When the Dallas Mavericks decided to trade Luka Doncic away to the Los Angeles Lakers, the entire NBA world was caught off-guard. After all, why would the Mavericks trade Doncic away without drumming up a bidding war? It only seemed smart for the Mavs to get as much as they could if they were to trade away their best player, and perhaps even the Eastern Conference-leading Cleveland Cavaliers could have found themselves in the running for the Slovenian superstar.
It would be quite the surprise if the Cavs had decided to shake things up and trade for Doncic amid their incredible 2024-25 campaign, especially when it would have taken a lot for them to pry the 26-year-old away from the Mavericks. In a hypothetical scenario conjured up by ESPN’s Bobby Marks, he believes that the Cavs would have needed to trade away Darius Garland, Jarrett Allen, and an unprotected 2031 first-round pick to acquire Doncic.
Given what the Mavericks actually received in return, this is not too far off from where talks between them and the Cavs would have begun had they entertained more trade offers for Doncic. For the Cavs, this would have been a tough pill to swallow; giving up an All-Star point guard and the team’s starting center for Doncic could be seen as too much to relinquish.
Nevertheless, trading for Doncic is always going to be worth it, and the Cavs could move Evan Mobley to the five anyway. They also could have still traded for De’Andre Hunter in this universe and started him at the four. Overall, this is a good trade that makes too much sense for the Cavs, and if the opportunity was there, there is a strong argument to be made for them to pull the trigger.
Cavs should be very happy with the core they have
Ken Blaze-Imagn Images
Even with the missed opportunity to perhaps trade for Luka Doncic, the Cavs should be very happy with the core that they have and be proud of what they’ve accomplished thus far this season. Cleveland has been a dominant team all year long, and their belief in their core four has been paying off big time.
The key now for the Cavs is to find a way to translate their regular-season success into the playoffs. They have been making steady progress over the past two seasons, but with the championship picture being very wide open, they must lock in and not let this window of opportunity slip away.
