With the marriage between LeBron James and the city of Cleveland
still in its honeymoon stages, the Cavaliers found
themselves an unlikely bridesmaid.
Cleveland nabbed UCLA’s Jason Kapono with the second pick
of the NBA Draft’s second round on Thursday, 30 spots after
selecting the 18-year-old superstar-to-be James No. 1 overall.
“Cleveland is an up and coming team,” Kapono said.
“There’s a lot of young talent, surrounded by solid,
veteran front-court players. I am overjoyed, excited and thrilled
to be a Cavalier.”
And with the opportunity to share the court with James, why
shouldn’t he be?
The 6-foot, 7-inch Kapono built his reputation at UCLA as a
deadly perimeter marksman with seemingly unlimited range.
Consequently the Cavs ““ the fourth worst three-point shooting
team in the league last year ““ believe he’ll be a
perfect compliment to a dazzling passer like James, who will no
doubt draw most of the opposing team’s attention on
defense.
“We felt one of the things we wanted to address this
off-season was getting a shooter along with LeBron,”
Cavaliers General Manager Jim Paxson told the Cleveland Plain
Dealer. “Jason’s a four-year player, had a really good
career at UCLA, and was very steady. We just feel he’s a good
fit for us at that pick, and we’re happy to have
him.”
The ebb and flow of Kapono’s draft stock has been well
documented since he tested the waters after his freshman year in
2000. Many believed that in choosing to return to Westwood, Kapono
had erred as questions about his defense and quickness caused many
experts to wonder whether he had the talent to flourish at the NBA
level.
But although Kapono will never leave the fans at
Cleveland’s Gund Arena awed by his athleticism, he did prove
many critics wrong at the pre-draft camp in Chicago, and during a
series of individual workouts for teams leading up to the
draft.
He displayed better quickness and ability around the basket than
most NBA executives had anticipated, leading many teams to target
him as a potential steal in the second round.
Still Kapono remained cautious, choosing to spend draft day in
San Diego rather than hosting a party and then going undrafted. So
when he did hear his name, it was both rewarding and a relief.
“The process was very rigorous and exhausting, but to hear
my name called was a dream realized,” Kapono said.
“With LeBron James and (new head coach) Paul Silas, only good
things are bound to happen for the future of this club.”