NBA Trade Rumors: Cavaliers Draft Kyrie Irving, What Happens to Ramon Sessions?

The Cleveland Cavaliers had a windfall that very few expected, as the pick they got from the Los Angeles Clippers in the trade for Ramon Sessions ended up winning the Draft Lottery, giving them the first pick in the NBA Draft 2011.

Now, the consensus is that the Cavaliers are going to take Kyrie Irving with that pick, something that I tend to agree with. I think the only way they will give Derrick Williams the nod is if they see something in Irving's workout that concerns them, or if he fails their physical, which doesn't seem very likely.

Irving will be the point guard of the future for the Cavaliers, and they will commit to building a team around him and his style of play. So that kind of leaves Ramon Sessions, a player who really came on strong in the past year, in the lurch.

Sessions has never really played the 2-guard spot, and if anyone moves to fill the starting role it would be Baron Davis. Davis has played some shooting guard in the past and wasn't absolutely overmatched at the position like Sessions has been.

What made Sessions so valuable for the Cavaliers in the past year was his combination of speed, range, court vision and penetration. He made improvements in nearly every one of those categories in the past year.

I have heard some arguments that the Cavaliers should forgo drafting Irving to further develop Sessions, but that seems a bit misguided to me.

Sessions has turned into a good player and is easily a starter on many teams in the NBA, were he to be traded. But is it possible that he'll progress into anything more than a good player?  He could make an All-Star game or two in his career, but that is the absolute best I would expect out of Sessions. And even that might be setting the bar too high.

Meanwhile, Irving could turn into a franchise point guard who makes it to multiple All-Star games and becomes the foundation for the team for many years.

The fact must be faced that while Sessions has improved, he did so on an historically bad team where he had the highest usage percentage of his career (24 percent). This could explain his statistical improvement in scoring and passing.

So, that leaves the question, what should the Cavaliers do with Ramon Sessions?

For the time being, I have to say leave him on the team. Don't do anything with the guy until there is an absolute game plan for the future, which I am sure Chris Grant and the front office are working on.

Sessions should stay on the team, at least for the first few months of the season, and once they figure out if they want to insert Irving into the starting role (which could actually happen right away). Once the Cavs sort out their plans for Davis, then they should decide what to do with Sessions.

If they have a suitor for Davis (which is unlikely this year), then I think they should think about shipping him before they ship Sessions.  Davis has a history of being a bad influence on a locker room. If he starts to get mopey and fat, and a team still wants him, then it is better to send him away before he can poison the rest of the team.

In that case, Sessions could stick around as a backup for Irving or a competitor for the starting job, depending on how the first few months of the season goes for Irving. He could need some time coming off the bench to get used to the NBA game.

However, if nobody wants Davis and Irivng is working out well, then the Cavaliers are four-deep at the point guard spot (Irving, Davis, Sessions and Boobie Gibson, who actually spent a lot of time as a shooting guard last year, doing a decent job of it), giving them plenty of reason to trade Sessions.

So Where Could He Go?

There are plenty of teams out there who should be interested in a point guard, as many of the best teams in the league have question marks at that position.

It may sound like a heresy right now, but the Miami Heat will be on the lookout for a point guard. However, I'm not sure the Cavs would be willing to help out the abomination down south. Plus, Miami hasn't got much to offer, as they can't give up another first-round pick until 2017 at the earliest.

The New York Knicks are another option for Sessions, as his fast-paced, dribble-penetration style would probably mix well with the team. Plus, he wouldn't demand shots, allowing Carmelo Anthony and Amar'e Stoudemire to get enough looks to keep them happy.

A New York package would also be too weak for the Cavs to get too interested in, as the best they could do would be a second-round pick or two or possibly Bill Walker, if they would be willing to part with him.

The Portland Trail Blazers have a good point guard right now, but they aren't particularly deep, and Andre Miller isn't getting any younger.  Sessions could provide them with a point guard of the future who would flow well with their team-based style of play.

Cleveland could dangle Sessions and a pick or some of their trade exception for a chance at a sign-and-trade with Greg Oden, which seems to be a very popular topic of discussion. They could also swap him for a draft pick.

Finally, there is Atlanta, who had a tandem of Jeff Teague and Kirk Hinrich running the point for the latter part of the season. They could easily improve their backcourt with Sessions.

Atlanta could offer their 2013 first-rounder with some sort of protection (probably just top-10 or top-five) for Sessions. Also, Cleveland could go crazy and offer up a package including Sessions for Josh Smith, if the rumors are true that Atlanta wants to ship him out.

With Sessions, the Cavs have a very good asset. They would be justified in doing anything with him at this point, and the demand for a point guard with his skills are very high right now.