The Cleveland Cavaliers ended up getting some lottery luck on their side for this upcoming 2021 NBA Draft. After Cleveland originally had its largest odds to land the seventh (25.5 percent) and then sixth pick (18.2 percent), the Cavaliers ended up with the third overall pick.
For Cavs fans, while it’s not likely they’ll have a realistic shot at Cade Cunningham, who appears to very well be the likely favorite for the Detroit Pistons at #1, landing at #3 was not too shabby. And as an aside, while the Cavs, Houston Rockets, New Orleans Pelicans and Oklahoma City Thunder have reportedly explored what it might take to trade up to the first pick, per ESPN’s Jonathan Givony (subscription required), I wouldn’t anticipate that being that serious of a possibility.
Givony reported how Detroit will do their due diligence about potential trade downs, and could target Evan Mobley seemingly in those. But I still wouldn’t expect there to be a serious possibility for a deal to pick up Cunningham in that case, even with his multi-faceted skill set and size.
Nonetheless, as we alluded to, the Cavs are nicely positioned at third overall to still get a difference maker, and the likes of potentially Jalen Green or Mobley first come to mind as potential picks for Cleveland in that spot. While I’m personally not high on him, Jalen Suggs appears to definitely be in the conversation for the Cavaliers there, too.
When it comes to the likes of Green or Suggs for Cleveland’s possible 2021 NBA Draft selection, as another side note, it would seem that Collin Sexton could potentially be traded in that case, of which you can view more on here.
Sexton is extension-eligible, but there is rumored to be hesitation from Cleveland, as Sexton’s camp is seemingly expected to seek a max deal and Cleveland has Jarrett Allen’s restricted free agency this offseason, too, whereas Sexton would be that next offseason.
This situation with Sexton seems to be fluid though, and while I’d be more than fine with Sexton being locked up to a sizeable deal, with the growth he’s shown, three-level scoring abilities and his playmaking developments, we’ll have to see and rumors will still likely be sticking around.
Either way, even if Cleveland does go guard, I do believe Sexton should get plenty of playing time with that player before a potential trade, and trios for stretches of Darius Garland-Sexton-Jalen Green I believe could be so dynamic and very difficult to defend. We’ll ultimately have to see in that realm.
So aside from the aforementioned draft prospects, how about others potentially in play for the Cavaliers at #3? While it seems pretty unlikely, Jonathan Kuminga is reportedly still in the mix for Cleveland at #3, per Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com, and I do recognize that particularly because of his two-way potential, strength, nice handle and driving abilities, that Kuminga could be a superstar down the road.
As far as another player that could be a big-time two-way guy down the road, the likes of Scottie Barnes comes to mind. The 6-foot-9, 225-pound Florida State product was often even a primary playmaker for the Seminoles in playing time off the bench for them in his one collegiate campaign, and projecting onward, I’d expect him to be a point-forward-type guy in the NBA. His defensive abilities jump out, too.
So should the Cavs consider Barnes at #3 in the draft?
We’ll get into that more next.