Six players the Cleveland Cavaliers missed out on in the NBA Draft
By Zane Harris
Player #6 missed by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the draft: Amar’e Stoudemire
The final player on the list could have hypothetically been the first building block in what could have been a potential dynasty. If the Cavs were to draft Amar’e Stoudemire instead of Dajuan Wagner with the sixth overall pick of the 2002 NBA Draft, and still won the 2003 lottery, LeBron could have been set up with the perfect sidekick for a long career in Cleveland.
This also would have made Cleveland something that it really never has been and that would be a free agent hot spot. With the young potential that James and Stoudemire would have it would not be illogical to think that a solidified veteran would be willing to bear the harsh winters in Cleveland to be a part of a potential dynasty.
Along with this, with a competent star around James from the moment that he entered the league, it would be likely that he would never feel the need to leave Cleveland as they would have been a team that could competently draft and have the ability build a championship-contending team around him.
When comparing the careers of Stoudemire and Wagner it is almost laughable to look back and see that Cleveland passed on what would become such a specimen of an athlete and basketball player. Stoudemire had career totals of 15,994 points, 6,632 rebounds, and 1,050 assists on career averages of 18.9 points, 7.8 rebounds and 1.2 assists a game.
While Wagner did show promise early on, an eventual diagnosis of colitis really hampered Wagner’s chances, and in terms of the NBA level, he had career totals of 964 points, 195 assists and 142 rebounds, with career averages of 9.4 points, 1.9 assists and 1.4 rebounds per game.
James and Stoudemire would likely have been similar to the current pairing that LeBron finds himself in on the Lakers with Anthony Davis, but, in this duo James would be much less pass-first offensively and with Stoudemire being more athletic than Davis at his peak, we would have seen a high-flying and one of the most explosive duos in NBA history.
That’s before unfortunate recurring injury troubles for Stoudemire down the road.