OKC Thunder: NBA Draft – Tank wars heat up in week 17

Cleveland Cavaliers (20-35):

The team tied with the OKC Thunder but ranked higher for the moment because of a better conference record is the Cleveland Cavaliers. Although that won’t be the determining factor if the teams’ tie — a coin toss will.

Cleveland has a single game this weekend against the Bulls who’ll be without Zach LaVine. The Cavs won the initial match against Chicago and weathered the storm of injuries. Even Kevin Love and Matthew Dellavedova are back. They’ve split their last six matches Ten of their final 17 games are against teams on the above list (plus the injury decimate 500 rated Hornets).

Cleveland could try to make a run at the play-in seed given their schedule.  Moreover, the Cavs have a wealth of youngsters already in the mix like Collin Sexton, Darius Garland, Jarrett Allen, Isaac Okoro, and Dean Wade.

They may deem being competitive down the stretch and trying to get their youth some postseason experience even if just a game in the play-in tournament of higher value than trying to tank.

Either way, they’ll add a quality pick in the draft but gaining chemistry and building an identity should take precedence.