Coin Flip

The Cavaliers won the coin flip against the Hornets for the third best chance of winning the lottery. They have a 95% chance of a top-five pick and can pick no worse than sixth. The Lakers also won their coin flip for the pick that will be coming Clevelands way. So in this years draft, the Cavs have no worse than the sixth pick (hopefully first, bring on the unibrow), the 24th pick, the 33rd and 34th picks. More to come on what I'd like to see with those picks later on.

Washington 96, Cleveland 85

Holy bench minutes Batman.

Kyrie Irving was doubtful with the stomach flu, but was determined to play in the Cavs last home game, as a way of thanking the fans. He played ten minutes, all in the first quarter. Antawn Jamison -- who likely just played his last game at Quicken Loans Arena as a Cavalier -- played just 17 minutes.

Of the 12 Cavaliers that saw action Wednesday night, only two (Luke Harangody, Manny Harris) played less than the starting five. Is Cleveland resting their players for some reason? I get the limited time for Irving, but the rest is quite confusing to me. Maybe this game was a try-out of sorts for who'll be on the roster moving forward. Who knows, I sure don't.

Appearing in his first game ever in the NBA, D.J. Kennedy led the Cavaliers in minutes and points with 31 and 12 respectively.

This game marked the first truly balanced team shooting performance that I can remember. The only person that shot less than four times was Luke Walton, and the only person who shot more than eight was Alonzo Gee (Not Jamison?!?!). Otherwise there were three players with eight shots, one with seven, five with six shots and one with four.

Since late February, Cleveland is 8-27, and I'm still crossing my fingers that the uni-brow dons the wine and gold. Come on ping-pong balls, bounce in Cleveland's favor just once more.

Future Lines.

I wasn't able to watch either the Knicks or Spurs games over the weekend, I made an assumption that it wouldn't be worth it anyways, which is what I told myself only because I had no way to watch these games. I wasn't at home where I could just flick on NBATV. Cleveland beat New York and hung with San Antonio, Manny Harris played great over the weekend, as did Kyrie (of course) and Jamison shot alot.

With that covered and thinking about the future, as I do so much with this team over the last couple of years, I'm going to throw together three lineups that I'd like to see from Cleveland in the coming year.

Lineup #1
PG - Kyrie Irving
SG - Eric Gordon
SF - Michael Kidd-Gilchrist
PF - Tristan Thompson
C - Anderson Varejao
6th Man - Alonzo Gee

This would be the ideal lineup in my opinion moving forward. Obviously Kyrie is the centerpiece, a guy that can run the floor, get others involved and score. Throwing money at Eric Gordon would be a good investment. He's a guy that can score from just about anywhere and perhaps more important, the kid plays defense. Chris Grant is quietly building a monster defensive team right now that will be able to score points. By drafting Kidd-Gilchrist the Cavs would be adding another defensive stud, making the entire starting five defensive minded, while also having four options to score. MKG is basically a slasher, he'll score most of his points at the basket, which is why signing Gordon is so important. Thompson is a pretty good defender already, but lacks on the scoring end. With this lineup, he'd only have to worry about defense and would still be able to create shots for himself without a play call. To top off the starting five, Cleveland will insert the most underrated player in basketball to head the frontcourt. Varejao plays defense, hustles every play, fights for every rebound and is a phenomenal pick-and-roll player both ways. Add in Gee off the bench, a guy who has shown this year he can defend better players and score when needed, and the Cavs have a solid core that could be kept together for a long time. For me, this lineup would be ideal and could have the Cavs back in contention next year.

Lineup #2
PG - Kyrie Irving
SG - O.J. Mayo
SF - Harrison Barnes
PF - Antawn Jamison
C - Anderson Varejao
6th Man - Tristan Thompson

In this scenario, Jamison would bring his 25-shots a game back to Cleveland and allow Thompson to come in off the bench to completely swap offense for defense. Barnes would be the top draft pick, and a small forward that can score from all over the floor would be welcomed. It all depends on how far his stock has fallen and where the Cavaliers end up picking, but I'm not worried about his bad tournament. This kid is still a hell of a player who just happened to have a few bad games. Does anyone remember why his stock was so high in the first place? Because he tore it up in the 2011 tourney. A few bad games don't scare me, I would love a Harrison Barnes first-round draft choice. O.J. Mayo would be the recipient of  excessive money being thrown at a position of need in this scenario. I've liked Mayo since watching him at USC, and I think him being the second or third option on a team instead of five or six would do wonders for him.

