Cleveland Cavaliers: 8 times they missed out on a superstar in the NBA Draft

1. Kobe Bryant – 1996

The 1996 NBA Draft boasted perhaps the greatest pool of prospects in the history of the sport. Historic names such as Kobe Bryant, Allen Iverson, Steve Nash and Ray Allen were all selected in the top 15.

Who did the Cleveland Cavaliers walk away with from this stacked class? Vitaly Potapenko. A 6’10” center who played 11 seasons in the NBA and averaged just 6.5 points and 4.5 rebounds a game for his career.

The Cavaliers deserve slack for missing out on Iverson and Allen as both were selected before Cleveland was on the clock. However, Bryant was taken one pick after the Cavs and Nash was taken only two picks later.

It’s understandable why the Cavaliers didn’t pick Nash. The future two-time MVP wasn’t heavily recruited and Cleveland already had an All-Star point guard on the roster. But, there is no excuse for not choosing Bryant with the 12th pick other than maybe they realized there was no chance they would ever keep him in the Land.

Bryant was a superstar at the age of 18, widely regarded as one of the greatest high school basketball players of all-time. There is always concern drafting a player who is skipping college but hindsight is 2020 and it’s still a shock to see Bryant fell to 13th in the 1996 NBA Draft.

We don’t need to spend too much time explaining how great of a basketball player and human being Bryant was. Five championships, 18 All-Star Games,15 All-NBA selections and an ever-lasting impact on the world speaks for itself. The Cavaliers truly missed out on a chance to land one of the league’s most iconic players.