Mr. MacPhisto
Lapsed Point Guard
- Joined
- Jun 29, 2008
- Messages
- 2,038
- Reaction score
- 2,050
- Points
- 113
I think that's exactly why the Cavs steered away. Why draft a guy that doesn't want to be here? I think part of that was thinking the Cavs would just be terrible for years after LeBron left - which was a fair assessment. The team did not handle the rebuild with Kyrie well and screwed up a lot in the draft. They did well in 2011 (and were actually close to adding Klay Thompson to their haul if the Kings didn't back out at the last minute). 2012 and 2013 were serious flubs. No reason why Shai would have wanted to go through that. Maybe if they had extended Love earlier he may have been more interested, but I think most everyone thought Love would be out the door and the path to competing again would be a long one.With the reports out that he didn't want to play for the Cavs not sure how you can draft him. Is he really that much better than Sexton? Honestly, in a re-draft Sexton is challenging everyone except for Doncic, Ayton and Young. Not saying he's better than the rest but he's not "clearly" worse.
I was at the draft in 2018 working and I heard about the work ethic Sexton was showing even there when all the other guys went out for a night on the town Wednesday night - it was the buzz with several teams and some NBA people. Sexton showed a positive attitude and felt he could contribute to a winning culture anywhere he went through hard work and determination.
For a rebuilding team, Sexton's work ethic had to be hugely appealing. For a team like the Cavs that had cruised quite a bit during the 2nd LeBron era, this would be especially appealing.
Maybe Shai is the one guy in their slot they could have thought about taking over Sexton but would he have seen the same growth in Cleveland? I think he was a good fit for where he went. I can't think of anyone past Shai that I would have wanted to take. Sure I'd prefer Doncic, but who wouldn't? I wanted to win the lotto just to get him, but I think the Cavs did well with where they picked. Time will tell us more, but I have been fairly happy with what Altman had done with his two drafts. We'll see how they pan out, but I think we've had two solid drafts for the first time in forever - since maybe 86-87.