, hard fact: LeBron James is the best player on the planet right now and it’s not even close.

2011: Kyrie Irving, PG, Duke

Career Stats: 20.6 PPG, 5.7 APG, 45.9 percent field goal shooting, 39.1 percent three-point shooting, All-Star appearance

Irving (who the Cavaliers were beyond lucky to get) is still too young in his NBA career to be judged. The biggest concern about his game are the injuries. Granted some of them have been freak, but with another major injury, he’ll likely take on the injury-prone label that is impossible to shake. But when he’s healthy, it’s crystal clear that he has the potential to be the best point guard in the league and is probably top five right now. The jury is still out, but there is legitimate hope that he can lead this franchise back to the Finals and maybe even win one. But again, it’s pretty black and white with Irving. Either he takes the LeBron route and shoots up to stardom or ends up like Carr and Daugherty with his career cut short by injuries.

Feb 15, 2013; Houston, TX, USA; Team Shaq guard Dion Waiters (3) of the Cleveland Cavaliers dunks against Team Chuck during the second half of the rising stars challenge during the 2013 NBA All-Star weekend at the Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

Coach Chuck Ellis is the coach to the likes of Cleveland Cavaliers guards Dion Waiters and Wayne Ellington during their summer preparation for the NBA season. Right Down Euclid contributor Chris Manning interviewed Ellis in a RDE exclusive piece and got the coach’s take on Ellington’s future, the possibility of Ben McLemore joining the Wine and Gold and much more. Listen to the audio below and/or read the partial transcription:

Chris Manning: Before we dive into the two Cavaliers you coach, give the listeners a little background on the work you do.

Chuck Ellis: I do a lot of skills and development work in the Philadelphia area with the south college guys, the pro guys from the area. The workouts consist of different drills, conditioning, ball placement, ball handling drills, all different things that enhance your skills and improve your game for the next level.

CM: Let’s talk about Wayne before we talk about Dion. How long have you been working with him?

CE: I’ve been working with Wayne since high school. I’ve known Wayne for since he was a sophomore or junior in high school. And we’ve been doing work over the years, but we’ve been going hard for the last three years. But I’ve been working with Wayne throughout the summers since he’s been in high school.

CM: What kind of work have you done with him to help him improve his game?

CE: Wayne has been going harder than I’ve ever seen him go. It’s his contract year, so Wayne has been in the weight room three times a week. Wayne has been in the gym with me three or four times a week. Wayne is working on, you know, hitting shots, putting the ball on the floor, three or four dribbles, then attacking the lane and finishing and also with him getting inside the lane, making the people around him better by kicking out to different shooters. So we’ve been working on a variety of things, as well as his ball handling skills, in order to create his own shot and put the ball on the floor.

CM: You mentioned that this is his contract year (Note: Ellington just completed his contract and is set to be a restricted free agent). Has he given any indication on whether he’d like to go back to Cleveland or whether he’d like to test the open market and maybe move on?

CE: Wayne wants nothing other than to be in Cleveland. Wayne likes it there, he likes the young core of guys that he has. He likes the new start with Coach (Mike) Brown coming in, and you know, him, Dion and Mo Speights have a pretty good relationship. Him and Kyrie have a pretty good relationship, so he really wants to go back to Cleveland. That’s his main concern, to get back to Cleveland. He feels they have the pedigree and the talent to actually make the playoffs next year.

CM: What was new Cavaliers assistant coach Phil Handy doing when he visited?

CE: Phil is here working out the guys from Cleveland. He’s here working out Dion in different drills, different things with Dion. He’s sitting in every session, helping out and learning little things from Coach Handy. I’m learning a lot from Coach Handy’s workouts in terms of different drills, different lines, ball placement, footwork, a lot of things Coach Handy has been teaching me for these last few days that’s going to be vital with Chuck Ellis workouts.

CM: Have you been in contact with any other Cavaliers coaches?

CE: No, not at all.

CM: Let’s move on to Dion. How long have you known him and what have you guys been working on this summer?

CE: I’ve (known) Dion since he was in high school also. Me and Dion been working on a lot of different things – mainly his body, keeping his body weight down, keeping his body at the weight it’s been at all summer. Also, being able to expand his range, put the ball on the floor, create, make others around him better, but also his footwork. His footwork is very key in order to become a good defensive player, so we’ve been working on a lot of footwork as well as offensive drills so he’s able to be an all-around player and not just a defensive scorer.

CM: His rookie season was up and down. He had some really good games, he dealt with the ankle injury and there were some times were he wasn’t playing all that great. If you had to give him a grade or at least analyze his rookie season, how would you do that?

CE: I would give Dion a B-minus, only because his work ethic allows him to get the extra yard sometimes. A lot of the season, like a lot of people don’t know, Dion played injured. But instead of sitting out and resting, he continued to play. Dion is a warrior. If he can walk, he’s gonna try and go.  With the inconsistency, with learning the game, he’s so young and still working, it’s all about working and picking his spots. I expect Dion to have a tremendous year this year because he knows what they expect, he has a year under this belt and this offseason might have been the hardest he’s worked since he’s been playing basketball.

CM: What do you consider the strongest part of Dion’s game and where does he need to work the most in?

CE: The strongest part of Dion’s game is creating. He comes off the screen and roll and gets into the lane because his body is so nice and strong that he can get to the hole and finish with contact. The part of the game he needs to work on the most is being more than a scorer. He needs to work on getting more rebounds, he needs to work on playing better defense, making those around him better. When he gets in the lane, kicking out and finding shooters and being albe to set other guys up.

CM: Considering his backcourt mate Kyrie Irving is a score-first point guard, how can they work together best in your opinion?

CE: That’s not an issue. For Dion, it’s about knowing that he has to be the one to stop Dwyane Wade. It’s knowing that he has to be the one to stop Kobe Bryant, getting in that defense-first mindset, as well as, when he was the ball coming off the pick and roll, creating for guys like C.J., Wayne that are on the wing waiting for the shot.

CM: If you had the No. 1 pick, who would you select to add to the Cavaliers young core?

CE: (laughs) That’s a hard question. I don’t know every draft pick personally. Nerlens Noel is the best available guy in the draft, even coming off ACL surgery. I think there is a need for the Cavs at the small forward position. Alonzo Gee has done a great job, and I know Alonzo, but I think there is a need for a guy at the three position. I don’t have a choice. I don’t know if they’ll use it or trade it for someone else…and I don’t have all the options in front of me to say this is the best option, I’ll leave it at that.

CM: The name being brought up a lot is Ben McLemore, and he obviously plays the same position as Dion. They are different skill sets, but do you think they could coexist in a three-guard rotation?

CE: If they fit the coach’s system, sure. I don’t know about Ben, but I do know that Dion will adapt to any situation. Dion will make it work. He’s very humble, he’s very hungry, so if they do draft Ben McLemore, then it’s going to be a dogfight. Dion is Dion. He’ll adapt to whatever the situation may be. He’ll go in as a professional every day, work his but off and, like I said, it’ll be a dogfight everyday.

CM: So it’s safe to say that, even if the Cavaliers draft McLemore, Dion wants to be the starting shooting guard next season for the Cavaliers?

CE: No doubt, no doubt. No doubt in my mind that that’s his goal and that he will be the starting two guard for the Cleveland Cavaliers next season.

Note: You can find Coach Chuck Ellis on Twitter and Instagram at @Chuck_Ellis. You can find his workout videos on YouTube by searching Chuck Ellis workouts.