Contracts the Cleveland Cavaliers should try to take for 2020-2021.
If the NBA is able to resume this season, fans of the Cleveland Cavaliers aren’t expecting much from the Wine and Gold.
The Cavs are one of the worst teams in the league and long ago, many casual fans began looking toward the lottery and the eventual draft.
With those events being pushed back as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, what becomes of the Cavaliers roster remains a big mystery.
There will be rumors involving Kevin Love, but it remains to be seen if the GM Koby Altman and company would get enough in return for their stretch four.
Love was the center of a number of trade rumors heading into last February’s deadline, yet the 2016 champ stayed put. There were some rumblings that the Cavs were overvaluing the four-time All-Star. Basically, Cleveland viewed him as an elite talent worthy of a first-round pick.
If you buy the rumors, other clubs didn’t see it that way, largely because Love is only in the first year of a massive contract extension.
Gordon Hayward
The Cavaliers need a wing. No one’s buying Cedi Osman as a starter any longer. The former first-round pick looks better suited to be a role player coming off the bench.
Small forward has always been a weak spot for the Cavaliers when someone LeBron James hasn’t been occupying the position. Just go ahead and remind yourself of the cast of characters who passed through town after James left the first time.
For Boston, Hayward seems expendable with Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum entrenched as nucleus of the Celtics.
Hayward is set to make just north of $34 million next season, so the Cavs would have to send a big chunk of money Boston’s way to get a deal done. You’re probably thinking Kevin Love, rather, I’d like to send Andre Drummond.
Drummond, acquired before the deadline, carries a $28 million option for next season. Considering the economic uncertainty of the league, it’s a slam dunk Drummond will pick up the option to secure a hefty paycheck.
Drummond provides the Cavs toughness as a presence in the middle, but offensively, he’s regarded as a dinosaur, meaning he’s a big man who can’t shoot 3’s.
If the Cavs could draft Obi Toppin to replace Drummond’s size and then put Hayward into a lineup with Kevin Porter Jr. and Collin Sexton/Darius Garland, well, the Cavs all of a sudden would be a lot more intriguing to watch next season.
2. Otto Porter
Otto Porter, like Drummond, carries a big option for the 2020-2021 campaign, as he’ll almost certainly pick up his $28 million price tag for next season.
So like Hayward, the Cavs are going to have to make the money work if they want to add the small forward.
Basically, they’d have to ask themselves, Porter or Drummond for 2020-2021? Both could walk after next season, so there’s really no risk in taking on their deal if the front office doesn’t want to work on an extension.
I’d be more interested in bolstering the wing position, so put me in the camp for Porter.
The former No.3 overall pick in the Dion Waiters draft, has always gotten high marks for his defensive play, and after being acquired by the Bulls in February, his scoring saw an uptick.
He’s a lifetime 11-point scorer, but he was averaging around 17 points per game with the Bulls.
Don’t get me wrong, he’s overpaid, just like Drummond, but solidifying the three spot might make life easier for the budding Porter.
Again, a decision like taking Porter and moving Drummond would require the Cavs to add size. Drafting someone like Toppin makes the decision to swap Drummond for Porter an easy one.
Michael Porter Jr.
A couple years truly is an eternity in the world of the NBA. Just think back to six months before the 2018 NBA Draft. Michael Porter was viewed as the potential No. 1 pick until injuries sunk his stock.
Luka Doncic ended up being the biggest find of that draft, and of course, we all know the Cavs ended up with Collin Sexton as a result of the “Brooklyn pick” that was received after dealing Kyrie Irving to Boston.
At the time, I was critical of the Sexton pick. Porter was injured, but I thought the upside was worth taking a chance on. Experts believed Sexton would be a good player, and he’s basically lived up to those predictions.
But is he a franchise changing player? That’s complicated, even more so by the fact the Cavs took another point guard in 2019, taking Darius Garland with the fifth overall pick.
So in their rebuilding efforts, the Cavs took two ball dominant guards who need to shoot.
Porter missed all of his first season, as was expected, but the Nuggets eased him into playing time this past season, as he only averaged 14 minutes per game before play stopped. He’s averaging just 7.5 points, but shooting 42 percent from the field.
Bleacher Report concocted this three-team trade that would net the Cavs Porter, while shipping Sexton out.
Nuggets get Sexton, Love and forward Nassir Little; Blazers Receive: Will Barton; Cavaliers Receive: Porter, Harris and forward Trevor Ariza.
Would the Nuggets entertain trading Porter? As of December, speculation was that he was “untouchable.”
CJ McCollum
Inserting Kevin Love’s name into trades is so easy, but doing so particularly works with the Blazers.
The player to target here is C.J. McCollum. While the Cleveland native has been part of a sensational tandem paired with Damian Lillard, the duo may have reached its ceiling.
Why might Portland do this? Yahoo’s Kevin Smith pointed out that Lillard and McCollum will make a combined $86 million combined in 2023-24 — not exactly a healthy cap outlook, especially with Lillard carrying a $50 million option for 2024-2025. Love at least comes off the books by 2023.
McCollum signed a three-year extension that will pay him about $30 million per season through 2024. That extension doesn’t kick in until next season.
The truth is McCollum wouldn’t be a great contract for the Cavaliers, either, but considering the organization inability to get free agents in town, Cleveland would benefit from having a scorer like McCollum, who would be here through the rest of his prime.
The Cavs backcourt would become stocked, with McCollum partnering with Kevin Porter, Darius Garland. Adding McCollum would certainly afford the Cavs to explore a trade with one of these three young players.
Dealing Love, though, would mean the Cavs need to look for size, and I’ve been ringing the bell for Toppin in the draft.