The Cleveland Cavaliers are in a good position in the draft. Sure, they're not going to walk away with Anthony Davis like the New Orleans Hornets surely will, but they're still set with excellent picks and can add some real talent come draft day. The 2012 NBA Draft is just over a week away and many figure the Cavaliers are going to go after one of Harrison Barnes and Bradley Beal.
Well, if they were struggling with the decision at all, it might have been made a bit easier for them if the Washington Wizards are going to do what everyone expects of them now that they've made a big trade with the Hornets. Washington just traded Rashard Lewis and the No. 46 pick in the upcoming draft to New Orleans in exchange for Emeka Okafor and Trevor Ariza.
More details of the trade can be found here at the SB Nation NBA hub.
The reason this impacts the Cavaliers is the fact that it now seems very likely that Washington drafts Beal. They had reportedly narrowed it down to Beal and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, but the players acquired in the trade seem to disqualify Kidd-Gilchrist from consideration. This could mean that Beal is their guy, which means the Cavaliers could be left with Barnes.
Recently, SB Nation had Barnes going to Cleveland in their mock draft, and pointed out the fact that he recently cancelled a workout with the Sacramento Kings, and that it's likely the Cavaliers have told him they'd take him if he's available, so there's that.
For more on the Cleveland Cavaliers, go to Fear The Sword. You can also check out professional basketball news from around the league over at SB Nation's NBA page.