3 NBA Draft prospects if Cavaliers trade Allen for lottery pick

The Cleveland Cavaliers have used the NBA Draft to significant effect over the past half-decade, including drafting Darius Garland in 2019 and Evan Mobley in 2021, both of whom may go first overall in a redraft of those year’s drafts.

This year as they approach the draft they are without a first-round pick, sent out to the Indiana Pacers in the Caris LeVert trade. Given that the Cavs had the league’s fifth-best record, that pick will land at 26th in this year’s draft, hardly a pole position to add a difference-maker.

Could the Cavaliers end up with a lottery pick?

Yet in the midst of rumors swirling around a team that clearly will be looking on the open market for upgrades, the idea of a Jarrett Allen trade continues to circulate. It makes logical sense; to find a real upgrade on the wing, trading Allen is their one major bullet left to fire.

Some of those potential trades involve the Cavaliers receiving back a first-round pick, perhaps No. 10 from the Dallas Mavericks. If Cleveland does end up with a lottery pick, what kind of players could they be targeting among the top prospects? Let’s highlight three that could help to boost the young core of this team.