The Cleveland Cavaliers are contenders this year. Wow, that feels weird to say, but as a Cavs fan, I love it. The Cavs are a top team in the eastern conference and are looking to compete now, so before the trade deadline, the Cleveland Cavaliers made a deal to bring in the dynamic scorer Caris LeVert, but in return, had to give up their first-round pick as well as Houston’s second they held the rights to in this year’s upcoming draft. Aside from LeVert, Cleveland got a low second rounder this year as well. That means the Cavaliers have one early, and one late second round pick in the 2022 Draft. Who’s going to be available at that point? Who should they select with those two picks? I think I got the perfect guys for the job.

Pick #1: Kofi Cockburn

“He’s a throwback, enforcer type of big man who dominates in the paint”

Comparison: Tristan Thompson

Kofi is projected to go somewhere in the mid-late stages of the 2nd round, and he’s ranked as the 8th best center in the draft. You may be thinking; another big…really? Yes, really. I’m fully aware the Cleveland Cavaliers have four players in rotation that could play the center position, but let’s understand that Kevin Love and Lauri Markkanen should never have to play those positions. The Cavs rely on those guys to stretch the floor and hit big time threes; how can they do that if they’re in the paint fighting for an offensive board? Cleveland could use someone who can pick up Allen and Mobley’s dirty work without it costing too much on offense. Also…injuries. When Mobley, Allen, or (God forbid) both are out, it takes away one of the biggest factors the Cavs have that dominate teams. It takes away their “tall-ball,” “interior from hell” lineups. The Cavaliers do a great job at locking down the paint and taking away high-percentage shots, forcing opposing teams to score by shooting from long range. To have yet another dominant 7’0 powerhouse/lob threat to deal with when Allen and Mobley are off the floor would be a dream come true for Cleveland. Also, Kofi has that “heart and soul of the team” type of personality. God bless the Cavs for all being soft spoken nice guys, but it would be cool to have that guy who’s going to scream in someone’s face after dunking on them or taunting someone after rejecting them at the rim. For my young ones, in 2K, he would have the “Expressive” badge. He can provide that same energy that Tristan Thompson brought to Cleveland years ago.

Pick #2: Andrew Nembhard

“A consummate PG who excels at getting teammates. Has good size for the position, plays both ends of the floor and is a leader and a competitor who makes his teammates better.”

Comparison: Facundo Campazzo

For reasons I can’t seem to understand, every mock draft I’ve looked at doesn’t even have Andrew Nembhard getting drafted at all, as he’s ranked as the 8th best PG in this year’s draft class. After watching a lot of his highlights, I’m convinced he’s the perfect pick for the Cavaliers with their late second round pick. First things first, if you’re the Cleveland Cavaliers, you don’t want to mess with the culture and chemistry of this team that’s brought you this far. As for Nembhard, he fits right in as a team-first guy. It’s obvious when you watch him play. The Cavaliers have that “Name on the front” attitude, and it goes for everyone on that team. Plain and simple, from Garland to Goodwin, they’re unselfish. That’s the kind of guy Andrew Nembhard is. Every play he makes out there is for the great or good of the team. Why is he a good fit? The Cavaliers are going to need a guaranteed secondary ball handler and playmaker off the bench behind Garland going into next year. Sure, they had Rubio doing an incredible job of that, but he tore his ACL and was moved for Caris LeVert. Rumor has it the Cavs are still looking to re-sign him this off-season, but nothing is guaranteed. Plus, even if they were to resign him, when is he going to come back? They’ll need someone to fill his shoes in the meantime, because as we’ve seen, the Cavs without a true PG are difficult to watch. Will Rubio even be the same when he does return? Who knows? At the moment, they have Rajon Rondo who’s been doing a great job in that role as well, but he’s 35 and on an expiring contract, so who knows if he’ll return or be the same next year either. With Andrew Nembhard, you’re getting an experienced facilitator with no ego who will make the right play, find his teammates, and hustle on defense. Whether he's right behind garland at PG 2, or behind Rubio / Rondo at PG 3, he would be a very valuable asset to this team as a late pick.

The Verdict

The Cavs don’t have any first round picks this year, and that’s a good thing. They have a great system in place, and they have a lot of guys under contract who need quality minutes. The Cavs don’t need another guy to come in and get 20+ minutes, they’re set as it is. All they could use is a few “safety-net” pieces in the deep bench to avoid disasters. I think if they grab those two guys, which is very doable, they’ll have no holes whatsoever. To put this in perspective, I’ll use a sample size of a hypothetical 10-game stretch in next year’s regular season with one of Garland, Mobley, or Allen being injured. These two picks could be the difference between loosing 5-6 of those games, to loosing 2-3 of those games. For momentum and seeding purposes, that’s a hell of a card to have in your deck.

No Firsts? No Problem.