CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – The Cavaliers’ NBA Draft Lottery luck appears to have run out, at least for this year.
Cleveland did not move up in this year’s NBA Draft Lottery and as a result they will pick 14th in the upcoming 2022 NBA Draft.
The Cavs had a 2.4% chance of jumping up into the top four and less than a 1% chance to win any of those picks – 0.5% for the top pick, 0.6% for the second or third pick and 0.7% for the fourth selection.
Of the 1,000 number combinations, the Cavs have five of them, hence the half percentage chance to win the top pick.
Since the weighted lottery system was implemented in 1990, only three teams with less than a 2% chance to win the top pick have – and the Cavs were one of them in 2014. The Bulls also did it in 2008 and Orland did in 1993 but no team with less than a 1.5% chance has ever won the lottery.
Now the question becomes, will Koby Altman keep the pick?
“There’s nothing wrong with having another young player that you can develop,” the Cavs president of basketball operations said last month during his end of season press conference. “A lot of them I’ve seen as well that we’re going to be right in the mix for, so I don’t want to say let’s trade [the pick] and get somebody else.
“I think there’s a nice niche here for a young prospect to really grow without a ton of expectation and grow into potentially a rotational player who can help down the road. I like this draft a lot.”
The team sent former Cavalier and fan favorite Anderson Varejao to Chicago to represent them on stage during the lottery.
The Orlando Magic won the No. 1 pick followed by Oklahoma City picking second, Houston third and Sacramento fourth.