NBA Draft 2011: 14 Reasons Cleveland Cavaliers Have Hopes for a Bright Future
Less than a year ago the Cleveland Cavaliers and their fans were at the lowest point they had been since the 2003 draft lottery.
Then, as the season rolled along they continued to drop to lower and lower points. LeBron James showed the team up in his return to Cleveland. Down a rung (in fact, the only good thing to come of that game from a Cavs fan's perspective was Wally Szczerbiak staring down James—that picture has been my desktop background since that day, by the way).
They lost 10 straight games in December. Down another rung.
They lost to the Lakers by 55 points. Down five or six more rungs.
They lost their 26th straight game to the Detroit Pistons. Rock bottom.
This past season hurt—there is no denying that—but that isn't to say there were some positive things to happen during the season, and especially after it ended.
So I'll give you Cavs fans out there (and whoever else may be interested) 14 reasons to have hope. Why 14? Well, they have picks No. 1 and No. 4, and our good-luck charm Nick Gilbert is 14 years old, so I figured that I'd roll with it.
14. Rigged Draft Lottery?
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Of course, when anything slightly sketchy happens in the NBA, people will automatically jump to conspiracy theories about what happened.
So after the Cavs landed the No. 1 pick with a 2.9 percent chance of getting it, many people, including Timberwolves GM David Kahn, started grumbling that the fix was in.
Well, that might be a bad thing for some of the other teams in the league, but that's a wonderful thing for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
If the draft lottery was rigged (and I'm not convinced that it wasn't, it's always a possibility) then that means David Stern thinks it would be a good thing for the league for the Cavs to be good again, or he's just taking pity on them.
Can you imagine how good ratings would be if Cleveland and Miami met in the playoffs in a few years, even if it were just a No. 1 seed taking on a No. 8 seed?
Either way, that means Stern wants them to be a good team, which is good for Cleveland.
13. Christian "Sky"enga
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If there is one thing that I was looking forward to last year, it was the debut of Christian Eyenga.
It took him a while to get into the flow of the NBA, and he never really got fully into it, but he showed flashes of amazing throughout the season.
Now, with about two-thirds of a season under his belt, he knows what to expect and is ready to get back into the flow of things.
Eyenga isn't a guy that is going to be integral to rebuilding the team (although he could be a role player down the road), but for the next season or two while they are still a pretty bad team he will be one of the most exciting players to watch.
He is a guy that is an uber-athlete, and with any luck you could see him in the dunk contest in the next few years, so there is something to watch for Cavs fans during the season if the team falls into a rut, which is still likely.
12. "Undesirable" Cities' Success
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One idea that has grown and festered over the past year is that championship teams come from cities where superstars want to play.
Whether it is a city with a lot of basketball history, like Chicago or Boston, cities with huge visibility like New York or Los Angeles or just cities that superstars would consider "fun" like that city way down south.
I'm not going to deny that those cities have a better ability to lure some free agents, but they aren't the only cities with teams that end up successful.
This year, the Memphis Grizzlies, Portland Trail Blazers and Oklahoma City Thunder all had terrific seasons, with two of those teams making it to the second round of the playoffs, and the Thunder to the Western Conference finals.
Meanwhile, the San Antonio Spurs have won four titles in the Tim Duncan era that lasted for more than a decade. Not too shabby for the city that was the third-most attractive prior to Duncan's (and David Robinson's) presence.
11. Blind Luck
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This isn't something that you would usually associate with Cleveland when it comes to sports, but it looks as if the city's tides may finally be turning.
Before the trade deadline, Cleveland was looking for any way to pick up another draft pick in the lottery this year, and it just so happened that the Clippers were looking for any way to get rid of theirs.
Cleveland gave up Mo Williams and Jamario Moon (two players that should probably be a part of better teams anyway) for Los Angeles' pick and Baron Davis' huge contract.
Well, Baron Davis came over and actually provided a spark for the Cavs, and put them over the top in some games, which was more than they could have ever expected from the guy.
Then the draft lottery came along, and we all know how that story ends.
10. They're Fun To Watch
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I'm not talking about the Cavs that lost 26 games in a row before the All-Star break—I'm talking about the down-the-stretch Cavs that were starting to grasp the Princeton offense.
Byron Scott puts forth an offense that emphasizes constant movement, backdoor cuts, double screens and basket attacking, and if you've never run it, it's a bit hard to grasp.
Well, once Baron Davis came along (who played under Scott in New Orleans) the Cavs offense actually started to look the way a Princeton offense is supposed to look.
When they get it clicking on all cylinders they constantly attack the basket with Ramon Sessions, Davis or alley-oops to Christian Eyenga or Alonzo Gee.
They may not have won many games, but after the All-Star break they were at least fun to watch from time to time. As a fan of a team wallowing in the pits of the league, that's the most you can ask for—just ask Golden State.
9. Trade Bait...
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Right now, it doesn't seem as if they have much in terms of trade bait, but when you look at the team more closely, you see that they actually have quite a bit to trade away in the next few years.
First, there is Anderson Varejao, a fan favorite in Cleveland, but someone who is probably not a big part of the Cavs' future plans. Demand is pretty high for Varejao, who is a high-energy player with terrific defense and a good jump shot. He is starting to justify his contract, which seemed a bit large when he signed it a few years back.
Then there are two point guards on their team that would be lucrative to other teams. Ramon Sessions turned into a legitimate starter this season, and Boobie Gibson is a hot shooter who never really got a chance to play many minutes.
They also have two huge, expiring contracts in the next two years that would make any team double-take.
