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Originally Posted by wheatrich
I know that but if you look around where they picked those players that didn't pan out; it's mostly players that didn't pan out so they didn't go full Kings or Kahn. That 2013 draft, sheesh, not often in the NBA the entire lottery doesn't have one of the best three picks--even though 2nd is starting to produce it's his 3rd team.
The Cavs, immediately before and after Lebron, had a shockingly impressive track record of failing. Before Lebron was Dejuan Wagner at 6, after Lebron was Luke Jackson at 10, both hugely underperformed expectations for that pick.
Something that doesn't get enough credit for why they lost Lebron is that they absolutely continued to do really good at 2nd rounders and late 1sts, they just didn't keep any of them. They originally drafted Jae Crowder, Allen Crabbe, Joe Harris, and Tyus Jones with very late picks, but traded Crowder, Crabbe, and Jones on draft night in deals they lost, and dumped Harris to free up roster space they ended up not needing.