Just like we all thought, right?

The Cavs’ selection of UNLV’s Anthony Bennett with the first pick in the 2013 NBA Draft was expected by … nobody, it seems.  Certainly not anybody in the media or the mock draft industry, all of whom expected the Cavs to select Nerlens Noel, Alex Len, or Ben McLemore.  

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What have we learned about Cavs GM Chris Grant on draft night? He might take a guard, he might take a forward, he might take a center. But he will never, under any circumstances, be predictable.

In this article, penned a year ago, I took note of the fantasy-sports culture that has grown up around draft prognostication. In the weeks leading up to the NFL and NBA drafts, fans absorb mock drafts, scouting reports, soundbites and tweets to the saturation point. By the time the draft rolls around, the advance intelligence has delivered us a consensus-designated group of prospects that so-called “experts” have rubber-stamped as appropriate selections if your team should hold a top pick.

If your team reaches outside of that sphere to make their selection, doubting Thomases flood message boards, Twitter feeds and call-in shows with a collective reaction that is anywhere between sweaty palms and outright anger.

In 2011, three picks after taking Kyrie Irving first overall, Grant passed on Lithuanian center Jonas Valanciunas to take raw Texas power forward Tristan Thompson. Last year, Grant left North Carolina’s Harrison Barnes, Connecticut’s Andre Drummond and Kansas’ Thomas Robinson on the board to take Syracuse combo guard Dion Waiters, who didn’t even start for Jim Boeheim in his sophomore season.

The picks were largely panned at the time. In both cases, our fears have calmed to an extent, as Thompson showed marked improvement from Year 1 to Year 2, and Waiters finished among the rookie leaders in scoring this past season.

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If there is one thing that we should know after three drafts and four top four picks is to not rush to snap judgements with whatever it is that Chris Grant and the Cavaliers decide to do on draft night. Tristan Thompson was nothing but an undersized power forward who was historically bad offensively early on in his career. Dion Waiters never started a single game for Syracuse, did not put up great numbers in college and didn't even work out for the Cavs. To make matters worse, he was overweight when he was drafted 4th overall by Cleveland.

Both of these guys have proven to be just as good (if not better) than the players that were considered the conventional picks who were taken after them. Chris Grant marches to the beat of his own drummer. It can be frustrating for fans who are convinced that he is leaving a surefire talent on the board, but he has a fairly good track record when it comes to drafting.

The issue is that die-hard fans spend 82 nights a year watching their team. When the losses pile up, it is comforting to take solace in the fact that good will eventually come of it in the way of a high draft pick. When your team is out of playoff contention by January, it is tempting to read prospect scouting websites and watching videos that highlight their strenghts and weaknesses. The fan starts to envision how great a specific player would look on their team and before the season even ends, they form an emotional attachment to their favorite player.

Draft day comes and goes and that player was left on the board. This is something that we have now seen first-hand as Cleveland fans for three straight drafts.

The Cavaliers shocked the world tonight when they selected Anthony Bennett first overall. On the day of the draft, well-respected journalist Adrian Wojnarowski tweeted "Becoming harder to map a scenario where UNLV's Anthony Bennett doesn't slide on board. He could leave Portland with choice at No. 10." This is a guy who is about plugged in as anybody can be on the inner-workings of the NBA, and he believed that Anthony Bennett could fall all the way to the 10th pick.

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The NBA Draft is Thursday and the Cleveland Cavaliers find themselves sitting in a pretty good position.

Holding the top pick in the draft for the fifth time in franchise history – and the second time in the past three years – the Cavs completely control what they want to do when Commission David Stern opens the draft at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn at 7 p.m. (The team also holds picks No. 19, 31 and 33).

Stay put and add another young player to a nucleus of Kyrie Irving, Dion Waiters, Tristan Thompson and Tyler Zeller? The Cavs can do that. Make a trade with some of the assets they have spent three years (and 166 losses) compiling so they can be in contention for the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference? They can do that, too.

We think we know what we would like to see the Cavs do with the first pick (more on that in a bit), and we’re fairly certain that Cavs general manager Chris Grant has made up his mind what he wants to do. Of course, what they actually will do remains in question as rumors continue to swirl around the team.

So let’s try to figure this all out as best we can.

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