Redrafting the past 4 NBA Drafts for the Cleveland Cavaliers
In the past four NBA Drafts, the Cleveland Cavaliers have had 4 lottery picks, selecting Collin Sexton (2018, 8th overall), Darius Garland (2019, 5th overall), Isaac Okoro (2020, 5th overall), and Evan Mobley (2021, 3rd overall). Looking back on the drafts, there have been some hits, and some misses when it comes to drafting players. Koby Altman has been doing a great job in drafting players to play for the Cavs, and it’s been fun to watch all of the players grow. Still, like I mentioned, there have been some misses, and maybe it would have been better off if the Cavs drafted a certain player over someone else.
In the 2018 NBA Draft, the Cavaliers had the 8th overall pick from the Brooklyn Nets, originally from what they got from Boston in the Kyrie Irving-Isaiah Thomas trade. LeBron James was set to enter free agency, and it was unsure of his plans or what he wanted to do. The Cavs intended on drafting a player that would fit both a rebuild and if LeBron would return to Cleveland.
In the end, James went to the Los Angeles Lakers, and the Cavs had to start their rebuild with not a lot of young talent on the roster besides newly-drafted Collin Sexton and a few other players.
Looking back at the 2018 NBA Draft, there was still talent at the 8th overall pick that the Cavaliers could have taken, such as Mikal Bridges, Miles Bridges, Jalen Brunson, and other players. However, even with all of these players available at 8th, I believe that the Cavs should have went with this player.
2018: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was drafted by the Charlotte Hornets originally 11th overall, and then traded to the LA Clippers for Miles Bridges and two second-round picks. SGA could have been an All-Star this season, averaging 24.5 points, 5.9 assists and 5.0 rebounds, sharing the backcourt with Josh Giddey.
After playing for the Clippers for one season, he was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder alongside Danilo Gallinari and a plethora of draft assets for the 2018-19 All-NBA First Team player in Paul George. SGA made the All-Rookie Second Team in his first season, averaging 10.8 points, 2.8 boards, and 3.3 assists per night for the 8th-seeded Clippers team.
The one thing against SGA in this is that he has not played as many games as some people may have liked. He played 35 games last year, and 56 games this year. Also, he shot 30.0% on 3’s this season, shooting 5.3 of them per night. His effective field goal percentage is a 49.6%, so his shooting is not the best.
However, I’d like to believe his subpar shooting is because he is one of the only good players on the roster, as no one else on the Thunder who played more than 10 games averaged over 15 points per game besides Luguentz Dort and SGA. Gilgeous-Alexander has been a very good player for the Thunder, and I believe Cleveland should have drafted him in this scenario.