"I have no doubt that is the right pick or was the right pick for us," said Bryan Colangelo, the president and general manager. "But it certainly wasn't one that would gather instant gratification. There were other players on the board ... that our fans and perhaps the media wanted us to take because they might come in and be an immediate-impact pick, if you will. But we made a long-term decision. We drafted a 19-year-old center prospect and despite the pressure of picking a so-called sexy pick or someone that might be a more-popular pick, we made the pick that we felt was the best decision, long term and short term, for the franchise because it fit right into this building process that we're going through right now."
It's the pick the Cavaliers should have made at No. 4, instead of power forward Tristan Thompson. They would have had, as it turned out, Irving streaking to Rookie of the Year in 2011-12 and an additional substantial pay out later in Valanciunas.
Instead, the Raptors gladly stepped into the Valanciunas predicament, willing to trade what at the time most teams expected would be a one-season holding pattern for eight or 10 seasons of standout center play. Colangelo just doesn't like the Rubio analogy.
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