In the last several days, the Cleveland Cavaliers have been active in the trade market looking for ways to improve their roster prior to next season.
This has now led them down the path of possibly moving veteran guard Iman Shumpert to the Houston Rockets, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
Along with that development, Brian Windhorst of ESPN is reporting that the Cavaliers are in the market to garner a draft pick and trade exception in exchange for Shumpert, which would open up more cap space to sign veteran guard Kyle Korver while setting up future deals this summer.
#Cavs would not be getting a player back in a trade of Iman Shumpert to #Rockets, per sources/reports. Would be to free up some salary.
— Sam Amico (@AmicoHoops) July 1, 2017
Cleveland has maintained a strong interest in bringing back Korver next season despite currently not possessing enough salary-cap space to extend him a significant offer.
Despite playing a significant role for the Cavaliers in the last 2 1/2 seasons, Shumpert struggled to be a high-impact player in this year’s playoffs. That became increasingly evident in the NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors scoring no more than six points in any contest while having persistent problems defensively.
This potential move for the Rockets would provide them with more depth in the backcourt after the trade for Chris Paul resulted in both Patrick Beverley and Lou Williams being dealt away. Shumpert has proven to be a strong option off the bench throughout his career.