Waiters versus Irving

[GGLC]

With all due respect to Voltaire, I fail to see how I am being irrationally optimistic. I agree their draft choices are curious, but yes, it could have been a lot worse.

They could have drafted Derrick Williams, Jan Vesely, and Thomas Robinson. Instead, they have perhaps a future HOFer and 2 starters.

Imagine this Cavs lineup:

C: Jonas Valanciunas
PF: Anderson Varejao
SF: Harrison Barnes
SG: Victor Oladipo
PG: Kyrie Irving

Length, athleticism, and complementary pieces.

Then again, I'm a Trail Blazers fan, so I understand that second-guessing and what-ifs can be really annoying. And obviously it's not possible to draft optimally. But I just want to see Kyrie succeed, and the Cavs are not surrounding him with the pieces that maximize his ability to do that.

[flyingdutchdevil]

This is usually reserved for a player, but ESPN decided to go for the whole team:

The Cleveland Cavaliers: The Cavs are not hot. Starters not named Kyrie Irving combined to shoot 2-for-15 from the field in a 98-91 loss to the Wizards. When No. 1 pick Anthony Bennett entered the game in the fourth, he shot an air ball on a 3-point attempt. Sigh.

[kAzE]

This is usually reserved for a player, but ESPN decided to go for the whole team:

I think it's about time to push the panic button on Bennett. What a huge disappointment so far. Everyone knew he wasn't your typical #1 pick, so expectations weren't even THAT high to begin with. Boy, he might be one of those guys who doesn't really make it until his next team.

[Des Esseintes]

I think it's about time to push the panic button on Bennett. What a huge disappointment so far. Everyone knew he wasn't your typical #1 pick, so expectations weren't even THAT high to begin with. Boy, he might be one of those guys who doesn't really make it until his next team.

No worries, though. Bennett isn't even the top-5 lottery pick with the biggest problems in that franchise. That would be Dion Waiters, whom the team is trying to trade a little over a year into his Cleveland tenure. Doesn't get along with Kyrie, doesn't get along with Thompson.

One thing NBA numbers guys like to talk about as a pitfall of building through the draft is that if you get a franchise-level guy, the team will often improve so quickly under him that getting *another* big building block is incredibly tough. The Thunder managed to stay bad enough long enough to follow Durant with Westbrook and Harden--thanks, PJ Carlesimo--but that blueprint has proven extremely difficult for others to follow. The Cavs, though. The Cavs have Kyrie, and they're staying high lottery every year! If only they weren't, you know, utterly completely blowing those picks. Couldn't happen to a nicer guy than predatory loan goon Dan Gilbert either.

[WillJ]

The Cavs looked pretty bad last night, including Kyrie. The Heat can do that to another team, but it was not pretty.

[_Gary]

The Cavs looked pretty bad last night, including Kyrie. The Heat can do that to another team, but it was not pretty.

Yeah, and it really is a shame because I'd like Kyrie to be playing for a good team. I don't think anyone expected them to be up there with Miami or Indiana, but I believe most of us thought they'd be contending for a playoff spot. And they certainly still have plenty of time to do that. But right now they are pretty darned bad.

It's obvious to me that the last two Cleveland drafts must now be classified as nothing short of unmitigated disasters. Like others here, I also thought the Waiters pick was a terrible one, and the Bennett pick is quickly moving in that direction too. When you think about having two very high draft picks over the last years, plus high secondary picks, and then look at the current Cavalier team, you have to shake your head.