CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Cavaliers hold the No. 3 pick in the 2021 NBA Draft after learning their selection in the Draft Lottery Tuesday evening.
"We're in a really, really, good position I feel," said Cavs general manager Koby Altman after the Draft Lottery. "It's a tremendous opportunity. I think it positions us well."
After finishing the 2020-21 season with a 22-50 record and tying the Oklahoma City Thunder for the fourth-place spot in the lottery, the Cavs lost a tiebreaker in May to determine the order of selection for the Draft, moving Cleveland to the fifth position.
The Cavs had the highest odds of obtaining the sixth and seventh pick in Tuesday lottery, 18.2% and 25.5%, respectively.
Cleveland had an 11.5% chance of ending up with the first overall pick, an 11.4% chance of ending up with the second pick, an 11.2% chance of ending up with with the third pick, an 11% chance of ending up with the fourth pick, a 2% chance of ending with the fifth pick, an 8.6% chance of ending up with the eighth pick and just a 0.6% chance of ending up with the ninth pick.
During the lottery, the first four picks were drawn for, with the remaining lottery team selecting fifth through 14th in inverse order of their regular season records. The Cavaliers could not land any lower than the ninth pick as a result of their record.
The Cavs have had luck in the past, winning the Draft Lottery five times since it was introduced in 1985, selecting Brad Daugherty in 1986, LeBron James in 2003, Kyrie Irving in 2011, Anthony Bennett in 2013 and Andrew Wiggins in 2014.
Since the team's current rebuild began in 2018, the Cavs have ended with the No. 8 overall pick once (Collin Sexton in 2018) and the No. 5 overall pick twice (Darius Garland in 2019, Isaac Okoro in 2020).
Altman said the landscape in the league makes the No. 3 pick very valuable to them and they'll assess things after they decompress from tonight's Lottery results.
“The landscape currently in the league, I know this pick is tremendously valuable so if that’s the direction we want to go with that ammunition we can certainly get into some conversations—but we really do like this Draft," Altman said.
Cade Cunningham is favorited to be selected with the first overall pick, with Evan Mobley, Jalen Suggs, Jalen Green and Jonathan Kuminga favored to be among the top five picks.
Altman said having the No. 3 pick gives them many options to move forward in the team's rebuild.
"We're going to have a large injection of talent come soon," Altman said.
The 2021 NBA Draft will take place Thursday, July 29.
Here are the full results of the Draft Lottery:
1. Detroit Pistons
2. Houston Rockets
3. Cleveland Cavaliers
4. Toronto Raptors
5. Orlando Magic
6. Oklahoma City Thunder
7. Golden State Warriors
8. Orlando Magic
9. Sacramento Kings
10. New Orleans Pelicans
11. Charlotte Hornets
12. San Antonio Spurs
13. Indiana Pacers
14. Golden State Warriors
Camryn Justice is a digital content producer at News 5 Cleveland. Follow her on Twitter @camijustice.
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