Cleveland Cavaliers select Andrew Wiggins first overall

The Cleveland Cavaliers made the smart, simple decision (for once) and took the top prospect on the board, Kansas wing Andrew Wiggins.

There probably is not more of a match made in heaven for both player and team as far as personnel fit. The Cavaliers have been searching for their small forward of the future since the departure of LeBron James, and they should get it with this pick. Wiggins is unquestionably the best athlete in this draft class both from a lateral quickness and a vertical explosiveness perspective. This is someone that will immediately be able to get out and run with Kyrie Irving and Dion Waiters in transition if they decide to push the pace more this season.

Also, Wiggins has immense defensive potential. Wings almost never step in and have a rookie impact defensively, so I don’t think that he’ll be guarding the opposing team’s best player immediately. However, given that the Cavs have been entirely defensively inept on the perimeter since James left, Wiggins represents a massive upgrade to what they have been putting out recently.

Finally, what the Cavs already have will help to mitigate Wiggins’ major weakness, his loose handle. With Irving and Waiters in the fold, Wiggins will be brought along slowly as it pertains to creating his own shot. He should simply just be asked to run around off-ball as he works to improve his ball-handling skills and he won’t be asked to take many pull up jumpers, something he struggled with this season.

Developmentally, the Cavaliers probably aren’t the best place for any prospect given their organizational discord. The owner, Dan Gilbert, seems to be on a different rebuild arc than the rest of the front office and team, which puts undue pressure on players to succeed immediately. That doesn’t make it an easy situation for any player to step into. However, given the way this team is set up right now, there is a massive, glaring hole and need for Wiggins. He should start from day one, and if the Cavs are a little bit lucky they will have gotten their second superstar of the future to pair with Irving.