The Cleveland Cavaliers landed the fifth overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft on Thursday, which was not the ideal scenario.
The hope is, the Cleveland Cavaliers avoid the lottery next season and realizes it’s growing potential. Cavs fans watched with slight disappointment on Thursday as after a second straight dismal season, they landed the second straight fifth overall pick, as KJG’s Grant Puskar alluded to.
In a simple sense, the lottery is where you pick in the draft after a bad season. For Cleveland, their lottery spot this year has bigger meaning for their future.
We’ll take a look at that impact for the Cleveland Cavaliers’ future here.
Landing at number five in the 2020 NBA Draft is a sigh of relief for Collin Sexton and Darius Garland. A higher pick would have most likely lead to a guard selection, granted, Sexton, who led Cleveland in scoring with 20.8 points per game in 2019-20, would’ve seemed to still be more locked into a starting role, anyway.
Names like LaMelo Ball of the NBL’s Illawarra Hawks and the Georgia Bulldogs’ Anthony Edwards would take minutes and organizational love from the past two lottery selections, and both would seem to have a very high chance of both going before the Cavs pick. With consistent time and growth, Garland and Sexton can still see themselves as key pieces of the Cavaliers’ future.
This drop to #5 in the 2020 NBA Draft also means seemingly a greater chance of the Cavs potentially making a trade. If Cleveland isn’t in love with a prospect, moving back is more in the cards. A move similar to the Phoenix Suns last year in which they then traded the sixth pick for Dario Saric and pick 11 to the Minnesota Timberwolves could be seen.
It’s realistic to think Cleveland Cavaliers general manager Koby Altman is always willing to move after last year’s three pick first round, of which the Cavs traded back into the first round for Kevin Porter Jr. in a deal with the Detroit Pistons (via the Milwaukee Bucks initially), most notably. Historically, picks 1-4 are pre-determined, whereas pick #5 often opens up a world of possibilities.
Speaking of Altman, another lottery is no good. The Andre Drummond trade at the 2020 deadline and last year’s draft belong to Altman, that means the losing does, too. Altman will have no interest in a third straight lottery, neither will Cavs owner Dan Gilbert, who has never been afraid to spend to help the Cavaliers’ efforts.
With all the pressure to win adding up, Altman may want a pick that leads to short term wins. Auburn’s Issac Okoro and Florida State’s Devin Vassell are names that lack flash, but add short term defensive help.
Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor said to “not overlook” Vassell at #5, who had 12.7 points and 5.1 rebounds per game and hit 41.7 percent from three-point range in two seasons at FSU, too, for the Cavs on Thursday in a tweet as well.
In any case, Cleveland has been the second-worst team in the NBA each of the past two years, in relation to their finish, and both years they’ve finished out with the worst defensive rating. The losing earned them 0 number one picks and more questions than ever, unfortunately, too.
The Cavaliers may see that losing doesn’t guarantee anything. Hopefully the future in Cleveland is lottery-less.