With just over a month remaining before the NBA draft takes place, the Cleveland Cavaliers are currently in possession of two first-round draft picks, the fifth and 26th selection, the latter having been acquired from the Houston Rockets.
A new report indicates that the Cavaliers are looking to add to that total, with the Boston Celtics and San Antonio Spurs the top candidates to satisfy that pursuit.
Cavs undoubtedly will try to get another first. Boston doesn’t want any of their picks (though may be saving them for New Orleans/AD) and San Antonio only wants one of their two. https://t.co/hmeozuihm3
— Sam Amico (@AmicoHoops) May 18, 2019
The Celtics are in possession of both the 20th and 22nd overall selection this year, with the first coming in a 2016 draft night deal with the Memphis Grizzlies. That pick had originally been obtained by Memphis in a trade with the Los Angeles Clippers four months earlier.
With regard as to why the Celtics have little interest in holding onto either pick stems from the wealth of young talent already on their roster. Neither of their first-rounders are lottery picks, which likely diminishes the chance of either player having an immediate impact.
The reference to using the picks in a possible deal for New Orleans Pelicans forward Anthony Davis would require the Celtics to offer a package deal in return. That would presumably mean sending both picks and some of that talent to New Orleans.
In the case of the Spurs, they have their own pick, the 19th overall and 29th selection, which came via Toronto as part of the Kawhi Leonard deal last summer. They presumably are looking to hold onto their own pick and deal away the Raptors pick rather than have to offer a guaranteed contracts for both picks.
The Cavaliers are in the midst of a major rebuilding effort and will need as many top selections as they can obtain. Later choices in the first round can often be looked at with disdain by contending teams, but there have been plenty of players taken in these slots or later that have gone on to become major stars. That past history is why the Cavs are undertaking this effort.
