2022 NBA Draft Big Board: Ranking Cavs top 14 prospects

Most of the rankings and Big Boards you see for the 2022 NBA Draft will be compiled with no particular team in mind. They are helpful in the abstract, to try and rank players according to their actual value and determine their median value to all 30 teams, but in reality they are functionally useless to any one team. The Cavs can’t draft off of a generic big board.

Each team has to make a ranking for their own team, taking into account the context of the players on their roster. Rebuilding teams should lean into a more generic board in determining the best players available, but they can’t ignore the players on their team in doing so. Contending teams do something similar, as they don’t necessarily have holes to fill in the draft but instead are drafting for talent.

Each team has to craft its own team-specific NBA Draft Board. How would the Cavs rank the first 14 players according to their team needs?

A team in the middle and trying to improve will weigh their team’s needs the most, and therefore their personal draft rankings will be the most adjusted. The Philadelphia 76ers need wings more than a center because they have Joel Embiid on the roster; the LA Clippers have plenty of wings but could use another option at point guard or center.

The Cavs pick 14th in next Thursday’s draft, so they need to have at least 14 players ranked out to know who they want to take at that pick. In reality they will rank a hundred or more players, to be prepared for making selections in the second round and in signing undrafted free agents.

Who are those initial 14? How different will the Cavs’ board look from that of other teams? It’s important to rank even those players with no chance of falling to No. 14; if the Cavs get the chance to move up in the draft they need to be prepared.

Enough premable. Let’s dive in!