Yes...that's the one thing living here that is so hard to wrap my head around. 3 different franchises in 3 different sports have managed to fuckface the draft for a long, long time
LeBron and Kyrie are the only objective "hits" they've had in the draft in almost two decades. TT is a good role player, can't fault them for that pick. The Bennett draft was historically awful, so I cannot hold that against them too much, even if Bennett may go down as the biggest bust #1 ever. Knowing what we know now, they probably should have gone McCollum or Antetowhateverthefuck...but neither of them were ever in the discussion for the top pick at the time. Look at that draft...cripes.
But, yeah, their drafting has rivaled the clowns or Tribe for LOLs. What saves their bacon is they lucked into two no-brainer #1's in LeBald and Kyrie.
2014- (1) Wiggins (trade bait, looks like a good volume scorer, but not as well-rounded as expected)
2013- (1) Bennett (maybe the worst #1 pick ever, in any sport)
(19) Karasev (scrub, falling asleep on BKN's bench)
2012- (4) Waiters (below average bench player)
(24) Cunningham (immediately dealt, found his way back to CLE as an end-of-bench guy 4 years later)
2011- (1) Irving (home run, multi-time All Star)
(4) Thompson (good role-player, overpaid)
2009- (30) Eyenga (played 51 games over 3 years, out of the nba)
2008- (19) Hickson (spent a couple of years as a starter, but never developed into more than a middle-of-the-road PF)
2006- (25) S. Brown (had a really awesome dunk that one time as a Laker, never did much in CLE)
2004- (10) L. Jackson (bust, averaged < 3ppg in 46 games over 2 seasons)
2003- (1) L. James (generational player, left CLE in '10 to play his best years in South Beach)
2002- (6) D. Wagner (Undersized SG who couldn't shoot, career truncated by ulcerative colitis)
2001- (8) Diop (unmitigated flop in CLE, carved out a career for several years in DAL as a defensive presence off the bench)
(20) Haywood (traded on draft night, had a respectable big-man career and found his way back to CLE a decade later at the end of his career)
2000- (7) J. Crawford (traded to CHI for fellow draft choice Chris Mihm. Cavs definitely got the short-end of that stick)
1999- (8) A. Miller (had three good years in CLE before being dealt away)
(11) Langdon (LOL)
1997- (13) D. Anderson (spent 2 years in CLE as a bench scorer/spot starter before carving out a respectable career with several teams)
(16) B. Knight (spent 3 years in CLE as a low-scoring PG before bouncing around the league for another decade)
1996- (12) Potapenko (exceptionally mediocre big man)
(20) Z (franchise icon, missed much of the first 1/4 of career with foot injuries)
By my count, that's 12 lottery picks in the last 20 years. Kyrie and LeBald were homeruns. Andre Miller and TT could be considered successful choices. Crawford was dealt for Mihm, who was a bust. Langdon, Diop, Wagner, Jackson, Waiters, and Bennett were all unmitigated busts. At least Bennett was part of the Love trade, so you could argue they at least got a return on him.
Their later picks weren't much better. Z was a hit. Potapenko, S. Brown, Eyenga, and Karasev provided nothing. D. Anderson, B. Knight, and Hickson at least contributed some. Haywood Cunningham were traded before playing.
That's some pretty spotty drafting, but I guess it's better than the clowns or tribe have done over that time. The tribe has some promising pieces coming up that they've drafted oever the past few years and look to have a legit star in Lindor. The clowns...LOL.
