Factory Of Sadness
FanSided

Redrafting the Cleveland Cavaliers rookies from 2004-2009 (LeBron James Era)

By Chad Porto

LeBron James (R) of Cleveland Cavaliers dribbles the ball against Pat Garrity (C) and Hedo Turkoglu of Orlando Magic during their NBA pre-season game at the Venetian Macao in Macau, 20 October 2007. Orlando Magic won 100-84. AFP PHOTO/Ted ALJIBE (Photo credit should read TED ALJIBE/AFP via Getty Images)
LeBron James (R) of Cleveland Cavaliers dribbles the ball against Pat Garrity (C) and Hedo Turkoglu of Orlando Magic during their NBA pre-season game at the Venetian Macao in Macau, 20 October 2007. Orlando Magic won 100-84. AFP PHOTO/Ted ALJIBE (Photo credit should read TED ALJIBE/AFP via Getty Images) /
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Czech Republic’s shooting guard Jiri Welsch holds on tot he ball during the classification basketball match between Latvia and the Czech Republic at the EuroBasket 2015 in Lille, northern France, on September 18, 2015. AFP PHOTO / PHILIPPE HUGUEN (Photo credit should read PHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP via Getty Images)
Czech Republic’s shooting guard Jiri Welsch holds on tot he ball during the classification basketball match between Latvia and the Czech Republic at the EuroBasket 2015 in Lille, northern France, on September 18, 2015. AFP PHOTO / PHILIPPE HUGUEN (Photo credit should read PHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP via Getty Images) /

2007 – Draft Pick No. N/A

1st Round

Drafted: N/A (Jiri Welsch Trade)
Re-Drafted: N/A

2nd Round

Drafted: N/A (Drew Gooden Trade)
Re-Drafted: N/A

Since the team didn’t have a pick in 2007, there can’t be a re-draft. Yet, if there was a pick it would’ve gone to Rudy Fernandez. The perfect compliment for LeBron James. He’s quick, agile, could cut to the rim and force defenders to crash on him or he could stay at the top of the key and wait for a dish from James for three points.

Sure Fernandez didn’t pan out in the NBA with the Trailblazers but that was more due to him having to deal with lineups that just had too many other talents at his position. With the Cavs, especially in 2007, that’s not a real issue. Larry Hughes was on his last legs with the team, and the very next year Fernandez could’ve been in a starters spot, playing regular minutes.

Why didn’t the team have a first-round pick in 2007? Well, the team traded that pick to the Boston Celtics for Jiri Welsch for the last half of the 2005 season. The Cavs turned and traded him for a 2006 second-round pick. Talk about diminishing returns.

Welsch was one of the worst trades in Cavaliers history and did absolutely nothing for the club in any real, tangible way. The second-round pick, like so many others before it, ended up being used on someone who never played any official minutes for the NBA.

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