Cavaliers win #1 pick!!!

[Falconfreak90]

Cleveland will have the 1st and 4th picks overall....Great night for Ctown!! Go Cavs...

[FalconTurf]

And who are the 2 you will draft #1 & #4 that will lead them to a ring?

To me this is another unlucky moment for Cleveland.

[Flipper]

Kyrie Irving and Bismark Biyombo....

[Redwingtom]

I think they will trade the picks to Miami for LeBron.

[hammb]

What a worthless year to have the #1 & #4 picks. If anything this is BAD news for Cleveland. There isn't a single player in this draft that will ever be an NBA difference maker.

They're going to draft 2 guys who will be decent, maybe even average, NBA Starters. They'll put those guys next to Baron Davis and they'll win enough games to not draft #1 again soon, and never come close to sniffing a championship.

I really think Cleveland should do whatever they can to turn these picks into future lottery picks, or current players. Just a horrible, horrible year to have 2 picks in the top 5. Of course, that's the only reason why they HAVE 2 picks...the Clippers basically gave them a 1st rounder for taking Davis's contract.

[h2oville rocket]

What a worthless year to have the #1 & #4 picks. If anything this is BAD news for Cleveland. There isn't a single player in this draft that will ever be an NBA difference maker.

They're going to draft 2 guys who will be decent, maybe even average, NBA Starters. They'll put those guys next to Baron Davis and they'll win enough games to not draft #1 again soon, and never come close to sniffing a championship.

I really think Cleveland should do whatever they can to turn these picks into future lottery picks, or current players. Just a horrible, horrible year to have 2 picks in the top 5. Of course, that's the only reason why they HAVE 2 picks...the Clippers basically gave them a 1st rounder for taking Davis's contract.

If neither guy will be an NBA difference maker wouldn't the only thing that improves the Cavs be the addition of Davis? And is he enough to assure they won't win enough to draft number one again? He hasn't ever helped anyone else that much.

[Redwingtom]

And is Cleveland going to have (or want to spend) the money necessary to sign 2 lottery picks in one year?

[hammb]

What a worthless year to have the #1 & #4 picks. If anything this is BAD news for Cleveland. There isn't a single player in this draft that will ever be an NBA difference maker.

They're going to draft 2 guys who will be decent, maybe even average, NBA Starters. They'll put those guys next to Baron Davis and they'll win enough games to not draft #1 again soon, and never come close to sniffing a championship.

I really think Cleveland should do whatever they can to turn these picks into future lottery picks, or current players. Just a horrible, horrible year to have 2 picks in the top 5. Of course, that's the only reason why they HAVE 2 picks...the Clippers basically gave them a 1st rounder for taking Davis's contract.

If neither guy will be an NBA difference maker wouldn't the only thing that improves the Cavs be the addition of Davis? And is he enough to assure they won't win enough to draft number one again? He hasn't ever helped anyone else that much.

Sorry...perhaps "difference maker" isn't the right word.

I think they'll get guys who will be average NBA starters. Adding 2 average NBA starters will be an improvement on that team. And in the East it will probably be enough to win them 30-35 games a year. Especially when they have Hickson, Varajao, and Davis on the team already.

I see Cleveland becoming a team full of decent role players. Enough talent to probably win 40 games when the guys mature. Always good enough to be outside of the top draft picks, but never good enough to compete for a title. You need stars in the NBA to win a title, and this draft isn't going to produce them. If it makes them good enough to harm their future chances of landing a star, then that's even worse.

[hammb]

And is Cleveland going to have (or want to spend) the money necessary to sign 2 lottery picks in one year?

Meh...I don't think this will be an issue. Gilbert has shown he is pretty dedicated to bringing a winner to Cleveland. I think he'll do whatever it takes financially to do so.

[Warthog]

Hammb, I will agree that this isn't really the best draft class. But, even given that, picking #1 and #4 is better than picking #2 and #8. At least they will get two of the top four players. Yes, it would be great to have two top picks in a different draft, but we can't change that. The Cavaliers are at least attempting to re-build the team. And that's why they took Davis' contract with the lottery pick. So in that regard, it is what it is. They have two picks in this draft and they ended up being two high picks. We should be happy about that.

There's a long way to go, but I can see a lot of moves from here also. Already heard talk of using the trade exception to get Rudy Gay, who the Grizz can't afford and just showed they can play without. Jamison becomes tradable with his expiring contract. And Baron has an early termination option after next season. Might be value in that like an expiring contract. So to teams looking to dump salary, Gilbert takes on other bad contracts but picks up more draft picks as well. I can honestly see the Cavaliers with two lottery picks next season as well. So I think there is hope.