Lineup #3
PG - Kyrie Irving
SG - Doron Lamb
SF - Alonzo Gee
PF - Tristan Thompson
C - Andre Drummond
6th Man - Anderson Varejao

With this scenario, you have the same core group of players in Irving, Thompson, Gee and Varejao with a slight twist. The energy that Varejao could bring off the bench would be unmatched by anyone else in the league. In this scenario, The Cavs will use their top pick on Drummond, a high-risk center that has potential spilling out of him but can't seem to put it together. You can't argue with said potential though, and if the lottery balls make the Cavs pick five or six, I think this could be the pick, whether it will be or not is for a different day. Doron Lamb will be the late first-rounder or early second that Cleveland has. This would be a good lineup looking ahead, although unlike the other two, I feel like this Cavs team would still be a piece away and that's only if Drummond pans out. The potential shut-down frontcourt of Drummond and Thompson is too good of a thought to pass up if Drummond is the best available when the Cavs slot comes up.

Obviously a ton of things need to happen right for one of these lineups to even happen. But all three are possibilities, and ones that I, along with most Cavs fans would love to see.

Philadephia 103, Cleveland 87

Kyrie is back! He played about 20 minutes and went 4-10 from the field, but most importantly the shoulder looked fine. This game was actually close for a few quarters, even tied in the third and then I swear I looked away for a few seconds and it was a 20-point game. The MVP award in this game goes to Jrue Hoilday who basically broke the game open in the third by himself. Solid team play from Cleveland, it just wasn't enough. By the way, Tristan Thompson had quite the anti-climactic good game. He did make both of his free-throw attempts, so that's a win in itself.

Well that's really all I have to say about that for now. So until Friday, when the Cavs take on Carmello Anthony and the Knicks, I suspect it to look quite similar to this game (Take out Holiday and insert Anthony).

Detroit 116, Cleveland 77

Yep, that's a 39-point loss to lowly Detroit. It really could have been worse, the Pistons led by 50 at one point. Also, I didn't watch the entire game, I couldn't. Manny Harris was by far the Cavs best player tonight, I thought so watching the game, but then thought for sure I was just going insane. For the record, I actually like Manny Harris for some reason. Anyways Antawn Jamison didn't make a shot in his ten tries and Tristan Thompson led the Cavs in attempts. Clearly something is missing (KYRIE!) from this team.

Plus/minus is a fun stat, but frankly I think it's the most ridiculous stat that's kept. For those that don't know, the plus/minus is a teams points scored vs. points allowed while a specific player is on the floor. For example I'll use Luke Walton, just because I can. If Cleveland scored 17 while he was on the floor, but Detroit scored 23, his plus/minus would be -6.

I'll share this for the amusement factor if nothing else, here are the plus/minuses for every Cavs player that played tonight:

Starting Five:
Antawn Jamison -47
Omri Casspi -38
Tristan Thompson -41
Anthony Parker -41
Donald Sloan -46
Reserves:
Luke Walton +7
Lester Hudson +7
Manny Harris +2
Samardo Samuels +2

It's chuckle-worthy at least. Thompson and Parker didn't have bad games actually and the only reserve that had a good game was Harris. After this game, I'll go ahead and make my bold prediction that the Cavs don't win another game, certainly not if they play like this again.

Until next year kids.

I've said it before, but can it really be said enough? This season had its high point a few months back for Cavs fans, now I think its safe to say it needs to end. With playoff potential on the horizon, due to cap space that will almost certainly be thrown at someone, a probable decent draft pick, and piles of draft picks in the next few years, Cleveland may be on to something. It's all on Chris Grant. I can say I was a fan of last years draft, even if only for the picks of Kyrie Irving and Tristan Thompson.

Kyrie was a high school stud who unfortunately played less games than the Duke football team in college. You could argue that it was a shame but truth be told, I don't see anything being different. He still would have been the top pick, still would have impressed in his rookie season, and if nothing else, it would have eased scouts and fans alike that weren't sold on him being a franchise changer. Irving is the most important step forward for this Cavaliers team, and Grant knocked it out of the park by selecting him first overall. Not much else to say about this except, well done sir.

