It’d be quite the understatement to say that this hasn’t been a good year for the Cleveland Cavaliers. A little more than twelve months ago, the Cavaliers led the NBA with the league’s best record during the regular season, finishing at 61-21 for the year.
They possessed a once-in-a-generation talent in LeBron James – who had also just been named NBA MVP’s for the second straight year – and were one of the favourites to win the 2010 NBA Championship.
As the saying goes, what a difference a year makes.
We all know the tumultuous events that followed.
The Cavaliers were ousted in the Eastern Conference semi-finals by the Boston Celtics, and of course, LeBron James, now infamously, announced that he was “taking his talents to South Beach”, leaving the Cavs high and dry.
The 2010-11 season was a disaster for the Cavs. They finished the season with a paltry 19-63 record, almost the complete opposite of the previous year.
They suffered a league-record, twenty-six game, losing streak.
Another fan-favourite in Mo Williams was sent packing, to be replaced by the much-maligned Baron Davis.
The Cavaliers couldn’t catch a break and it appeared that luck had completely deserted the once-proud franchise.
So heading into today’s NBA Draft Lottery, no one expected that fate would smile on Cleveland.
But then in just a couple of hours, it all changed for the Cavaliers. Their luck turned.
What was supposed to be the eight overall pick for the Cavs became the fourth pick. This alone gave Cavs fans something to cheer about, a rarity over the course of the year.
But what happened next was enough to send the entire city of Cleveland into raptures.
The Cleveland Cavaliers won the NBA Lottery, gaining the number one pick in the 2011 NBA Draft.
It will be the first time the Cleveland Cavaliers have picked first in the NBA Draft, since they selected LeBron James in 2003.
The entire city of Cleveland were devastated by the departure of their former hero LeBron James and the pain has only been made worse by having to watch LeBron’s new side, push towards an NBA Championship.
Further salt was rubbed into the wounds, when LeBron returned to Cleveland for the first time as an opposing player, to score 38 points as the Miami Heat embarrassed Cleveland.
It was the lowest point for the franchise, and showed just how far they had fallen in such a short time.
The fans in Cleveland needed something to cheer about, they needed hope.
That’s what today’s Draft Lottery gives them. It lets Cleveland fans once again look to the future with optimism, not dread.
With two of the first four picks in the Draft, Cleveland has a great chance to add two future superstars to their roster.
All reports have the Cavaliers taking Duke Point Guard Kyrie Irving, the player who most consider to be the consensus number one prospect in the draft.
The most recent mock Drafts see the Cavaliers selecting Turkish big-man Enes Kanter with the fourth pick.
Kanter is seen as the prototypical inside player, having great range on his shot, a high basketball IQ and ability to rebound the ball.
In the long term, the Cavaliers fans will be hoping that the duo can form the foundation on which they can build for the future.
But in the short-term, it gives the team and its fans so much more.
For a team that has struggled through seemingly countless hardships over the past year, this serves as the light at the end of the tunnel.
It’s been a long year, but it looks like the suffering could be over for the Cavs fans.
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