Looking Back at the 2002 NBA Draft

Oasis has a song called “Don’t Look Back in Anger.” Well, sorry. I’m looking back in anger, and there’s nothing that you tea-and-crumpet-loving Brit Poppers can do about it.

(Note: this is not meant to be a slight against Oasis; I very much enjoy their music.)

For better or worse, the 2002 NBA Draft was a monumental one for the Cavs. Let us first begin at the beginning, because that just seems to make a strange amount of sense. The Cavaliers had just finished one of their more forgettable seasons, a 30-52 effort in which the top five leading scorers were Andre Miller, Lamond Murray, Clarence Weatherspoon, Chris Gatling and Matt Harpring. The ’01 Cavs also featured the likes of Robert “Tractor/Tax Evader” Traylor, Trajan Langdon and Bimbo Coles. This all raises the question: how the hell did they win 30 games?

But I digress. That season’s ping-pong balls left Cleveland with the sixth overall pick in the draft, and with a great chance to improve a truly mediocre team. Chinese big man Yao Ming was cemented as the top pick, but all was a crapshoot after that. It was the first draft with a huge foreign influence, and a lot of GMs seemed hell-bent on taking guys with unpronounceable names just to go along with the trend. The ’02 draft had more uncertainty than a Rex Grossman deep ball.

But Caron Butler was the one sure thing.

In 2002, I wanted Caron Butler more than anything. More than Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. More than my driving learner’s permit. More than anything. He was the draft’s most NBA-ready player, a perfectly built 6-7 small forward who could step in and do everything right away. If he could somehow fall to the Cavs at #6, taking him was a no-brainer. When the Nuggets took Nikoloz Tskitishvili at #5 out of pure curiosity, the stage was set.

And so, with the 6^th pick in the 2002 NBA Draft, the Cleveland Cavaliers select…

Dajuan Wagner?!

Dajuan Wagner. He was billed as Iverson with muscles. Quick enough to get to the basket, and strong enough to finish with contact. Once scored 100 points in a high school game. Averaged 21.2 in his only college season at Memphis. By 2004 he’d developed ulcerative colitis, and by 2005 he’d had his entire colon removed after consulting with then 65-year old Larry Brown, who referred him to a New York medical expert. His most recent comeback attempt with the Golden State Warriors was cut short, and as of now he’s unemployed.

Meanwhile, Butler is averaging 20.9 points per game and was named to his first All-Star game. He’s shooting 48% from the floor and 87% on free throws. Think the Cavs could use a guy who’s actually capable of making a shot from the charity stripe?

I can’t make you believe me, but I promise that I’m not just saying this because of the recent difference in success between Wagner and Butler. Hindsight is always Barbara Walters (20/20), but this is one of the few times where I was sure of the right pick beforehand. Obviously it would’ve been nice to take Amare Stoudemire too, but I had no idea who he was back then. It just makes me bitter that the one time I was completely right about something, my hometown team didn’t make the move.

Also notable in that draft is the Cavs' selection of Carlos Boozer in the second round. Clearly one of the top steals of the draft, Boozer quickly emerged as a talented, hard-working power forward that the Cavs desperately needed. Of course, one of the hallmarks of talented, hard-working power forwards out of Duke picked by the Cavs is that they inevitably stab their blind owner in the back, renege on a verbal promise and go sign a $68 million dollar deal with Utah. But that just comes with the territory.

Other notes from that draft:
Drew Gooden, current Cavs’ power forward, was taken 4^th overall by Memphis.
Former Cavalier Flip “Ronald” Murray was taken 42^nd overall by Milwaukee.
The Cavs signed Smush “William” Parker as an undrafted free agent.

On the bright side, had the Cavs taken Butler, they probably would’ve been better during the 2002-03 season, and wouldn’t have gotten as many ping-pong balls in the hopper for the 2003 lottery, and wouldn’t have gotten the first pick, and wouldn’t have gotten LeBron James.

So I’ll let this one slide.