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Cleveland Cavaliers: Could Brendan Haywood Be Traded To Portland?

By Ryan Rosko

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Trade options are diminishing, is a trade going to happen?

The reality of any Brendan Haywood trade involving a player coming back in return sure sounds doubtful now. In the most recent talks of trade rumors, the Cleveland Cavaliers could make a trade with the Portland Trail Blazers according to Steve Kyler of basketballinsiders.com.

Just because Haywood is traded, regardless of the destination, he likely will not be playing there. Given the amount he would be due if his contract is guaranteed and that he is an end of the bench player, he should be waived.

In fact, Haywood anticipates that there will be a trade and if there is, he does not care where he is dealt.

Related: Cleveland Cavaliers: Brendan Haywood Does Not Care Where He Is Traded

Of course the preference is to get a player(s) back in return for the veteran center, but if all the Cavs get is a trade exception, that is not bad. I say that because the options to use with that exception later could be of a large variety.

Remember, the Cavs used an injury exception (Anderson Varejao‘s injury) last season in the deal that brought Iman Shumpert and J.R. Smith to Cleveland. That is not the same exception, but it does do the same role as a traded player exception.

It would be interesting to know why the Cavs did not traded Haywood sooner in the offseason, if  it is for the exact same return as what they would get in the rumored deal with Portland.

There were players mentioned as potential trade targets in a deal for Haywood, but due to other team’s transactions, those players either stayed with a very good team and/or gained a bigger role.

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Despite resigning key players early in free agency, Cleveland still has a lot of roster situations to figure out. Outside of the potential Haywood trade, there is the negotiations with Tristan Thompson and J.R. Smith, and simply filling out the roster.

However, since nothing is official until players sign, Cleveland is evaluating other options than Smith for a shooting guard, and who knows, they may be doing the same with Thompson (doubtful).

Cleveland has less than two weeks  to determine what they want to do with Haywood’s contract. The assumption is that there will be a trade. The wait for such a trade has already been a long time, so this decision would not be surprising if it was made the last possible moment.

Next: J.R. Smith Has To Regret Decision To Opt Out Of Cleveland Cavaliers' Contract

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