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Cleveland Cavaliers: Best/worst draft scenarios

Best/Worst Draft Scenarios

(#24 pick)

Best Case Scenario: Drafting SF Justin Anderson (Virginia, Junior)

Right up until the playoffs and perhaps partway through it, the Cavaliers’ need via the draft was obvious: a backup point guard for star PG Kyrie Irving. However, Matthew Dellavedova has really stepped it up in the postseason, particularly in the finals when Irving went down with an injury, so that eliminates any need there. Cleveland could also use some more depth up front, but wing is their biggest need, particularly to find some sort of injection of youth there. Other than superstar SF/PF LeBron James of course, their entire wing rotation could hit free agency: SG/SF J.R Smith, SG/SF Iman Shumpert, SF/SG James Jones, and SF/PF Shawn Marion, while the latter two could consider retirement. Given how LeBron loves to drive and kick out to open shooters, the Cavaliers badly need another “3 and D”: a wing who can shoot threes and play defense. There is nobody in this entire draft that fits that term better than Justin Anderson, an excellent shooter and an elite defender. He averaged 2 threes per game on a ridiculous 45% shooting from beyond the arc against extremely tough competition in the ACC at Virginia. In addition, the Junior features an imposing frame that he puts to good use to become the fantastic defender that he is. Although he can’t do much else besides shoot and defend and his upside is limited, Anderson excels at what he does and would be the perfect complementary piece for LeBron and the Cavs.

Worst Case Scenario: Trading the pick for another washed-up veteran

Obviously I phrased it negatively: “washed-up veteran”, but on the outskirts, trading the pick for a more instant contributor, even if they’re old, could appear to make a lot of sense. This is a team with little to no young talent (unless you count star PG Kyrie Irving as “young”, of course) with a lot of veterans already, that’s trying to win a championship now, not 5 years from now. However, that would be a very rash decision by a franchise that’s no stranger to poor choices. Exhibit A of my argument would be this year’s NBA Finals: despite featuring five 30+ year olds in their regular-season rotation, the Cavaliers’ starting 5 (and their sixth man) have an average age of 26, and that’s even after youngsters like Irving and PF/C Kevin Love got hurt. Their lack of depth hurt them severely in the series, as their old guys’ stamina was just too low. The point is, that if Cleveland wants to make a deep postseason run again (which of course they do), they’re going to need more young, fresh legs, rather than acquiring more old guys that will eventually be too tired after a grueling 82-game season and 4 best-of-seven playoff series. In addition, Cleveland will be hard on cap space this summer, so adding a cheap rookie deal, as opposed to taking on a veteran’s contract, makes a lot more sense. If the right offer comes along (say, 28 year old SF Wilson Chandler in exchange for the pick), then sure the Cavs can take it, but that’s rather unlikely. Instead, Cleveland should look to add a fresh-legged complementary piece (like Anderson) via the draft.

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