Written by Demetri Inembolidis

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Shock & Denial:

This can't be happening.  Chris Grant really didn't reach two years in a row.  Not possible.  Surely, the Cavs can come away with more than Tristan Thompson and Dion Waiters with two consecutive fourth overall picks.  There has to be some kind of mistake.  Perhaps there is a trade that we are unaware of.  Yeah, I bet that's it.  We're trading Waiters to the Warriors.  OK, it looks like that isn't happening.  Maybe they will trade Barnes for Anderson Varejao.  Screw that, I never liked Harrison Barnes, anyway.  I hear he has some character issues and his work ethic is overstated.

Pain & Guilt

The shock is wearing off.  Now I am just getting sad.  This is what I get for manning the Cavs tank last season.  It doesn't matter how high you pick if your GM makes a habit of picking guys at four who were experts had pegged to go late in the lottery recently.  This is it, next year, no matter how bad the Cavs are, I am done hoping for high draft picks.  It doesn't matter anyway.  

I'm sorry I failed you, Cavs fans. You deserve better.

Anger & Bargaining,

OK, I really didn't want Barnes with the fourth pick.  But he could be pretty decent with the seventh pick.  Maybe we can set up both wing positions in one draft.  That would be something.  Varejao is probably much better of a player than Barnes, but he's getting up there in age and won't be playing at this level forever.  I don't really love Dion Waiters and Harrison Barnes, but they could make a formidable wing duo with Kyrie Irving running the show.  Speaking of, Waiters can be pretty good.  He isn't an ideal player to take with the fourth pick, but maybe, just maybe he can be a great shooting guard for many years to come.  The Cavs front office clearly did their due diligence and they wouldn't pick a guy that high without being positive that it was a good decision to make.  This is a top-notch organization and they aren't going to make decisions on the fly like this.  I bet Waiters will turn out good.  Not great, but better than we are giving him credit for.

Depression, Reflection & Lonlieness.

I just can't shake the feeling that the Cavs really screwed up tonight.  They lost a lot of games to earn the fourth overall pick in the draft.  They lost almost 7 out of every 10 games in order to earn the right to pick the 4th best player in the draft and they took a guy who was rated to go anywhere from 11-25.  This can't be real.  I honestly do not know how much longer I can support this team with this front office at the helm.  Maybe Chris Grant is pulling a George Costanza and is trying to get fired so he can take a job with the Indiana Pacers.  Nothing would shock me at this point.  The Cavs just used two 4th overall picks in the span of one calendar year and reached an incredible amount both times. 

The jury is still out on Tristan Thompson.  I can see being this arrogant and taking Waiters if Thompson was a guy that had the whole league saying "we thought Cleveland made a mistake, but they really knew what they were doing."  But that's not what is happening.

Chris Grant has to go.  I just can't be a fan of this team anymore until he does. 

If any of these thoughts sound familiar, you were going through the first four of the seven stages of grief.  It's just sports, but we are all incredibly invested in them.  For months, many of us watched the standings, read draft web sites, watched college basketball and played out different draft scenarios in our heads.  We are tired of rooting for a bad team and want a reason to get back to where the team was as recently as two years ago. 

This draft hurts.  I legitimately felt less sadness over the Miami Heat winning the championship last week as I did watching the draft unfold in the way that it did.  The Cavs came away with a shooting guard and a center, which will fill two serious positions of need.  But they reached on the shooting guard by at least four spots and traded three draft picks to take a center who may or may not complement Tristan Thompson well.

The Cavs are now officially two years into the rebuild.  It is time to start thinking about fit.  Tyler Zeller is a nice piece, but he mostly plays with his back to the basket and does not spend most of his time outside the paint.  That does not sound like an ideal frontcourt pairing with Tristan Thompson.  

One has to question the draft strategy that the Cavs used on Thursday night.  If the goal was to get a wing and a big man, doesn't it make more sense to look at either Thomas Robinson or Andre Drummond and use the 2nd first round pick to take a wing?  There was a higher amount of wings in the draft than big men and that could have maximized the potential from the draft.  Additionally, giving up three first round picks for Tyler Zeller is kind of a lot.  As Joe Kotosch from Probasketballdraft.com said, isn't it better to draft Quincy Miller, Perry Jones III and Doron Lamb instead of Tyler Zeller?

The most frustrating aspect of the Dion Waiters selection is that the Cavs should have explored trading down.  Waiters was most likely available later than the fourth pick and they could have amassed some more assets in the process and still gotten the guy that they wanted.  The fact that Waiters did not work out for the Cavs and that they picked him regardless is concerning.  There does not appear to be any rhyme or reason to how Chris Grant is building the team.

The Cavs were able to come away with two players who will contribute to the team immediately, but it is difficult to shake the feeling that they could have done so much better.  In summary, the Cavs reached (again) and gave up three draft picks for one.  This can't be life.