Cavs should definitely be prioritizing offense in 2022 NBA Draft

On Thursday night, the 2022 NBA Draft will commence, and currently, the Cleveland Cavaliers are slated to have three selections. Cleveland has the #14, #39 and #56 overall selections, at least for now.

It seems as if the Cavaliers could go a number of directions with the #14 pick, with plenty of mocks having the likes of Malaki Branham, Ochai Agbaji and Ousmane Dieng being selections for Cleveland at that spot. Other potential targets would appear to be Tari Eason, Jeremy Sochan, Jalen Williams, and if there, Johnny Davis, for instance. The Cavaliers could possibly trade down, but we’ll have to see.

In regards to their two current second-round selections, one is rumored to likely be a draft-and-stash player at #56, from a roster numbers perspective, and perhaps Yannick Nzosa or Hugo Besson could be candidates there. For #39, I’d be a big fan of Alondes Williams, Jake LaRavia, Bryce McGowens, if on the board, or perhaps David Roddy, among others.

Overall, though, to me, the Cavaliers need to be prioritizing the offensive end of the floor in Thursday’s draft, especially at #14.

The Cavs should clearly be prioritizing the offensive end in the 2022 NBA Draft.

The Cavaliers had a resurgent season in the 2021-22 campaign, and finished with 44 victories, their highest win total by a non-LeBron James Wine and Gold team since 1998. The Cavs ended up doubling their win total from 22 wins in the season prior, too, which was outstanding to see.

Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen both made All-Star leaps, Evan Mobley narrowly missed out on the Rookie of the Year, and Kevin Love was great in a shift to a bench role. Love finished second in Sixth Man of the Year voting, which was not something I would’ve seen coming heading into last season.

The Cavaliers also got quality play I thought from guys such as Lamar Stevens and Dean Wade, and both are nice defenders to have from a rotational standpoint, and they’re multi-positional on that end.

All in all, despite Cleveland stumbling to the finish, and losing in both of the play-in opportunities, it was a very successful season. The team objectively exceeded expectations.

Unfortunately, the team did again have a rough finish to the year, and ended out post-All-Star break prior to the play-in at 9-15. Injuries didn’t help, and not having Jarrett Allen for much of that time was tough, but there were plenty of positives when looking back at 2021-22.

That being said, circling back, as we expressed, as far as the 2022 NBA Draft goes for Cleveland, it’s clear that the team needs to be more multiple and more dynamic offensively.

At both the #14 and #39 picks, or at least in the late lottery, in the event Cleveland keeps that pick, they need to be taking a prospect who can be a legit contributor, preferably early on, offensively. The Cavaliers were just 20th in offensive rating last season, and they need to help out Darius Garland, and whether or not Collin Sexton is brought back, the Cavs need more offensive insurance.

That’s why at this point, I’d probably be the most on-board with guys such as Jalen Williams, Johnny Davis, even TyTy Washington Jr., and while he needs to show more development as a scorer, Ousmane Dieng would be worth a chance as an upside swing. It’s tough to say if he’ll be there, but I do understand the allure with Dieng, given his two-way potential.

Granted, I get the Cavs continually being linked to Malaki Branham and Ochai Agbaji as seemingly safer potential picks, however, I personally don’t see much upside for Agbaji, and I don’t love the shot creation there. And while Branham looks to be a viable shot creator, defense is a real question mark, he’s on the slimmer side, and I don’t see him as much of an initiator for others.

Other guys such as Williams, Davis, Washington especially in a backup lead guard sense and Dieng are far more viable as playmakers, and if Cleveland were to trade down, which is a rumored possibility, guys such as Dalen Terry, in that sense, or Blake Wesley could help as playmakers, albeit Wesley more as a shot creator. Or in that scenario, I couldn’t blame the Cavs for going with Nikola Jovic or Jaden Hardy as swings, either.

As far as the second round, Alondes Williams (driving/playmaking), Jake LaRavia (shooting/off-ball play), Bryce McGowens (slashing), David Roddy (playmaking/some shot creation) or Patrick Baldwin Jr. (shot creation potential) all could make their presence felt as the year progresses offensively as well.

I know role is a question mark for those sort of guys right now, but at least at #39, Cleveland could be getting value there, if they keep that pick.

Anyway, it’s apparent that the key for the Cavaliers in this draft is that, from my perspective, they have to be prioritizing offense. I’m not saying I’d be irate if Cleveland took players such as Tari Eason or MarJon Beauchamp, but I just am not sure how long it will be before those guys can be impactful, semi-regularly, offensively.

We’ll see what plays out.