Draft Watch: 3 frontcourt floor spacers the Cavaliers should target at pick No. 20

While the Cleveland Cavaliers continue their search for the next head coach, they also have kept their eyes on the rising stars in this year's NBA Draft class.

The 2024 NBA Draft has been met with varied remarks and critiques due to the lack of star potential talent. Certainly, the emerging rookies are following a tough act after Victor Wembanyama stole the show in his first year. Still, the rookie pool offers a vast array of high-level contributors. For the Cavaliers, this type of draft is the perfect one to find a hidden gem and add an NBA-ready prospect to fill a need on a team-friendly contract for years to come.

Typically, the best strategy in the draft is to take the best player available, but the "best" option at any selection has no definitive answer, leading to teams likely selecting the best prospect for their needs and situation. For the Cavs, one skill stands out as the most critical to target - three-point shooting. The clear path to add another shooter is targeting a versatile wing such as Tristan da Silva, Johnny Furphy or Jaylon Tyson. Any of these three forwards could propel Cleveland's perimeter presence, but the Cavaliers might find it more viable to target a floor spacer in the frontcourt instead.

The Cleveland Cavaliers should look for a frontcourt spacer in the draft

Adding a two-way wing might be the right move for the Cavaliers, but it is not a guarantee. Alongside shooting, the Cavs have struggled to maintain a strong presence on the boards, often losing the rebounding battle to physical opponents. With two elite big men in Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen, the Cavaliers cannot afford for the rest of their frontcourt rotation to fall behind. Allen and Mobley can get pushed around on the boards and do not offer much three-point shooting, yet. Finding an answer to these woes in the draft could be a sneakily perfect move for a team expected to target a wing or combo guard.

But, the frontcourt's limitations are much harder to address in free agency than the wing position. Although the Golden State Warriors are likely to cut an ideal backup center for the Cavaliers, Kevon Looney does not stretch the floor. His rebounding chops and physical demeanor provides plenty of value to a frontcourt, but the Cavs' perfect target can give Evan Mobley another shooter around him to unlock the next level of his development. Outside of Looney, there are few realistic centers who could impact winning in Cleveland.

Conversely, the Cavaliers could find a viable wing contributor in free agency from numerous targets. With Naji Marshall, Royce O'Neale and others entering unrestricted free agency, the Cavs may not feel as much urgency to draft a wing as they do a floor spacer in the frontcourt. Any team who already has a knockdown shooter and rebounder at center will not be willing to trade them away for anything the Cavaliers can offer.

This draft class, though, could answer that problem. These three big men can offer the Cavaliers a perfect long-term partner next to Mobley either as a bench player or starter if Cleveland parts ways with Jarrett Allen in the future.