CLEVELAND — The NBA Draft Lottery was held on Tuesday and the Cleveland Cavaliers learned they will pick No. 3 in this summer’s NBA Draft.
Coming in third in the lottery was not a bad result for the Cavs, who finished tied with the fourth-worst record in the NBA. The lottery is weighted to favor teams with worse records.
The Detroit Pistons will pick first, followed by the Houston Rockets.
Cavs General Manager Koby Altman represented the club at this year’s lottery.
“I think it’s a tremendous opportunity,” said Altman. “I think it really positions us well. Look, when we started this a few years back, we talked about building through the draft and creating sustainable success. There’s some real game-changers at the top of this draft, but also it puts us in a position to really capitalize on different opportunities throughout the landscape of the NBA with this position. We’re fortunate to be able to have this pick, add another talented young man to this roster. When you look at our young core, we’re in good shape from a talent perspective and we’re going to have another large injection of talent coming soon.”
So who might Altman target with the No. 3 pick?
You can probably forget about Cade Cunningham. The Oklahoma State guard is the consensus No. 1 prospect in this year’s draft, according to NBC Sports and ESPN. Beyond Cunningham, things become a bit more unclear. In the latest mock draft by ESPN, Jalen Green, who skipped college to play in the G League, is considered the likely No. 2 pick with USC center Evan Mosley going to the Cavs at No. 3.
NBC Sports, however, has Houston picking up Mosley at No. 2 with the Cavs selecting Green at No. 3.
Another highly-touted prospect in this year’s draft is Gonzaga guard Jalen Suggs.
Regardless, Altman likes his options at No. 3.
“At the top of this draft, there is size and athleticism; there is talent,” Altman said.
Scouting top players has been different in the last year. Altman told reporters that scouts did not go and see as many prospects in games last year due to the pandemic.
“Fortunately for us, and our scouting staff does an incredible job, we were able to see the top five guys live,” Altman said. “We were able to lock in. We go really deep with the intel we gather and we have a thorough process.”
Unless the Cavs trade for another pick, Cleveland will not get another selection in the 2021 NBA Draft.
