The Cleveland Cavaliers took Andrew Wiggins with the number one overall draft pick and now that likely means that a trade with Kyrie Irving is off the table and the Cavs now can focus on trying to get LeBron James to sign back with his home town team as a free agent over teams like the Houston Rockets, Miami Heat, LA Lakers and Chicago Bulls.
Irving has been mentioned on trade rumors for years since the Cavs have been so bad and another reason is because of LeBron himself, as many have wondered whether he will stay long term. According to ESPN.com, adding Wiggins makes the Cavs a more attractive destination for free agents and trades, as they now have the top prospect in the NBA draft and he is considered to be a top notch defender and a potential All-Star player. At 6'-8", 200 lbs he has great size and his wing span is seven feet and that means he can defend the top player on each team.
Wiggins is a perfect complement to Irving, who was frustrated last season with all the speculation about his future and whether he will stay in Cleveland or not. According to ESPN.com, the Cavs are in the wheelhouse for LeBron, but right now no one in the NBA actually thinks he will sign back there. James is most likely to go back to Miami, but there is a chance that other teams could convince him to join up, especially if teams create cap space to sign him and Melo. ESPN.com writes that the Cavs, Atlanta Hawks, Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers have all looked into that possibility, as have the Miami Heat themselves.
Wiggins comes in after averaging over 17 points per game at Kansas last season and now he joins Johnny Manziel as two of the hottest young rookies in sports in Cleveland. The team has a lot of young talent and they were in on the Kevin Love trade talks for a while, but not that appears dead and Wiggins went two picks in front of his Jayhawks teammate Joel Embiid. Many thought that Embiid would go number one had he not been injured and that left Wiggins for the Cavs and Jabari Parker for the Bucks. Parker has been compared to LeBron with his size and skills, while Wiggins was considered the best prospect since last season.
The Cavaliers have now taken two Canadian players with the number one overall pick two years in a row after taking Anthony Bennett and they hope Wiggins starts off better than Bennett. The Cavaliers have been bad for a while, but now they have three of the last four number one overall picks along with Dion Waiters, Tristan Thompson and other young stars and while Irving may leave, he is still there now and if the team adds a free agent they really could make some noise. Irving will likely stay if the team can show improvement and Wiggins now is in a Cavs uniform, while the Lakers picked Julius Randle and the Celtics took Marcus Smart with their top pick