On the Cavs, Draft-Day Trades and Veterans

With the NBA lottery coming up on Tuesday, and the Cavs possessing four picks in the 2013 NBA Draft, there is much speculation as to what GM Chris Grant should do on draft night.

A recurring cry from certain media and segments of the fan base is that the team needs to package their pick for a proven commodity. They claim that the time to win is now and the Cavs need veteran leadership more than an unproven rookie.  All of this is part of a grand scheme to lure Lebron away from South Beach in the summer of 2014.

However, I happen to find myself in the group of Cavs fans who have no desire to mortgage this franchise’s future upon Lebron James. We tried that once. It didn’t work out so well.

(This is not to say that I would not take back the best basketball player on the planet without hesitation, just simply that I do not buy for a second that James has any interest in returning to Cleveland.)

I not buy into the notion that we need to win for Lebron. But furthermore, I do not see how trading for a veteran puts Cleveland in a position to win championships when guys like Kyrie Irving and Dion Waiters hit their prime.

I decided to take a look back at some of the draft day trades from the past, where teams swapped vets for their high pick. The results were astoundingly lop-sided, as the team trading the pick virtually always lost. Let’s take a look at a few:

• Pau Gasol for Shareef Abdur-Rahim, 2001 by the Atlanta Hawks. Gasol, taken third overall, blossomed into one of the best big men in the NBA playing in Memphis and Los Angeles. The Hawks never appeared in the playoffs with Abdur-Rahim.

• Rudy Gay for Shane Battier, 2006 by the Houston Rockets. Gay, taken eighth overall, is not quite an NBA superstar, but is a talented wing in the NBA. Gay has been arguably the second-best player from the draft class behind LaMarcus Aldridge. Battier was not terrible in Houston, but the Rockets never made it out of the first-round and Battier was never more than a role player.

• Nene for Antonio McDyess, 2002 by the New York Knicks. Nene developed into a very serviceable starting center during his time in the league after being the seventh selection in the 2002 NBA Draft. McDyess, on the other hand, averaged 8 points and 6 rebounds per game. He only appeared in 18 games for New York, starting just six times. He was later traded to the Suns.

These are just a few of many regrettable draft-day trades in recent memory.

The Cavs should look to grab a young talent that could fulfill a role 2-3 years from now rather than rush to win games this season. The team should have a chance to make the playoffs this year, but there is no need to risk the long-term viability of the franchise in order to win an extra few games this season.