Cavs: 3 ways to compare their young core across the league

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Cade Cunningham, Detroit Pistons, and Obi Toppin, New York Knicks. Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images /

Cavs: 3 ways to compare their young core across the league – Tallying Top 10 Picks

The Cleveland Cavaliers have collected five players selected in the Top 10 of the last five NBA Drafts. That’s absolutely not a surefire way to evaluate talent, as even in such a short span of time players have quickly flamed out, such as Kevin Knox in New York, or Dennis Smith Jr. (originally in Dallas).

Yet it gives us an idea of draft pedigree, and which teams have amassed the highest level of highly-regarded prospects. Development is a combination of team and player, but where a player is drafted is a good starting place for their future trajectory.

The Cavs have five such players: Evan Mobley (picked 3rd), Isaac Okoro (5th), Darius Garland (5th), Collin Sexton (8th) and Lauri Markkanen (7th). Right off the bat, they are unique in that they are the only team with a Top 10 pick from each of the last five drafts, their talented core spread out in terms of age and contract timeline.

Only two teams are in the same ballpark of draft prospects as the Cavs. The Atlanta Hawks have four Top 10 picks over that same timespan, led by Trae Young (5th) and including De’Andre Hunter (4th), Cameron Reddish (10th) and Onyeka Okongwu (6th).

The other squad is the Orlando Magic, who have amassed a whopping six players drafted in the Top 10 of the past five drafts. Interestingly they have two each from three separate drafts: From the 2017 NBA Draft they have Markelle Fultz (1st) and Jonathan Isaac (6th); from 2018 they have Mo Bamba (6th) and Wendell Carter Jr. (7th); and from 2021 they have Jalen Suggs (5th) and Franz Wagner (8th).

Orlando has more depth, but only Suggs seems to still boast elite-level upside (perhaps also Isaac if he is able to find a way to stay healthy). Atlanta, on the other hand, already has one star from the bunch and could see Hunter or Okongwu develop into a second. Other teams such as the New York Knicks or Detroit Pistons have three such players, and of course some such as the Boston Celtics or New Orleans Pelicans boast a singular superstar as part of their groups.

The Cavs are sitting in as good a place as any in terms of Top 10 picks, and each bears some amount of upside to continue growing into solid, reliable players who might even be future stars. No team has the combination of depth and upside in their young core measured by this simplistic metric.