Cavaliers win NBA Draft Lottery; obtain No. 1 overall selection

By Ray Bennett
Tuesday May 17, 2011

In 2003, the Cleveland Cavaliers changed the course of their franchise's history by picking Lebron James with the number one overall pick in the NBA Draft. Eight years later, Owner Dan Gilbert has a chance to rebuild the team around two possible players that could bring them back to the playoffs.

The Cavaliers won the annual NBA Draft Lottery on Tuesday, beating out the Minnesota Timberwolves, Utah Jazz and nine other teams for that honor. Cleveland is expected to select Duke guard Kyrie Irving with the number one overall pick. Cleveland had the second best odds to win the lottery, behind the Timberwolves who ended up with the number two overall pick.

The Cavaliers also obtained the number four overall pick via the Barron Davis trade with the Los Angeles Clippers. The Utah Jazz is the other team with multiple lottery picks, obtaining the third overall pick from the Derron Williams trade with the New Jersey Nets and the twelfth overall pick for missing the playoffs. The Toronto Raptors round out the top five, picking at the fifth spot.

The Cavaliers are coming off their first season without Lebron James after he left the city to play for the Miami Heat. This past season under first year coach Byron Scott, Cleveland finished with an overall record of 19-63, the worst in the Eastern Conference and the second worst in the league behind the Timberwolves. The transition season included an NBA record 26 game losing streak that lasted from late December to early to mid-February.

Last year's lottery winner the Washington Wizards ended up with the sixth pick in the draft. Last year, the Wizards selected guard John Wall from Kentucky. Wall had a strong rookie season, finishing with 16.4 points per game and 8.3 assists per game. The Sacramento Kings (7th), Detroit Pistons (8th), Charlotte Bobcats (9th), Milwaukee Bucks (10th), Golden State Warriors (11th), Phoenix Suns (13th) and Houston Rockets (14th) were the other teams involved in this years lottery as they missed the playoffs.

Although he missed most of his freshman year at Duke with an injury in his right big toe, Irving is considered the top prospect in this year's draft. Irving played and started in eleven games averaging 17.5 points and 4.3 assists per game in his only year at Duke.

Many have considered this year's draft class as the weakest since the 2000 NBA Draft. With only a few players like Irving, Arizona power forward Derrick Williams, Turkish forward Furkan Aldemar and Lithuanian center Jonas Valanciunas, finding a franchise player will be hard to come by. Other notable players in this years draft class includes Connecticut guard and the NCAA Tournament's Most Outstanding Player Kemba Walker, Texas forward Tristan Thompson, Kansas forwards Marcus and Markieff Morris, guard Josh Selby and Kentucky guards Brandon Knight and DeAndre Liggins.

The 2011 NBA Draft will take place on June 23 at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ. This will be the first time that the NBA Draft will be held at an NBA arena since 2000 when it was held at the Target Center in Minneapolis, MN. From 2001 to 2010, the draft was held at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The NBA Draft is expected to be the last time that teams can move players before the looming standoff between the NBA and the players association. The league's current collective bargaining agreement expires at midnight on July 1.