Sergey

Karasev

Karasev is described on DraftExpress.com as “years ahead of the learning curve ... likely the most productive young prospect in all of European basketball.” Rotoworld’s latest mock draft has him going to the Cavs at No. 19 (from the Lakers), which could be a coup for Cleveland since incumbent SF Alonzo Gee is reportedly “viewed as a backup.”

Karasev’s representatives began to inform teams on Tuesday that he will not be available for any private workouts, and this sounds a lot like he’s got a promise from some team in the middle of the first round. At 19, Karasev is 6'7" and is “likely to be selected” between picks 14-24.

The Cavs now have 15 players under contract heading into training camp. Felix is unlikely to make a dent this year, while Karasev currently projects as the third-string SF behind Earl Clark and Alonzo Gee.

Karasev is rumored to be going as high as No. 10 or No. 11 and looks to go no later than No. 13, where as many as four teams are reportedly attempting to trade into in order to pick the Russian swingman. Karasev stopped his workouts in early June, which led many to believe he received a first-round promise from at least one team. At 6-foot-7 and only 19 years old, Karasev was described on DraftExpress.com as “years ahead of the learning curve ... likely the most productive young prospect in all of European basketball.”

He’s only playing 8.9 minutes per game with numerous DNP-CDs along the way. Karasev has no fantasy value.

He’ll serve as emergency depth for the Cavs despite getting some minutes earlier this year. Karasev has no fantasy value and has several holes in his game in his rookie season.

The Cavs have been starting fellow rookie Matthew Dellavedova, but they might want to go with a little more size against the Celtics. Karasev has only scored 28 points in his 88 minutes of action this season and his preseason high was only 10 in 34 minutes, so it’s not worth picking him up in just about any league. C.J. Miles is hoping to play on Saturday.

If he does sit out, as expected, Sergey Karasev will get another start at SG with Dion Waiters filling his now-familiar backup role.

His return is good news for the slumping Cavs, who are riding a five-game losing streak, but it doesn’t have many fantasy implications. In three starts this season Miles is averaging just 5.3 points on 35.3 percent shooting in 17 minutes per game.

He’s played 20.0 minutes per game, but only scored 5.5 points on 33.3 percent shooting in losses to the Heat and Spurs. Karasev has size at 6'7", but he doesn’t really have much of a shot and hasn’t really shown he can get penetrate defenses yet. Matthew Dellavedova will move back to the bench.