Then came pick number four, which was actually Cleveland's pick (Thanks Neil Olshey for that top pick, we appreciate it). At four I wanted Enes Kanter, which obviously couldn't happen because he went third. After he was taken, I wasn't sure. Although I'm still pretty sure they took Thompson to trade down to about the eighth spot, but were stuck when all three international big men were already gone by the sixth pick. Anyways I had heard nothing but good things about Jonas Valanciunas and little about Tristan Thompson. The only game I watched of Thompson's was Texas' second round match-up against Arizona, where Thompson played quite valiantly against the number two pick, Derrick Williams. He held WIlliams to 17 points, and blocked a key Williams shot towards the end in a one-point Texas loss. But he seemed more unknown to me than Valanciunas, sporting a less-than-stellar offensive game and was a bad free-throw shooter. The only thing on track to me was his defense, he may have been the best defending big man in the draft. As the 2011-2012 NBA season has come and mostly gone, I feel 10 times better about the Thompson selection. His defensive abilities show up every game (although, please quit trying to block everything, you'd be a far better rebounder), month-by-month he's getting better from the free-throw line, and he's showing flashes of an offensive game now. He still has the far too occasional head scratching game, but overall he's a great piece to have in the rebuilding process.

And then came the second-round selection of Justin Harper. I wish I could have looked at my face when this pick was called in. It was downright confusing. The Cavs were stacked at Power Forward, and hell, they just took one 28 spots before this one. I trusted the pick though, a solid role-playing bench guy. Then, when I finally warmed up to it, BAM!, shipped off to Orlando for two future second-round picks. From a talent standpoint, I doubt the Cavs get anything with those two picks that they could have with this pick. I'm looking at you Chandler Parsons. But that's to see for another day.

Then Milan Macvan was Cleveland's last selection of the draft. This was a throw away pick, he won't play in the NBA. He's got a pretty sweet name though. The cool thing about this pick was his highlight reel, this guy was a tank, 6-9 and 260. I smiled a few times watching the highlights of him playing in Serbia. But again, throw away pick. Sadly, I feel like those two Magic picks will be similar to this one. Cleveland should have taken a player of need there.

After almost a full (shortened) season I feel the same way I did about Cleveland's roster after draft night, with the exception of quite a better feeling about the Thompson pick. With eight first-round draft picks in the next four years, it'll be fun to see what this team can do.

For Real?

First off, let me go ahead and say, I'm wanting the best chance at Anthony Davis, which means losing games. With that said, 30 first-half points against the Magic without Dwight Howard is embarrassing. 30 points in a half is embarrassing against any NBA team, as a good chunk of the NBA can throw down 30 in a quarter with regularity. As far as the +/- category goes, Cleveland's best was Lester Hudson, who ironically played fewer minutes than everyone except Luke Walton.

In the Cavs final seven games, only two should be winnable, but who knows. They could finish anywhere from the third worst in the league to ninth worst. The Cavs got lucky last year with the Clippers pick, but I doubt lightning strikes twice. As I've said over and over, they need to be in the best position to better this team, and right now, that means losing games. Then draft that wing scorer or center and sign a shooter via free agency.

Injuries and the What If Season.

Cleveland's injury report right now looks like this:
Kyrie Irving: Contused/Sprained Right Shoulder; Out.
Anderson Varejao: Non-Displaced Fracture, Right Wrist; Out.
Daniel Gibson: Left Ankle Sprain; Out.
Semih Erden: Right Ankle Sprain; Out.

If you're keeping track, on that list are the Cavs two best players and another competent player off the bench. Irving has missed some games here and there, and this injury official will sit him for about seven games, if not the rest of the year. But there really is no reason to rush him back, the rookie of the year is his, there are no playoffs in sight so why risk hurting him further? Varejao, who should have been an All-Star, broke his wrist on February 10, and hasn't played since. Boobie Gibson played in just 35 games this year and is out for the remainder on the season. Cavs mascot Moondog even had to go to the hospital after being "playfully" punched in the eye by Indana's David West. Yes, even the mascot.

