4 of the worst times the Cleveland Cavalier picked the wrong player in the modern era

The four worst draft misses in Cleveland Cavaliers’ modern history.

We’re going through the four worst draft decisions the Cleveland Cavaliers have selected in the modern era. It’s a list that I thought would actually be a lot worse than it was and while there are some real duds, which we’ll get to, the Cavs have done a pretty good job over the last 30-odd years at getting good talent.

That doesn’t mean they’ve always optimized the picks, but very rarely have we seen examples of poor selections.

So what defines the modern era? We’re looking at guys who were drafted between 1989 and 2021. Why 1989? That’s the first year the NBA Draft was changed to just two-rounds. Before then the draft had multiple rounds and it was largely just a waste of everyone’s time.

So, with that said, let’s look at some guys who won’t make the cut. Firstly, there’s Chris Mihm. Partly because he had a decent career as a role player but mostly because he wasn’t drafted by the Cavs. He was acquired in a draft-day trade for the Cavs selection, Jamal Crawford. That was not a good idea.

Another one that won’t be on the list is Anthony Bennett. While he is a bad player, his selection is truly marred by the draft class just being garbage. Yes, Giannis Antetokounmpo was in the draft, but he was an afterthought, a project picks that someone would need to take a rider on and hope for the best. Victor Oladipo was also in the draft but he’s far from a top-tier player, and when you realize that, while Bennett was clearly a bust, there really wasn’t an obvious guy to take over him.

That’s what this list is focusing on as well, guys the team should’ve taken instead. So in that vein, Tristan Thompson could very well qualify for the list, as Klay Thompson is clearly the better player. We also could use Jonas Valanciunas as an example of a player who was better than Tristan Thompson.

Yet we have more egregious picks below.