The Cleveland Cavaliers must ditch Joel Embiid

The Cleveland Cavaliers must ditch Joel Embiid

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The Cleveland Cavaliers have defied all logic by getting the number 1 pick, not once, not twice, “not three . . .” Now they have the first pick again, in the best draft since 2003 – you know, the one that featured Lebron James, Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, and the list goes on, but I digress.

On a side note, for everyone that thinks the Cleveland Cavaliers should be “banned” from picking first, ask yourself this question: “Would I want to be one of only four teams in the eastern conference to go to the NBA Finals in the last 10 years, with a guy who is one of the 5 best players to ever play the game? And, then have that stripped from me, after The Decision without warning?” The consolation for having that level of success and relevance leave my franchise???

Five top 5 picks over the next four years . . . hmmm . . . I guess I can see your point. . . . Moving on.

Furthermore, I believe the Cavaliers have drafted very well with their lottery picks, and to those who believe the opposite, all I’ll ask is “What would they have preferred to have seen?” I mean, name another team that has made better draft selections than the Cleveland Cavaliers in the last four years? And before you say, “Well those teams didn’t have the #1 pick,” let’s first trace that argument.

IF the Cavaliers whiffed on picks, than those “better” players should have been picked up by other teams in later picks/rounds, correct? So then, let’s take a look at who those 2011-2013 late round pick-ups were:

 

2011 NBA Draft:

Best player: Kyrie Irving – Cleveland Cavaliers

Cleveland Cavaliers picks: Kyrie Irving and Tristan Thompson

Notable players in the same draft: Klay Thompson, Kawhi Leonard, Nikola Vucevic


2012 NBA Draft:

Best Player: Anthony Davis

Cleveland Cavaliers pick: Dion Waiters

Notable players in the same draft: Andre Drummond, Damian Lillard


2013 NBA Draft:

Best Player: Michael Carter-Williams (maybe??? – Rookie of the Year on the team with the worst record in Basketball, and injured for over 10% of the season)

Cleveland Cavaliers pick: Anthony Bennett

Notable players in the same draft:??? Don’t worry, I’ll wait.

Hmm . . . So it looks like they missed on a lot of guys, huh? Let’s also remember though that there was no reason to take Damian Lillard in 2012 as they already had an All Start Point Guard in Kyrie Irving. Also, while Andre Drummond looks promising, his numbers at this point, aren’t any more impressive than Dion Waiters. Both players have shown “flashes of greatness” on underachieving NBA teams.

So this leaves us with only Klay Thompson and Nikola Vucevic as candidates for “missed” draft picks. Yet still, while these are two very good players, neither of them are franchise players, and neither have ever made an All Star game.

Given the above information, my argument that the Cavaliers have drafted as good or better than any other team in the NBA in the past four years is completely validated. However, I also understand that these Cavs teams have not had to make a sincerely tough decision in these drafts . . . Until now.

If the Cavaliers actually miss on the first pick of this year’s 2014 NBA Draft, they can set their franchises hopes of winning a championship backwards by NO LESS than three full years.

In a draft loaded with talent, the Cavs can’t afford to risk the best pick they’ve had since 2003 on a young center with bad back and a busted foot. Now personally, I don’t want to presume that Joel Embiid is in fact “fragile.” There is the possibility that his latest injury (stress fracture of the foot) is a common injury that could’ve happened to anyone. Maybe the injury was due to an overcompensation for his recent back injury? But what’s most important, is that for The Cleveland Cavaliers, the reasoning for his injuries should not factor into their decision. Their only question should be whether they think Jabari Parker or Andrew Wiggins is a better swing guard for their next four years, which hopefully won’t land them in the Lottery position for the 2015 NBA Draft.

Yeah, I guess it’s just another easy decision.

 

 

 

  1. This argument won’t hold too much longer. Kawhi is on his way
  2. The key to my previous argument lies within that sentence. Essentially the Cavs have drafted well because there was no way they could draft bad. That’s right I made a fail-proof argument.

     

     

Kortney Shane Williams

Editor-in-Chief of Comedic Prose

Follow Kortney Williams on Twitter @kortneyshane

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