NBA Draft 2011: Should Cavaliers Move Up for No. 2 Pick or Stay Put?

You're at the Olive Garden, scanning the menu, trying to decide between the lasagna and chicken parmesan.

While one waiter recommends the chicken, your girlfriend reminds you she made chicken last night and tells you to get the lasagna.

Faced with two great options, part of you wants to order both, make everyone happy and go home full.

A decision like this comes with a price, however, both on the wallet and the large intestine.

Dan Gilbert and the Cavaliers face a similar decision, on a slightly larger scale.  Already with the first and fourth overall picks in the 2011 NBA draft, could the Cavs get greedy for more?

While the great fans on Bleacher Report seem to be split between Kyrie Irving and Derrick Williams, the choice may not even have to be made.  If the Cavaliers do indeed acquire the eighth overall pick and Rip Hamilton, and trade the fourth and eighth picks to the Minnesota Timberwolves for the second as rumored, Cleveland could come away with both stars.

A bold move, but is this necessarily the best thing to do?

Acquiring the eighth pick means taking on a lot of money with Rip Hamilton's contract, something Dan Gilbert shouldn't seem to mind.  After all, that's how they got the first overall pick to begin with, taking on the extra money from Baron Davis's contract.

Getting Williams and Irving would be huge for Cleveland.  I'm always in favor of trading multiple good players for a great one, especially in the NBA.

One bad thing about this trade, though, is that the Cavs would miss out on Enes Kanter.

Kanter is a player that I believe could end up being the best player in this draft when it's all said and done.  His skill set is unbelievable, and his size is something Cleveland desperately needs, possibly more than anything else.

He could also be taken with the fourth overall pick, without Cleveland taking on extra salary. 

Whether the Cavaliers make the deal for the second overall pick should depend on what they believe Minnesota and the Utah Jazz plan to do.  Williams will definitely go second or third, which leaves Kanter and Brandon Knight as the likely candidates for the other pick. 

If the Cavs believe that Kanter will be available at four, I would be fine with them standing pat and keeping what picks they have.

However, if Cleveland takes Irving first overall and Williams and Kanter come off the board, the Cavaliers are in a tough spot and would most likely be forced to reach on an international prospect or future role player in Kawhi Leonard or Chris Singleton.

Cleveland must avoid this situation at all costs.

If it means trading up for the second overall pick at the risk of increasing the salary, so be it.  In two seasons the large contracts of Rip Hamilton, Antawn Jamison and Baron Davis will have expired and the Cavaliers will have a wealth of young talent and the cash to sign them to large extensions.

So yes, if at all possible the Cavaliers would be wise to trade up to the No. 2 spot.  Forget about the hit on the wallet and the indigestion that may follow immediately after, because in the long run it will give the Cleveland Cavaliers a better shot at a championship, something the organization and its fans so desperately deserve.