Written by Demetri Inembolidis

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It has now been over a week and a half since the lottery balls bounced around in the hopper and netted the Cleveland Cavaliers the fourth overall pick in the 2012 draft.  This is not an ideal situation for the team to be in, but that does not mean that a productive player cannot be attained.  It is up to Chris Grant and his team to maximize the value with his four picks between the first and second rounds.

A lot of noise is coming from seemingly everywhere that the Cavs are dead-set in drafting Harrison Barnes out of UNC.  Considering that Barnes is a small forward, he could really help fill a position of need for the franchise.  Much is made of his inability to create his own shot and lack of athleticism, which are both valid concerns.  Personally, I am not crazy about Harrison Barnes, but I can get on board with him if Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Bradley Beal are off of the draft board by the time the Cavs pick.

Common sense would dictate that the Cavs probably have not made a decision yet.  There are a lot of workouts and interviews left to conduct.  There is certainly a lot of smoke coming from the Harrison Barnes to the Cavs rumor mill, but one would expect the Cavs to do their due diligence to ensure that the best possible player is selected.  As I have been saying for over a year, the Cavs have lost a lot of games in order to get as high of a draft pick as they did.  It is important to make the very most of their draft pick and not make any decisions without really thinking it through.  

The Cavs have the fourth, twenty-fourth, thirty-third and thirty-fourth picks in the draft.  A lot can happen on June 28th and it is expected that the Cavs will be looking to move out of some of those draft picks.  Having four rookies and two sophomores on one team does not coincide with the “veteran leadership” mantra that the franchise had last year.  

There are a lot of question marks surrounding many of the players.  The truth is that although we have an idea of what the strengths and weaknesses are of each player are, we really will not know if they are legitimate NBA players for a little bit of time.  We can look at past drafts to see what kind of players are taken at four and twenty-four to see how history has treated those selections.  In order to get a better idea of what the talent level was at those specific draft picks, I included the selection made directly before and after where the Cavs are slated to pick on June 28th.

2000:

3: Darius Miles
4: Marcus Fizer
5: Mike Miller
23: Deshawn Stevenson
24: Dalibor Bagaric
25: Jake Tsakalidis

2001:

3: Pau Gasol
4: Eddy Curry
5: Jason Richardson
23: Brandon Armstrong
24: Raul Lopez
25: Gerald Wallace

2002:

3: Mike Dunleavy Jr.
4: Drew Gooden
5: Nikoloz Tskitishvilli
23: Tayshaun Prince
24: Nenad Krstic
25: John Salmons

2003:

3: Carmelo Anthony
4: Chris Bosh
5: Dwyane Wade
23: Travis Outlaw
24: Brian Cook
25: Carlos Delfino

2004:

3: Ben Gordon
4: Shaun Livingston
5: Devin Harris
23: Sergei Monia
24: Delonte West
25: Tony Allen

2005:

3: Deron Williams
4: Chris Paul
5: Raymond Felton
23: Francisco Garcia
24: Luther Head
25: Johan Petro

2006:

3: Adam Morrison
4: Tyrus Thomas
5: Shelden Williams
23: Josh Boone
24: Kyle Lowry
25: Shannon Brown

2007:

3: Al Horford
4: Mike Conley, Jr.
5: Jeff Green
23: Wilson Chandlet
24: Rudy Fernandez
25: Morris Almond

2008:

3: O.J. Mayo
4. Russell Westbrook
5. Kevin Love
23. Kosta Koufos
24. Serge Ibaka
25. Nicolas Batum

2009:

3. James Harden
4. Tyrke Evans
5. Ricky Rubio
23. Omri Casspi
24. Byron Mullens
25. Rodrigue Beaubois

2010:

3. Derrick Favors
4. Wesley Johnson
5. Demarcus Cousins
23. Trevor Booker
24. Damion James
25. Dominique Jones

2011:

3. Enes Kanter
4. Tristan Thompson
5. Jonas Valanciunas
23. Nikola Mirotic
24. Reggie Jackson
25. MarShon Brooks

It is surprising how many disappointing players there have been taken at or around the fourth pick and how many surprising picks have been made around the twenty-fourth pick.  The most notable draft is what the Seattle Supersonics did in 2008.  They got their all star point guard and second scoring option in Russell Westbrook and their defensive anchor in Serge Ibaka with the twenty-fourth pick.  Had that draft not gone so well for them, they probably would not be in the finals today.  Conversely, the Chicago Bulls selected Eddy Curry in 2001 and were just one pick away from landing Pau Gasol.  The Utah Jazz chose Raul Lopez with the twenty-fourth pick and left Gerald Wallace on the board.
 
Despite the massive amount of scouting and work done by the front offices of every team, the draft (especially after the lottery) is a crap shoot.  You can either get Russell Westbrook and Serge Ibaka or OJ Mayor and Kosta Koufos.  It goes without saying that every single draft is unique and that little can be made of looking at previous years besides having a general idea of what these draft picks meant for their teams in a historical context.

The onus is on Chris Grant to hit a home run.  Let’s see what he is made of.