I don't see the need to tank. It does nothing to create a winning culture. Yeah, you could land a big fish, but you can often land one later. I also suspect that Altman will try to get a first rounder next year one way or the other. I doubt the Cavs will be spending cash next year, so they may go into the draft with almost all of their cash available to spend. Buying a pick is possible.
They will also go into the trade deadline with some nice expiring contracts that can free up more space for teams like the Knicks, Lakers, Clippers, Magic, etc. There are A LOT of free agents on the market next year.
Though the Cavs could play in that market. While Cleveland may not be a marquee destination, players still want to get paid and when there are so many Durants, Kawhis, Butlers, etc on the market, sometimes you can get someone to come to C-Town. Klay Thompson, Tobias Harris, Kyrie, etc are all there. So either the Cavs can make a run at them or they can charge a fee to facilitate other teams to have more space. New York, for instance, needs help to clear a Max slot. You KNOW they would LOVE to go after Kyrie.
The Cavs could stretch Thompson and have $20-25M while possibly keeping Love. There are some gymnastic moves to make, but they are possible.
So they will have chances to get a draft pick or future picks if they'd like. That may or may not involve trading Love. Remember that Love can contribute to playoff team, but he can also give a team a lot of freed up salary space if he opts out. Hill's contract can clear $17M off the books for a team.
It's also worth remembering the amount of players that were not high lotto picks (top 5). Kobe was drafted at 13. Curry at 7. Klay at 11. Kawhi at 15. Jimmy Butler at 30. Paul George at 10. Rudy Gobert at 27. Draymond at 35. Paul Millsap at 47.
Scouting and development are SO important. In the past, the Cavs have just trusted that tanking would solve the winning issue for them and they often made bad decisions (like trading Jamal Crawford for Chris Mihm or drafting Diop).
LeBron James fell into the Cavs lap. He came from the area. This is not going to happen again and just relying on tanking guarantees nothing. The Cavs tried it and failed utterly by making bad decisions.
Kyrie was a great pick. I'll give them Tristan because he did help in the end, but his time is done. The Cavs have to manage the draft better regardless of where they pick. The ATL pick can be conveyed this year and then be done. That would then give Koby a clean slate with little left from Griffin's tenure.
But the Cavs whiffed so much even when they had a high pick. Dion Waiters - could've had Barnes. Could've had Oladipo. Even Wiggins was really a whiff compared to others after. Tanking is immaterial if the team can't identify talent and we've seen some clubs that have a nose for it - and they win. Witness how often San Antonio finds people.
If the org wants to go for wins, then they should. Dan spent a fortune the past few years and if he feels a playoff shot could help him refill the coffers, fine.
We have some nice young talent. We need to be sure it is well coached. We need to supplement it. We need to find the leader (Sexton appears on his way already).
And let's just enjoy the ride. We can shake the saber about needing to tank, but that doesn't make them do a thing. I just want to get back to some real basketball and see what we have in Cedi, Ante, Sexton, and others.
And, honestly, I think having some vet guys with playoff experience around is better than letting these guys have to fly blind.
