2014 NBA Draft Rumors: 50% chance the Cleveland Cavaliers trade the top pick
After selecting former former UNLV Runnin’ Rebels forward Anthony Bennett, the Cleveland Cavaliers went into “win-now mode,” vowing to stay out of the lottery.
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The Cavaliers made a big splash in the offseason, signing former Los Angeles Lakers and Philadelphia 76ers’ big man Andrew Bynum. After that didn’t work out, they traded him to the Chicago Bulls for Luol Deng and later acquired center Sepncer Hawes from the 76ers.
The Cavaliers, however, missed the postseason and then, despite having just the ninth-best odds to win the lottery, they have the first-overall pick.
When Mary Schmitt Boyer of The Cleveland Plain Dealer was asked about the chances of the Cavaliers dealing the top pick, she pegged the odds at 50%.
"I’d say 50 percent. I know they’d like to trade the pick in an effort to get “radically better much quicker.” I also know that the last time that was done was in 1993, when Orlando selected Chris Webber with the No. 1 pick and traded him to Golden State for No. 3 Penny Hardaway — and three future No. 1 picks. History isn’t on their side but, then again, history wasn’t on the side of winning the lottery three times in four years either."
If the Cavaliers could land a player like Minnesota Timberwolves’ power forward Kevin Love, dealing the pick seems like a n0-brainer.