No lottery luck: Cleveland Cavaliers remain 14th in 2022 NBA draft; Orlando Magic No. 1

A year ago, the Cavaliers’ recent luck in the NBA Draft Lottery improved.

They entered the night fifth in the order and, although they didn’t land No. 1, they moved up to third, which in hindsight worked out perfectly.

That enabled the Cavs to select 7-foot center/forward Evan Mobley of USC, who finished second in voting for 2022 Rookie of the Year and became one of their franchise cornerstones along with two first-time All-Stars — center Jarrett Allen and point guard Darius Garland.

On Tuesday, their odds were much less favorable, and good fortune did not shine on President of Basketball Operations Koby Altman and former Cavs fan favorite Anderson Varejao.

The Cavs stayed at No. 14 as the lottery results were announced on ESPN from the McCormick Place Convention Center in Chicago.

The Orlando Magic will pick No. 1 in the June 23 NBA Draft, followed by the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Houston Rockets, the Sacramento Kings, and the Detroit Pistons.

Rounding out picks 6-13 are the Indiana Pacers, Portland Trail Blazers, New Orleans Pelicans, San Antonio Spurs, Washington Wizards, New York Knicks, the Thunder and the Charlotte Hornets.

The Cavs went in last among lottery teams with a 97.5% chance of staying at No. 14. Their odds of landing the top spot were 0.5% and they had a 2.41% chance of getting into the top four.

Since the current weighted lottery system began in 1990, no team with less than 1.5% odds has ever come out with the No. 1 pick.

Cavs legend Varejao represented the team on stage, while Jon Nichols, Cavs vice president of basketball strategy and personnel, was in the lottery drawing room. Former Cavs executives also there were New Orleans Pelicans Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations David Griffin and Brock Aller, New York Knicks vice president of basketball and strategic planning.

Varejao, 39, played 13 seasons for the Cavs starting in 2004. He was traded to the Trail Blazers in a three-team deal on Feb. 18, 2016. Immediately waived by the Trail Blazers, Varejao signed with the Golden State Warriors and faced his old team in the NBA Finals, where the Cavs rallied from a 3-1 deficit to end the city’s 52-year championship drought.

After two years in Brazil, Varejao closed out his career in Cleveland, appearing in five games during the 2020-21 season.

Last year Altman represented the Cavs and tried to channel the luck of Nick Gilbert, son of chairman Dan Gilbert, who played a part in three of the five times the Cavs have won the lottery. Nick Gilbert attended in 2011 (Kyrie Irving) and 2013 (Anthony Bennett). In 2014 (Andrew Wiggins), then-general manager Griffin wore Gilbert's bow tie as a handkerchief in his suit jacket.

In 2021, Gilbert was overseas on a family vacation but sent Altman a package with two of his lucky ties.

Before getting the No. 3 used on Mobley, the Cavs had drawn the fifth, fifth and eighth picks and selected guards Isaac Okoro (2020), Darius Garland (2019) and Collin Sexton (2018).

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Lightning had struck for the Cavs before. In 2011, the first-round pick they received in the Baron Davis trade with the Los Angeles Clippers was slotted eighth and had a 2.8% chance of getting No. 1. But that’s what happened, and the Cavs selected Irving. With their own pick, which dropped from second to fourth on lottery night, the Cavs chose Tristan Thompson. Both were members of the 2016 championship team.

Their 44-38 finish in 2021-22 was a 22-win improvement, second-best in team history, and compromised their lottery chances.

Knocked out of the play-in tournament with losses to the Brooklyn Nets and Atlanta Hawks, the Cavs will try to fill their most glaring need for a two-way wing.

Even though they stayed at No. 14, the Cavs could still have a shot at Ohio State’s 6-foot-5 wing Malaki Branham, the former St. Vincent-St. Mary High School star. With good size and great length, Branham could go higher, but if seriously interested Altman could try to move up. He also has two picks in the second round — No. 39 (from San Antonio via Utah) and No. 56 (from Miami via Indiana).

The first OSU freshman to be selected All-Big Ten since D’Angelo Russell in 2015, Branham scored in double figures in 18 of his final 22 games. Among players with at least 60 attempts in each zone, Branham is the only freshman in the past 10 years to shoot at least 40% at the rim, 40% from midrange, and 40% on 3-pointers, according to USA Today’s Bryan Kalbrosky.

Averaging 13.7 points and 3.6 rebounds, Branham shot .498 from the field and .833 from the line, second in the league. He just turned 19 on May 12.

Ousmane Dieng, a 6-10 forward from France who played for the New Zealand Breakers of the National Basketball League, and Baylor 6-8 freshman guard/forward Kendall Brown are among others projected to go to the Cavs at No. 14 in recent mock drafts. Dieng took the same NBL route to the NBA followed by LaMelo Ball, Josh Giddey and R.J. Hampton. Brown is known for his athleticism and defensive versatility but may not have All-Star potential.

Possible top 10-caliber picks who might last longer include Wisconsin shooting guard Johnny Davis, hampered by a late-season ankle injury; Baylor combo forward Jeremy Sochan, deemed the closest in this class to the Warriors’ Draymond Green by Kyle Boone of cbssports.com; and Arizona guard Bennedict Mathurin, considered one of the best 3-point shooters among projected lottery picks. Last season, Mathurin made 83 3-pointers, second-most in the Pac-12, and he connected on .396 of his attempts from 25 feet or beyond.

Marla Ridenour can be reached at mridenour@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MRidenourABJ.