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3 potential starting lineups for the Cavaliers in 2022-23

By Corey Casey

2021 NBA Draft prospect Cade Cunningham brings the ball up the floor. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
2021 NBA Draft prospect Cade Cunningham brings the ball up the floor. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) /
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Cleveland Cavaliers
Cleveland Cavaliers general manager Koby Altman smiles at a presser. (Photo by David Liam Kyle/NBAE via Getty Images) /

The Cleveland Cavaliers’ rebuild should be much further along, but the 2022 NBA Draft/offseason could be defined by one particular player in that draft, if all goes right.

While we still have two drafts until 2022,  a lot will happen between now and then leading up to the 2022 NBA Draft. The Cleveland Cavaliers‘ rebuild should be further along at that point, especially if they somehow land a top three pick in the 2021 NBA Draft or the best-case scenario plays out and they land Cade Cunningham.

Again, the Cavs’ rebuild should be in much better shape around by the time the 2022 NBA offseason arrives. In the NBA, rebuilds are tough and take time, because youth leads to struggles/ inconsistencies.

When looking at some of the young guys right now, when 2022 rolls around, Collin Sexton would’ve just completed his fourth season, and Kevin Porter Jr. and Darius Garland would’ve just completed their third.

The young guys will have a bunch more experience and add in a lottery pick in what’s considered a loaded draft, Cleveland should be much more in the right direction in this rebuild, and even more so if that 2021 selection can land in the top three.

When looking at the 2022 NBA draft in general it has some intriguing prospects, but make no mistake, it is headlined by phenom Emoni Bates, as I previously hit on. That draft is Bates and everyone else, with a reclassification seemingly likely by Bates if the one-and-done rule is still in place.

As great as a prospect as Cunningham is in 2021, we haven’t seen anything like Bates, of Lincoln High School in Ypsilanti, Michigan, since LeBron James came out of St. Vincent St. Mary in nearby Akron in 2003. It’s far from a sure thing the Cavs get Bates, but thanks to the new lottery odds, right now it’s probably the best time ever to be a middling team.

Aside from that, here, we’ll take a look at three potential starting lineups for the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2022-2023 season.

The first would be a best-case scenario, really.