Antawn Jamison is owed over $15 million next season, and that much money coming off a team's books next season would clear up tons of cap space for any team.
Then they have Baron Davis the following year, owed just under $15 million, another huge sum of money teams should be bidding for.
8. ...or Cap Space
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They could always decide to hold on to both Antawn Jamison and Baron Davis and have $30 million coming off their books in the next two seasons. Then, with the two lottery picks they have this season they would need to spend just $7 million and then $8 million over the next two years.
So, as it stands now, with their two picks and without Jamison and Davis in 2013 they would have a salary of just $17 million.
Think of what they could do with that cap space this summer and next summer in terms of signing free agents.
7. The Possibility of Enes Kanter
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Word on the street (read: on the internet) is that if Enes Kanter would have played for Kentucky this season then he would have been the No. 1 pick this year.
The No. 1 pick will be Kyrie Irving, second is going to be Derrick Williams and after that it is a bit muddled.
Utah is picking third, and the question with the Jazz is whether they are going to try to grab Kanter even though they have Al Jefferson, or if they will lean toward signing Brandon Knight or Kemba Walker to take over at point guard down the line.
If they pick one of those two, you had better bet that Cleveland is going to drop in and take Kanter as soon as they get on the clock.
6. They Wont Be Much Better This Year
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That sounds cynical and pessimistic, but it's the truth, and that might be a good thing.
Next year's draft looks to be much stronger than this year's, which means a top-10 pick next year could be as good as a top-five pick this year.
That, plus the fact that Cleveland is probably not going to improve by more than 10 to 15 wins next year means that the Cavs should end up with another lottery pick next year.
Cleveland, with another lottery pick next season could end up with someone as good as Harrison Barnes or even Jared Sullinger or Perry Jones—any would be a terrific addition to a young team.
5. 10 Draft Picks in Three Years
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One thing that can revamp a team quicker than anything is youth.
It worked for both Oklahoma City and Memphis, who were both terrific teams this year, and it could be just the thing the Cavs need.
Cleveland owns all of its draft picks over the next three years, which gives the Cavs three first-rounders and three second-rounders right there.
4. Dan Gilbert
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The NBA is littered with penny-pinchers and the Maloof brothers top the list, as the Sacramento Kings owners had to trade for a guy who was out for the year to meet the salary floor.
Dan Gilbert is an owner that is totally committed to putting a winning product on the floor for the Cavs, no matter the price, and that is the best thing a fanbase can ask for in an owner.
He may have made a fool of himself to the rest of the country with his public letter after LeBron James chose to sign with Miami, but to Cleveland it was a promise that the team wouldn't stagnate like it did in the '90s after the Mark Price era.
3. Kyrie Irving
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Kyrie Irving may not be the franchise player that everyone would hope for with a No. 1 pick in the draft, but he is by no means a bad player.
Irving could very well turn into a point guard just below the level of Chris Paul, Deron Williams and Derrick Rose, which would be plenty from a draft pick.
With Kyrie Irving coming to the Cavs, the fans know that the team has a foundation for the future.
2. Supportive Fanbase
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Throughout the regular season, the biggest thing I took solace in while watching the Cavs play was how many people came out to see a team that was struggling so badly.
Sure, for most of the first half of the season it seemed that the arena was packed with boos for LeBron, and as the season dragged on I was sure that it would dwindle.
The arena stayed full and the Cavs ended with the third-highest home attendance in the NBA. Still I figured that the building wouldn't be nearly as full next season, as they would continue to be a marginal team.
However, now that they have a brighter looking future ahead I am more optimistic that the seats will continue to have butts in them, and nothing is more exciting than when a team has a packed house watching it.
1. What's Not To Like?
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Nick Gilbert was a good-luck charm for the Cleveland Cavaliers at the draft lottery, and he helped show off one thing about Cleveland: when you spend time there, and interact with the community you start to love it.
I understand why people on the outside have such a negative opinion of the city, but for a lot of the athletes that end up in Cleveland, they start to love the city and the people in it.
The Cleveland Browns' Josh Cribbs and Joe Haden went to the lottery with the Gilbert family; neither of whom had to take time out of his busy day to fly to New Jersey for such a pointless event, but it showed support for the city in which they play, returning the love they get every week from Browns fans, despite the fact that the team is pretty bad.
Two examples for the Cavaliers in recent years are Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Boobie Gibson.
Before training camp this year, Gibson told the Cleveland Plain Dealer:
""I've been here a long time and I appreciate the loyalty," he said. "That's what Cleveland is all about—loyalty and hard work. I try to display that every time I get out on the floor. I appreciate the fact that the fans love me back for it because I love them the same."
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I'm sure this sounds like something any player would say, but when you see Gibson say it, it feels like he really means it. Maybe I'm naive to think a player loves a city half as much as the city loves him, but with some of the Cleveland players, you really feel that.
Ilgauskas met his wife in Cleveland, who helped acclimate him to the culture around town. When he left for Miami he did it the right way and expressed his love for the city that he called home, and still does since he came to the states.
Sure, not everyone falls in love with the city. Fans can be cynical and pessimistic. But before each sporting season starts everyone is sure their team can make the playoffs, whether it is the Browns, Indians or Cavaliers.
Aside from all that, there are few NBA cities that winning a championship would affect so much. Whoever brings Cleveland a title will be a legendary player, at least in the hearts of every Clevelander.
Hell, even if he just helps the Cavs beat the Heat next season, Kyrie Irving will never have to pay for a beer again in the state of Ohio, let alone Cleveland.
