Cleveland Cavaliers win NBA Draft lottery again, Will This Year Bring A Better Result?

NEW YORK – There were simultaneous senses of shock, joy, exuberance and disgust Tuesday night at Times Square Studios in Manhattan where the Cleveland Cavaliers drew the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft Lottery for the second straight year and the third time in four years.

Cleveland had the ninth best odds to claim the top pick and, percentages be damned, landed numero uno again.

“It was incredible,” said Cavs general manager David Griffin. “When Cleveland didn’t pop up at nine, I knew obviously we’d moved up and had to gather myself for a second. It’s just a remarkable, remarkable feeling.”

Nick Gilbert, the famous son of Cleveland owner Dan who was here the last two times the Cavs struck lottery gold, was not in attendance, but Griffin wore a pin of Nick’s lucky red bowtie that he wore in the past. It worked well enough.

“I didn’t wear it, because nobody could swing Thor’s hammer, and I kind of felt like it was a good luck charm for us all along,” Griffin said. “It worked out perfectly.”

What hasn’t worked out perfectly? Top Cavaliers draft picks in the past. Cleveland was criticized, rightfully, ad nausea for their selection of Anthony Bennett with the top pick in last year’s draft. This columnist had proof during the regular season that Bennett was having the worst first season of any top overall pick in league history.

So why is this year different? Well firstly, Chris Grant is out and Griffin is in the top spot after a late season audition at the helm, where Cleveland made a pretty decent run at the eighth spot in the East.

“I don’t think there’s a clear number one in most drafts,” Griffin said about who he thought he’d select on June 26. “We’re very open minded, we’re going to try to get radically better much quicker. We really feel like there’s a sense of urgency about improving our team as a whole. And we’re going to try to look for the right fit in that.”

Griffin said getting the top pick definitely makes Cleveland “a more attractive” destination for a new head coach they’re going to hire, but he said that process is in its infancy.

What Griffin did say is that he lost a little bit of time scouting the draft class due to the transition from Grant to the interim, and now new, regime. So what will change from Grant, who seemingly whiffed (at this stage, they could develop) on top-five picks Bennett, Tristan Thompson and Dion Waiters, to Griffin?

“I feel really blessed that we’re in this position,” Griffin said, referring to the deep player pool in this upcoming draft. “We’re going to do the due-dilligence we’ve always done and try to make the right decision. I don’t think anything will be inherently different other than the fact that I’m here.”

Griffin said there’s a lot of homework to be done on the players at the top of his draft and didn’t tip his hand at all on who he’d select on June 26 in Brooklyn. For the sake of Cleveland and its fans, here’s to hoping Griffin has a different process than Grant and can finally take a franchise-changing player they’ve been searching for since a certain Decision was made in July 2010.