Cleveland Cavaliers: 3 ways to trade up for the No. 3 pick in 2019 NBA Draft

The Cleveland Cavaliers hope to land a star in the 2019 NBA Draft. Their chances of doing so are better if they trade up for the No. 3 overall pick.

Every draft is different. In some, like this year, the No. 1 pick is head-and-shoulders above the rest. So the Cleveland Cavaliers picking fifth isn’t exactly optimal. In other years, like last year, the top talent is comparable.

The No. 3 pick, however, usually ends up being good. Michael Jordan was famously selected third overall in 1984. Seven of the eight No. 3 picks between 1992-99 became All-Stars. No. 3 overall pick Pau Gasol won Rookie of the Year in 2002. Ben Gordon (2004), Deron Williams (2005) and Al Hortford (2007) all helped turn around franchises. James Harden (2009) is an MVP winner.

More recently, there’s Bradley Beal (2012), Joel Embiid (2014) and Jayson Tatum (2017). Last year’s No.3 pick, Luka Doncic, is the frontrunner to win Rookie of the Year and looks like a franchise star. First pick-quality talent often falls to that No. 3 spot. Why is that?

Sometimes teams selecting second choose a high-upside player, as opposed to the safer, college stud. That’s what happened in the famous 2003 NBA Draft when the Detroit Pistons selected dud Darko Milicic second and the Denver Nuggets nabbed Carmelo Anthony third. It kind of happened in 2009 when the Memphis Grizzlies picked Hasheem Thabeet, leaving Harden for the Oklahoma City Thunder.

With that in mind, Cavs general manager Koby Altman would probably love to pick third — especially this year, when R.J. Barrett is expected to fall there. An NBA All-Star hasn’t been selected fifth overall since DeMarcus Cousins in 2010, so currently, the odds are not in Cleveland’s favor.

Here are three ways the Cavaliers can move up to a more optimal slot in the draft by making a trade with the New York Knicks.