If I'm Cleveland, why take this years #1 from LA? Which will most likely be somewhere in the 20's?
I realize this is a good draft BUT people need to see the long term goal here (a championship).
LA is an old team, so I'd bet on a future pick and hope it paid off. Why? Because you find elite stars in the lottery, not late in the 1st round.
Are there exceptions? Sure, there always are but if I'm being greedy, I bet on Kobe breaking down over the next few seasons, pushing that theoretical future pick in to the lottery (hoping to get lucky).
Kyrie and TT are 19. Realistically, the Cavs need 3 years before they're seriously going to be a contender (of some sort). While you want to stockpile young talent, you don't want to randomly do things that don't make sense (like move a 25 year old PG, who's a proven NBA player, to take a guy that you hope sticks on the roster 2-3 years from now). You want to let Kryie and TT grow, with a nice mix of veterans around them. You DON'T want to turn this in to a HS basketball team and have (5) 19-21 year olds playing at the same time. It turns in to a **** show real quick if (ala the Wizards) you have too many young guys all trying to carve out their nitch.
I don't view Sessions as a building block but he's certainly a commodity, one that you don't part with unless the deal makes sense. He's young, has a very cap friendly contract and is a proven NBA player....AND he serves a valuable purpose at this moment in time (keeping Kyrie fresh in a shortened season).
If I were the GM, I'd ultimately take this years pick for Sessions and be happy but I'd really push for the future selection. Something like a 2015 pick. 3 years from now you could add a lottery selection to a team that, if everything goes well, should already be a very competitive young squad. It was the thinking that went in to the SacTown pick and is a good strategy for small market teams IMO.
