2020 NBA Draft: Top 1st round options for Cleveland Cavaliers

3. Devin Vassell, Florida State

At this stage of the rebuild, the Cleveland Cavaliers can afford to ignore the “best player available” to sharpen up what is an ill-fitting roster at this point. Cleveland’s undersized backcourt of Collin Sexton and Darius Garland—selected in back-to-back drafts—would appear to represent a franchise that hopes to form a powerful offensive nucleus, even more so after the addition of Kevin Porter Jr. with the 30th pick (in the same draft as Garland no less).

So while taking a well-known, exciting prospect like Anthony Edwards seems fine, the Cavaliers would be better suited taking a player who can immediately help their defense, which was dead-last in defensive rating (114.8). This where Florida State wing Devin Vassell comes into play.

The Cavaliers had extreme problems on the defensive end of the floor. Their perimeter defense often gave up penetration often and the collection of Tristan Thompson, Kevin Love, and later Andre Drummond were not very intimidating rim protectors. With Love and Drummond (and his lucrative player option) likely back in the picture next season, the Cavaliers would be wise to add someone who can generate turnovers on defense to produce more transition opportunities without further clogging their murky frontcourt picture.

Vassell brings perhaps the most sought-after skillset into the league, that of a true “3-and-D” wing. At 6-foot-6 with a 6-foot-10 wingspan, Vassell excels at clogging the passing lanes and provides a surprising amount of rim protection from the wing, averaging 1.0 block per game last season at Florida State after not really functioning as a shot-blocker in his freshman year (0.3 per game). When it comes to steals, however, Vassell has always been stellar, collecting 2.0 steals per game over 63 career games.

Because of this defensive versatility, Vassell can function in any defensive system. It would be a huge help for JB Bickerstaff in his first full season as Cavaliers head coach if he could bring in a young player that would help change the defensive buy-in from the other young talent on the roster. On the court, Vassell gives great first, second, and third efforts on defense, an attitude sorely missing in Cleveland.

Devin Vassell is a no-brainer pick for the Cleveland Cavaliers if he is on the board at No. 8. He would step in and immediately become one of the Cavs top-three perimeter defenders and his offensive skills mesh well with what they have in place. Vassell was a 41.7% 3-point shooter over his two seasons at Florida State and he would provide ample floor spacing for Sexton and Garland to orchestrate pick-and-roll attacks.

Vassell checks off all the important boxes needed for Cleveland to get back on track. He’s an instant floor raiser, with enough skill and athleticism to further develop his proficiency as a one-on-one scorer as well, making him a potential big-time steal in a relatively weak draft.