If available, Cavs can’t pass up Anthony Edwards in 2020 NBA Draft
Anthony Edwards would be a big-time pick for the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2020 NBA Draft.
With the Cleveland Cavaliers’ 2019-20 season officially over, all of the attention surrounding the team shifts to what they will do in the upcoming draft.
As a bottom three finishing team, Cleveland will have a 14.0 percent chance at landing the top overall pick, and a 40.1 percent chance at securing a top-three selection, according to Tankathon.
However, with the lottery odds now flattened more, the Cavaliers do have a 47.8 percent chance of their pick falling outside of the top four.
We saw this happen last year with the Cavaliers. The Wine and Gold went into the 2019 NBA Draft lottery with a 52.1 percent chance to land a top-four pick.
They were shut out of landing Zion Williamson, Ja Morant, and RJ Barrett, though, and fell to the number five slot.
If the Cavaliers’ draft lottery fortunes turn around this year, a player who will be tough to pass up is Georgia freshman Anthony Edwards. The 6-foot-5, 225-pound athletic guard flashed quite a bit of talent this past season.
The first reaction of several people would be “Another guard?” after the Cleveland Cavaliers drafted Collin Sexton eight overall two years ago and Darius Garland fifth overall last year.
Not to mention, they also drafted Kevin Porter Jr., a guard, formally via trade, who displayed a ton of potential before the season was suspended due the novel coronavirus pandemic, and what would ultimately be the end of the Cavs’ season.
At this stage in the Cavaliers’ rebuild, they need to go for the best player available and not draft for positional need in the 2020 NBA Draft.
If Edwards is on the board at the Cleveland Cavaliers’ draft selection, he’s too talented for them to pass up.
More from King James Gospel
- 3 possible starting lineups for Cleveland Cavaliers in 2023-24
- The Cavaliers may have snagged a hidden gem in Craig Porter Jr.
- 4 players the Cavaliers should pursue in 2024 free agency
- 6 players Cavaliers might replace Jarrett Allen with by the trade deadline
- This stat is one to keep an eye on for Cavaliers’ Max Strus in years ahead
Along those lines, according to a report from Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor, the Cavs will be going with the best player available, anyhow.
Fedor also said how Edwards is in their top tier of prospects.
The others in that tier are reportedly James Wiseman, who briefly played at Memphis before eventually withdrawing from school after an ineligibility ruling, and LaMelo Ball, who previously played with the NBL’s Illawarra Hawks.
Swinging back to Edwards, he already has an NBA frame, and along with a quick first step, he can finish through contact around the rim.
In general, Edwards is a scorer and can catch fire, just like he did against Michigan State early in the year when he scored 33 points in the second half in a close loss.
With the position the Cavaliers are in, Edwards would likely be in the starting lineup from day one, and him and Sexton would make for quite the starting backcourt pairing.