If Bulls trade up to four, Cavs should have clearer vision at number five

Following the Anthony Davis trade involving the New Orleans and Los Angeles Lakers, there’s speculation that the Chicago Bulls could trade up, and if that happens, the Cleveland Cavaliers will have clearer vision at fifth overall.

The Cleveland Cavaliers finished last season with just a 19-63 record (per NBA.com), and although injuries were a big reason for that, they still have plenty of holes and need to acquire more young talent to develop in the coming years.

They are currently slated to draft fifth and 26th overall in the 2019 NBA Draft, and it seems that they could go a number of different ways in possibly trading down, trading up, and/or acquiring a third first-round pick via trade (and perhaps purchasing a second-rounder, according to reports, as we’ve noted).

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One of the factors that could affect the way the Cleveland Cavaliers draft is the recently reported (by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski) New Orleans Pelicans-Los Angeles Lakers blockbuster trade centered around superstar big Anthony Davis, who should be a tremendous fit alongside LeBron James in L.A.

The reason this deal could very well impact the way Cleveland drafts is because one of the pieces in the trade was the Lakers’ fourth overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft going to New Orleans, which is right before the Cavs select (at least for now).

It seemed that a logical scenario for the Lakers pre-Davis trade was to draft Vanderbilt point guard Darius Garland at number four, given that L.A. desperately needs shooting from the perimeter.

Now, though, it’s reasonable to believe that the Pels move back to seventh overall from that fourth pick, because the Chicago Bulls are reportedly a team that is rumored to be interested in moving up from their seventh overall pick, according to The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie (subscription required and h/t Bleacher Report’s Joe Tansey).

As Tansey emphasized from a potential trade-up of three spots by the Bulls, “they would have a clear target in Garland, who would fill the team’s need at point guard.”

Garland, who averaged 16.2 points per contest on 63.9% effective field goal shooting in just five collegiate games (his season was cut short due to a reported meniscus tear, per Tansey), is widely regarded as one of the best shooters in the 2019 NBA Draft.

The 19-year-old has clean shooting mechanics, and should be able to fill it up from three-point land both off catch-and-shoots and off-the-dribble looks (and he has a tight handle as well); he flashed that ability at Vandy as he shot 47.8% from range (per Sports Reference) in his short sample.

It’s understandable for Chicago wanting to move up to make sure they snag Garland before the Cleveland Cavaliers and general manager Koby Altman (at least for now) pick at five, as it was reported by Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor recently that if Garland’s there, he could be “in play” with Cleveland’s first selection.

Along with that, the Phoenix Suns are a point guard-needy team, too, and it would seem logical that if both were on the board at number six, the Suns would go with either Garland or North Carolina’s Coby White with their selection to take the playmaking load off star Devin Booker.

So considering that, if the Bulls do eventually trade up to number four and potentially give New Orleans a quality veteran player in exchange or throw in meaningful future picks, Cleveland would likely have a much clearer route to go with the fifth pick.

If the Bulls came up to four to pick Garland or White, both of which the Cavaliers could reasonably be considering taking, I would imagine that would make it much easier to draft one of the top wing prospects in the draft at number five.

I personally believe Cleveland should select a wing player with its first draft selection, whether or not a trade-up to four happens in front of them, because Cavs young guard Collin Sexton is just beginning his career, and I’d rather not draft a player, especially Garland, that would also be a similar score-first lead ball-handler.

The players that affect the modern-day NBA the most are wings, and Cleveland’s front office would be smart to select one of those prospects high, because the Cavaliers need more potential star power on the wing and need to start acquiring young players that fit more into the positionless style with notable versatility.

The players that seem to make more sense instead of selecting point guards such as Garland or White (who don’t project to help Cleveland’s defense which has its share of liabilities already) would be Texas Tech’s Jarrett Culver, Virginia’s De’Andre Hunter (the player Vecenie has going to Cleveland in his mock draft), and Duke’s Cam Reddish.

We’ve often emphasized how those three prospects, who it seems all could be considered by the Pelicans (along with Garland even, h/t Tansey) if they don’t choose to trade with the Bulls, could greatly help the Cleveland Cavaliers on both ends in the coming years.

Adding a developmental guard could be of interest to the Cavs and head coach John Beilein/the coaching staff later on in the 2019 NBA Draft, though.

A second-round pick purchase/undrafted free agency could be the way they do that, as our own Josh Friedman suggested, but I wouldn’t want to see Cleveland draft a player such as the listed at 6-foot-2 and slender Garland (per NBA.com) over one of the top wing prospects (also including international prospect Sekou Doumbouya in there), or really even USC guard/wing Kevin Porter Jr.

Frankly, I would love if Chicago did ultimately make a trade-up to number four, because that would almost certainly mean one of the top point guard prospects would be off the board, and Cleveland would have more top wing options to go with instead.

Best player available could still rule that out, from Altman, assistant general manager Mike Gansey and company, however.