The Cleveland Cavaliers once again ended another season as one of the bottom feeders of the league. Safe to say the second post-LeBron era hasn’t panned out just yet. The good thing about the Cavaliers is that they’ve gone a good job accumulating great prospects from the draft. Amid the Cavaliers’ mediocre season, the likes of Colin Sexton and Darius Garland have raised eyebrows with their play. As always, young players have apparent weaknesses in their game. But there’s no question about Sexton and Garland’s searing potential.
The running joke is that nobody wants to play or live in Cleveland. Is it the city itself or the team? No one really knows. The good thing is that the current NBA landscape seems to be in favor of the Cavaliers. Several teams, given their subpar seasons, are expected to head to the free agency and trade market to fix their roster. For Cavs fans, they might be witnessing the stars aligning just for them. There are two best trade scenarios that the front office can make. And this will likely pull them out of the rut in an instant.
Cavs’ 2 best offseason trades
CJ McCollum
The Trail Blazers parting ways with coach Terry Stotts could be a sign of things to come. While there are whispers that the team is about to press the reset button, the reality is that a lot can still be salvaged with their current roster. As such, the popular belief now is the Blazers will likely make some little tweaks to their team.
After all the success CJ McCollum and Damian Lillard have achieved, maybe this is the right time to part ways. In this scenario, McCollum is the one to leave. He’s always been the second fiddle in Portland. If he heads to Cleveland, then this will be the first time he’ll be given the keys to the car. Not only will he be the team’s primary scorer, but we may also see other aspects of McCollum’s game develop. And of course, we cannot discount the fact that McCollum is an Ohio native. We’re all familiar with NBA stars who have gone home to play for their hometown.
As mentioned, the Cavs have done a good job at getting top prospects and developing them into potential stars. Collin Sexton, their eighth pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, averaged a stellar 24.3 points per game on 47.5 percent from the field. It’s pretty evident that the Young Bull will become one heck of an offensive weapon in the coming years. The thing is, the Cavaliers also have Darius Garland coming up. The Cavaliers will fall into a tough spot as after Sexton, Garland will be due a hefty, long-term deal. The only way to escape this ordeal is to trade Sexton away, who’s been stuck in the rumor mill anyway.
Kristaps Porzingis
As soon as the Dallas Mavericks bowed out of the first round, rumors surrounding center Kristaps Porzingis started heating up. All the hype after his acquisition in 2019 seems to have died down. His inconsistent play is not an indication that he’s a bad player. Perhaps the Latvian simply doesn’t fit into Rick Carlisle’s system as well as Luka Doncic’s play style.
This is where the Cavaliers can enter, particularly with Kevin Love in their back pocket. Doncic himself has admitted that LeBron James is his idol and he patterned his game after the Los Angeles Lakers star. And we all know how the James-Love connection worked wonders for the Cavs years ago. Though Love seems to go back to his roots of posting up, camping from deep, and knocking down 3-pointers all game long will be a welcome and easy adjustment for him. He’s been making mad money in Cleveland over the past several years. However, we cannot ignore that Love is an intense competitor at heart. He might want to win another ring before he exits his prime.
For the Cavs, a frontcourt duo of Kristaps Porzingis and Jarret Allen is very workable. They will essentially have a dual-threat on offense. Allen can do the work of a traditional big man while Porzingis stretches the floor. On defense, taller teams will always have the advantage. When you have two athletic seven-footers on your squad, then you have the advantage almost by default. A straight-up Love-Porzingis swap won’t likely work. The Cavaliers may have to insert Darius Garland, another player, and some picks into the trade package. This isn’t a lot for acquiring a 7-foot-3 shooter who’s probably hungry as ever to win.
