Cleveland Cavaliers, Kyrie Irving and Future Playoff Possibilities

Ever since LeBron James left nearly two years ago now, the words "Cleveland Cavaliers" and "playoffs" seem like they shouldn't even be uttered in the same paragraph, let alone the same sentence.

However, Kyrie Irving is surpassing early expectations and the Cavs fans that gallivant around me day after day couldn't be happier. Sure, the team is 8-11 and sitting in the bottom half of the league (currently the 12th-worst team in the NBA), but there's plenty to be excited about.

The youngest player in Cleveland is putting up similar offensive numbers to LeBron James in his rookie season with 18 points a game (compared to LeBron's 21) and shooting percentages at 51 from the floor, 41 from downtown and 81 percent from the free-throw line (LeBron put up 42-29-75 over his first season).

Before the season started, the biggest concern over Irving's game was his ability to shoot the ball, a criticism he's blown out the window at this point. Now, the biggest problem he's having is transitioning to playing defense against NBA-caliber point guards. Lucky for Irving (and all of Ohio), Cleveland employs a coach who is not only great with defense, but with point guards as well.

The overachieving Irving, mixed with the occasional flashes of brilliance from Tristan Thompson (he's got a long way to go on the offensive end, but we've seen some good things from the big man) have Cavs fans hopeful for the future.

The final ray of sunshine coming into Cleveland (besides their wealth of trade bait, which I'll get to in a second) is how well Chris Grant's undrafted and under-drafted prospects are working out.

Alonzo Gee is getting wiser every day, mixing his new-found basketball smarts with his inhuman athletic ability. Samardo Samuels has enough toughness to share some with his teammates. Semih Erden has had games where he looks like he could be one of the best backup centers in the NBA.

All of this gives Cavs fans hope for the next few guys Grant takes a shot with, including the newest addition to the team, Mychel Thompson.

So, what does this all mean for the future of this team? Well, let's take a look at that.

Trade Bait

Now that Cleveland has fallen off a bit as of late, and the thought that they could potentially make the playoffs is on the way out, it's time to start looking at who they could possibly trade.

Recently, Adrian Wojnarowski (I officially spelled his name right on the first try for the first time, I'm making myself a medal before I continue on here) reported that the Los Angeles Lakers, among other teams, have shown interest in Cavs backup point guard Ramon Sessions. 

Along with Iriving, Cleveland has the resurgent Antawn Jamison and his expiring contract to offer to a contender looking for a guy to come off the bench and stretch the defense and Anderson Varejao's All-Star caliber center play to go to anyone looking for a big man.

Of those three, it seems most likely that Cleveland will offer up Jamison and Sessions, but hold onto Varejao (it's difficult to trade the best guy on the team who happens to be a fan favorite to boot) for the time being.

Speculation has been that Cleveland has been looking for another draft pick in this year's draft, first and foremost, which has to be a good idea. This year's draft class is deeper than we've seen in years and any extra draft picks would help this young team immensely.

The 2012 NBA Draft 

Now, the Cavs will likely end up in the bottom 10 teams in the league, and while it's hard to watch a team lose, it's better in the long run for Cleveland to finish as bad as possible (although I'm not advocating losing games on purpose).

Let's say Cleveland ends up trading for a draft pick with a playoff-bound team, garnering them a draft-pick somewhere around 20th, giving them a top-10 pick and the No. 20 pick, what could they get for that?

This year's draft is deepest in the small forward and shooting guard spots (which is another reason Kyrie over Derrick Williams was a good idea), which are two glaring holes on Cleveland's roster.

Their top pick could land them a player like Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Austin Rivers, Jeremy Lamb, Harrison Barnes or Perry Jones, all of whom have the potential to be very good players.

Another pick further down the line could get them a big man like Fab Melo, Tyler Zeller (of whom I'm not a big fan) or another guard/forward like Kris Joseph, Austin Rivers or Doron Lamb.

So, How Soon?

Now, let's keep in mind that I'm a perpetual optimist and I can never cease to see the positive side of things, but this Cavs team could threaten for the playoffs next season.

With a year (more or less) of experience for Irving and Thompson, along with Varejao sticking around, Cleveland has a point guard and two big men who know how to play well together. Then, with two first-rounders from this deep draft, they could have a very nice bench next season.

Aside from that, they'll have gobs of cap space (they have just $20 million on their books right now) and just the guys they'll think about re-signing won't be looking for big money.

Daniel Gibson will probably be first and foremost, followed by Ramon Sessions (if he's still around), Anthony Parker (he seems to love Cleveland), Samardo Samuels, Alonzo Gee and Semih Erden. That will put them around $40 million or so on the books.

With the new CBA, that means Cleveland will have to spend around $9 million or so to reach the salary floor, about $17 million before they get to the salary cap and nearly $30 million before they hit the luxury tax. Needless to say, the Cavs will have some room to add some players.

This Cavs team has some problems, that's for sure, but I can't help but see a bright future for this team.