The Cleveland Cavaliers' 2026 draft pick could be key to helping keep the team's young core strong.
The Cleveland Cavaliers' season may have just ended, but the front office is already busy at work planning for the future of their franchise.
One of the first big tasks Koby Altman and company will face this offseason is navigating the NBA Draft.
Right now, the Cavaliers only have the No. 29 overall pick to work with.
With the pick so far back in the first round, and Cleveland still in win-now mode, it’s not as simple as the Cavaliers deciding on a player and hoping they’re still there at the end of the draft tonight.
The Cavaliers have two obvious options with their draft pick: draft a player or look into trading the pick as part of a large package deal.
However, even if Cleveland decides to keep the pick, that raises another question: draft a player who could make an immediate impact, or select one more viewed as a project who could help the team down the line?
Considering the options the Cavaliers have on the table, Cleveland’s best course of action should be keeping the pick and selecting the player with the highest potential still available.
Sep 14, 2022; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers president of basketball operations Koby Altman talks to staff and media during an introductory press conference at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY SportsIn theory, drafting an NBA-ready player is an intriguing idea for Cleveland, considering the team’s current goals. However, finding room for a rookie in Cleveland’s rotation could be a challenging task.
When the Cavaliers were fully healthy toward the end of the season, Kenny Atkinson even had trouble finding playing time for Keon Ellis, Jaylon Tyson, and Nae’Qwan Tomlin. A win-now player wouldn’t be helpful if there’s no room for them to play.
On top of that, even though the Cavaliers are looking to win a championship next season, they can’t completely ignore the future.
Cleveland must still give some consideration to their young core, and that’s something Altman even touched on during his end-of-season media availability last month.
"I think the big reason why we did hire Kenny was to make sure that the lifeblood of our program was always going to be player development, always going to be setting up players success here in Cleveland," said the Cavs exec.
"What we do with our next rookie is in that bucket for sure, and we love the fact that we have a really strong player development pipeline here."
Again, a lot of what Cleveland does at No. 29 could simply come down to what players are left on board.
That said, drafting the player who may not be the most polished, but has the greatest potential, could be the best path forward for the Cavaliers this offseason.
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