UPDATED: Several teams had multiple first-round picks and others were looking to deal picks to save money and cap space. The Cavs had some belief they could get into the draft by writing a check for up to $3 million, but it didn't happen.
View full sizeThe Cavaliers reportedly had some interest in Kansas center Cole Aldrich, who was selected 11th overall by the New Orleans Hornets and then dealt to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday.Updated at 12:44 a.m.
CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Cavaliers came in with nothing, they ended with nothing.
Draft night always promised to be anticlimactic for the team after they traded away their first-round pick last February in acquiring forward Antawn Jamison from the Washington Wizards. It turned out that way as the Cavs, despite making some efforts, did not acquire a pick in either the first or second rounds.
"There were a few guys we were interested in and we were hoping a few guys would fall and create an opportunity for us," Cavs General Manager Chris Grant said. "That didn't happen."
It was not all that surprising -- the team has not made the draft a major priority for quite some time.
In fact, it was the third time in the past six years the Cavs didn't have a first-round pick, the result of numerous trades to upgrade talent around LeBron James. Last year's selection by the Cavs, the 30th and final pick of the first round, was guard/forward Christian Eyenga, who spent the last year in Europe.
Two other recent first-rounders, forward Luke Jackson in 2006 and guard Shannon Brown in 2007, spent two seasons or less with the team.
There were several teams with multiple first-round picks and others looking to deal picks to save money and cap space. Because of it, the Cavs had some belief that they could get into the draft by writing a check for up to $3 million.
But that didn't happen. Only one pick was sold outright (the Dallas Mavericks bought the Memphis Grizzlies' No. 25 pick), and by then the Cavs had lost interest. Most picks that were traded were attached to a player or a future pick, assets the Cavs didn't want to give up at this point.
The team was interested in several big men, including Kansas center Cole Aldrich, who was taken 11th by the New Orleans Hornets and then dealt to the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Cavs also were believed to like Kentucky guard Eric Bledsoe and tried to acquire several picks in the mid-to-late teens in an attempt to get him.
However, the Thunder struck again and made a deal with the Los Angeles Clippers for a future first-round pick to get Bledsoe with the 18th overall selection.
"I think we were close but not real close," Grant said. "We were a couple of positions away, but the draft is a crazy thing and it is an emotional thing."
Overall, it was a highly active day in the NBA, and there was one major deal that affected the Cavs. The Chicago Bulls sent guard Kirk Hinrich and a first-round pick to the Washington Wizards in a pure cap-space-clearing deal. It will get the Bulls an additional $10 million in space and they will have about $30 million to chase free agents starting next week.
The Bulls are expected to attempt to sign James, and with the extra space could perhaps draw another big-name free agent. However, as of now, the Bulls do not quite have enough to sign two maximum-level free agents like the New York Knicks and Miami Heat. But they are significantly closer.
"It doesn't concern me at all," Grant said of the Bulls' moves. "We have a team that won 61 games last year and we have a culture in place and a philosophy in place. LeBron knows how important he is to Northeast Ohio and he's been part of that and built it. Our focus is building our team."