But none of this matters as who knows when the next NBA regular season game will actually be played. 2012? 2013?

[hammb]

I guess I am happy that they ended up being 2 high picks, but I just don't get real giddy about the future of the franchise by having the #1 & #4 picks in this year's draft. Not nearly like I was when they landed the LeBron pick. Or like I would be if they had one of the last 3 #1 picks to get a guy like Wall, Rose, or Griffin.

I think you're right that they'll be able to move Jamison and probably Davis in the next year or two and gain more lottery picks as well. Also they'll be adding some late firsts in a few years for losing LeBron as well. They're certainly in position to stockpile picks over the next few years. I just hope that they can remain bad enough (or get lucky in the lottery) to eventually land that top pick when it can land them a superstar talent.

My biggest worry is that the guys they get in this draft will be good enough to win them 30-40 games every year...that's NBA purgatory. You're so much better off being abysmal and picking in the top 5, than being mediocre and picking in the 10-12 range.

And hell, maybe I'll be surprised and one of the guys they get in this year's draft will outplay expectations? That'd be a nice change of pace for the Cavs.

[Warthog]

I agree on the NBA purgatory comment. You have to be really good or really bad. Anything in between just means you are stuck there and going nowhere.

And I forgot the Cavs almost had a third lottery pick. If Rip Hamilton wasn't such an idiot, the Cavaliers could have had the Pistons pick as well (or maybe they would have gotten next years, but still, another lottery pick.) That tells me they are going to continue to make deals to try to build through the draft.

[VDub26Falcon]

With the rookie wage scale the NBA has in place, signing the players won't be a problem. They legitimately have a chance to take a guy like Williams from Arizona first and end up with Kemba at #4. I know everyone is saying the draft is weak but you're telling me there aren't 4 potential All-Stars in Kyrie Irving, Kemba Walker, Derrick Williams and that Turkish dude? Remember, I said "potential."

Things in Cleveland are looking good right now. The only thing that could make this any better is if the Browns learn how to win!

[Redwingtom]

Relax Dub. There is still a TON of baseball left!

[hammb]

With the rookie wage scale the NBA has in place, signing the players won't be a problem. They legitimately have a chance to take a guy like Williams from Arizona first and end up with Kemba at #4. I know everyone is saying the draft is weak but you're telling me there aren't 4 potential All-Stars in Kyrie Irving, Kemba Walker, Derrick Williams and that Turkish dude? Remember, I said "potential."

Things in Cleveland are looking good right now. The only thing that could make this any better is if the Browns learn how to win!

I'd be shocked if those guys play in more than 4 all star games between the 4 of them.

I know nothing of the turkish guy, but I still live in a world where all European players are unworthy of a top 15 pick. And outside of very few exceptions, I'm comfortable with that opinion.

But the other 3 guys we've all seen play. They're just not that level of prospect. The 2 PGs aren't even close to Derek Rose or John Wall in terms of their ability to make plays and lead a team/take over games. They both have a long ways to go just to be as good as the guys who went #1 overall in 2 of the last 3 drafts, let alone the other great PGs in the NBA. I don't think Irving is the same level of athlete as the other guys. I like Walker a lot as a lightning quick PG, but I don't think he's got the outside shot or size to be an all-star PG.

Williams is a nice player, and I think he's got the highest ceiling of anybody in this draft, but he's certainly not a sure thing. He's likely to be a SF in the NBA, and I don't think he's got near the skillset of a LeBron, Carmelo, or Durant. I question if his improved 3 pt shooting will prove to be an asset at the NBA range. I don't think he's as quick off the dribble as the top SFs, and I really question his ability to pass the ball. He is, however, a pretty damn good athlete, so the potential is there.

Obviously I could be proven wrong and one or more of these guys could go on to a great career. I just know that this is the worst year to have the #1 pick since Bargani went #1 overall a few years ago. None of these guys look like a sure thing All Star. Unlike the NFL draft, it's not uncommon for the NBA draft to have at least one guy that looks like that type of player.

The Cavs will improve from those two high picks, but I'm not expecting them to add a superstar. If anything the best part of it is that they'll get 2 shots at maybe getting lucky. One of these guys probably will play above my expectations, but I don't think anybody really knows which one.

As I said before, I just hope they don't add just enough to talent to be shoved into NBA purgatory.