Will LaMelo Ball be a Future Cleveland Cavalier?

Recently, a name has been floating around for the number one pick in next year’s draft. That name? Yes, LaMelo Ball. Son of Lavar Ball and brother of Lonzo Ball. LaMelo was once in the news in his sophomore for scoring 92 points in a game. Fast forward to now, and he’s playing pro ball in Australia, making headlines for the number one pick.

The Cavaliers shared the best odds for the number one pick last year with the New York Knicks and Phoenix Suns. None of said teams won the lottery. The number one pick is much harder to obtain now, and tanking teams aren’t necessarily rewarded the way they want to. If the Cavs want the first overall pick, they don’t have to have the worst record, as we saw last year with the New Orleans Pelicans.

But, even if Cleveland had the top pick, why would they draft Ball?

We can’t even say yet, that LaMelo Ball is a lock for the first overall pick. Right now, it seems likely that he will be a top five pick. If the Cavaliers do end up with one of those picks, and draft Ball, it will be the third straight year they’ll have taken a point guard in the lottery. Ball is a lengthy distributor and scorer at 6’7″, already taller than both of his brothers. The 18 year old is currently playing in the NBL after leaving SPIRE Institute in Ohio.

The Cavaliers are going to have a year to make sense of their situation. At this point, we don’t know if both Collin Sexton and Darius Garland will be on the team. If Ball is available at their draft position, we could likely see one of Sexton or Garland on another team.

Point guard obviously isn’t necessarily a need for Cleveland, but if a talent like Ball is available, it could be a similar situation to this past year’s with Darius Garland. The Cavaliers will most likely be trying to shape their roster next year in efforts to compete in the Eastern Conference. They will have enough salary freed up next year to sign a max player. Cleveland is going to have to part ways with many players in trying to build a winning roster.

Drafting a point guard in three straight lotteries is going to be unlikely, but may be hard to pass up. When there are other positions of need, do the Cavaliers once again take risks by taking the best available next year? We’ll have a year to wait and see, but there is always a possibility.

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