This was NBA deputy commissioner Mark Tatum’s first time in charge of the televised theatrics of the draft lottery, and you could tell how genuinely surprised he was when the Cavaliers landed the top overall pick for the second straight year and the third time in four years.
“My reaction was, WOW, three times in four years,” Tatum told SheridanHoops on Tuesday night. “That’s part of the drama, and part of the fun of our system is that you always have a chance. Whether you were the Phoenix Suns or the Cleveland Cavaliers or the Milwaukee Bucks. You have a chance to get the No. 1 draft pick and potentially draft a game-changing player into your franchise.”
Tatum emphasized that there are several of those “game-changers” this year which should make the NBA even more exciting next season.
“I think this year’s draft is particularly unique and interesting because it’s such a deep class that having the number two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight pick, being in the draft lottery itself in a class like this, it can work out very, very well,” Tatum said.
Cleveland, under new general manager David Griffin, hasn’t fared very well in previous drafts in which it had top-five picks, and Tatum went into why this year could be different for the Cavs,
“What’s interesting about the draft and the draft class is the talent you’re able to acquire and bring into the league and bring into your team. And that is what’s different,” he said. “And you look at the players who were here tonight, Andrew Wiggins, Joel Embiid, Julius Randle, Jabari Parker, those players have the potential to be game-changing players. And so any time you have the ability to draft someone like that to your team that can be game changing, it’s gotta be exciting for a city, for your fan base. And in this particular draft, there’s going to be several teams that have that opportunity, which I think will be very good for the sport.”
All in all it was a fun night for Tatum and, of course the Cleveland Cavaliers, and the start of a furious five weeks of NBA draft speculation, rumors and mock drafts.
“I know the fans in Cleveland are really excited about this and it’s a fun night to be a part of,” Tatum said.