Or is it Enes Kanter? Or dunking Derrick Williams? I maintain Irving is the prize of this extremely weak draft, but even that’s not saying much. Whether or not Irving is a franchise point guard remains to be seen – he played in just 11 games as a freshman (scoring double figures in all of them, shooting 52 percent, and getting to the line with ease), and very few point guards have left college after their freshman year and instantly been successful in the NBA.
Minnesota has the best shot at the top pick, but because of Ricky Rubio, they don’t need a point guard (enter David Kahn joke here). Wolves’ fans shouldn’t hold out hope, anyway – since 1985 when the lottery started, only four teams with the worst record got the top pick.
This is a pivotal night or the Cavs – who are sending owner Dan Gilbert’s 14-year-old son to Secaucus – who went from the best record last year with LeBron to the second worst record in the league this year without him. They also have the Clippers’ lottery pick, so in a perfect world, they’d get the 1st and 2nd overall picks. Cleveland fans are hoping the 2011 draft will do for the franchise what the 1986 draft did for the franchise. On that day, they landed Brad Daughtery (1st), Ron Harper (8th) and Mark Price (25th, via trade). Not a bad haul.
If they were able to secure Irving, a studly shooting guard (Alec Burks, Klay Thompson or rapidly-rising Marshon Brooks), and a frontcourt player (Kanter? Biyombo? a Morris twin?), that certainly would be a start to the resurgence.
My guess on the lottery winner: Cleveland.
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