Quote:
Originally Posted by FlyWf
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.
Cavs never relied on young players other than Kyrie. One of the Lebron curses or issues with him is he doesn't like or doesn't work with young players. Seems like the Lakers are going to be in a weird spot if Lonzo, Kuzma and Ingram are around.
Yeah, they hit on some picks but most were immediately traded and never developed internally. Lack of value rookie deals and 2nd contracts which are value is totally missing for the Cavs and Heat teams.