Once upon a time Cleveland was in the playoff hunt, but that was with Irving, Varejao and Gibson on the court. When injuries hit, Cleveland started dropping games that probably should have been won. With Kyrie out, the Cavs are missing their most exciting player and leader in points and assists. Without Varejao, they're missing roughly 11 points and 12 rebounds a game, not to mention a player that will give 110%. So the question that nobody can answer is how would the Cavs have fared with their two best players healthy all year? We'll never know, but looking to the future, the nucleus of Irving, Varejao, Thompson and Gee looks pretty promising.

To me the only thing to salvage the season is to nail one of those top three or four draft picks and get even more pieces to put in place. That's going to be easier now without those players. Lottery Balls, don't screw us!

Pacers 104, Cavs 98

Not too much to say about this one. Wasn't even fun to watch, even though the game went to overtime. Lester Hudson hit a game-tying shot to force overtime for the second game out of the last three. And for the second time in their last three games, the Cavs lost in overtime.

Pattern?

Anyways the closer this season comes to ending, the more and more I'm on board for the Cavs to drop every remaining game. I'm aware of the tanking debates, but at this point what do they prove by winning? That they can overcome mediocrity year after year? They aren't a playoff team yet, but I feel they are two pieces away from being very good in two or three years. If there is a realistic shot at getting Anthony Davis by having the second worst record, why not go for it? After that, a free agent signing of a wing scorer could be the final piece.

I feel like any pick in the top five could jump start what Cleveland wants to do, as there is talent there that could fill a need for the Cavs. They could use players like Davis or Michael Kidd-Gilchrist or Bradley Beal or Andre Drummond or Harrison Barnes. But I'll get into that later. The best thing the Cavs can do at this point, is to put themselves in a position to grab the best player in the draft. Even if they can't nab Davis at one, they can be in a better position to grab one of those other players with a top five pick.

Back to the game, this team is fairly hard to watch without Kyrie once you've seen him running the floor. He makes this team exciting, and that excitement is mostly gone while he's off to the side in a suit. I remember an 8-point lead in the fourth quarter and remember thinking, "We're gonna lose this game." Clearly I've seen a few Cavs games before.

But they're close, let me tell you. Kyrie has sped up the rebuilding process by at least three years.

Lester

There haven't been too many instances this season where I had to stop and wonder what the Cavs season would have been like if the Clippers pick didn't hit one, and Cleveland wouldn't have gotten Kyrie Irving. Since Kyrie has gotten hurt, I've had the chance to see and wonder what that would have been like. Would the Cavs be worse than the seven-win Bobcats?

Cleveland beat Charlotte Tuesday night, thanks in large part to a man that is presumably only playing because of Irving's injury, Lester Hudson. With the types of games he's compiled, he's drawing comparisons to New York's Jeremy Lin, comparisons that I hate, but that's for a different time.

In the last three games, Hudson has 74 points and has created plenty of opportunities for his teammates. Against Charlotte, Hudson led the Cavaliers in points, assists and rebounds with 25, 8 and 6. I have no doubt he'll finish the year with Cleveland, one ten-day contract at a time.

But where does he fit in the big picture, the rebuilding plan? How will he be used once Kyrie is healthy? Will he be a role player looking towards the future? Is he even for real?

At the moment I'm a huge fan of the 27 year-old guard, but how much longer until his play almost certainly goes south? He isn't the answer I don't think, but it's fun while it lasts.

So the short answer to my question: Yes, I do think the Cavs could certainly be worse than Charlotte, Kyrie has been so valuable already at this point in his career. Had the Cavs not picked one, or went a different direction, who knows what this team would look like.

On one other note, Anthony Parker has been playing better since Kyrie's injury than he has in a few years. But he's old and on the verge of retirement, and everything I've seen indicates Dan Gilbert wants to throw money at an Eric Gordon or O.J. Mayo. Then there is the possibility of a Bradley Beal or Jeremy Lamb on draft day. The thought of an athletic two-guard on the floor with Kyrie gets me giddy.

Whatever the plan may be, it'll be interesting to see in Hudson can stay with the team next year and beyond, or if he's just at the tail end of his 15 minutes of fame.