Cavs Trade Proposal: The Good and Bad of Gordon Hayward for Larry Nance

Conclusion

The addition of Gordon Hayward is one the team should pursue. His game hasn’t been affected by the injury and its one that will likely age well. The problem with the move is giving up so many pieces. Any way you build the trade, Cedi Osman and Isaac Okoro would likely have to go. It would not be fun to watch Osman leave, but Hayward is still in his prime, and with three years left on his deal, would sync up nicely with Kevin Love, allowing the Cavs to essentially start over if they want when both of their contracts are up.

Now we have to quote Bobby Heenan and ask; “Who’s the third man?” Larry Nance works financially but he deserves to be part of a playoff chase in Cleveland. You can’t trade Jarrett Allen due to his new deal. You don’t want to give up Evan Mobley, and the team getting Ricky Rubio was huge, and he could really thrive in this system. The team does have nearly $6 million in trade exception money from the JaVale McGee and Kevin Porter Jr. trades, so now you just need a little bit more.

Mfiondu Kabengele will need to be added on but now here comes the big question.

Financially, the only people who work within the current trade parameters, who aren’t Nance, are Darius Garland and Collin Sexton. So that’s the Sophie’s Choice the Cavs are looking at for this trade. Do you trade Nance, Garland, or Sexton to make the deal work?

It comes down to one question, do you believe the Cavs will be better in ’21-’22 with Osman, Okoro, Nance/Sexton/Garland or do you think they’ll be better with Hayward and the two players not sent over between Nance, Sexton, and Garland?

I think if you ship over Osman, Garland, Okoro, Kabengele and use the trade exceptions, Hayward makes the Cavs a playoff team. With Rubio, Sexton, Hayward, Love (or Nance), and Allen as your starting five, I think the Cavs would have a  great offense. Plus then you have Mobley, Windler, Nance, Dean Wade, and Lamar Stevens off the bench.

You’ll need another guard, so maybe the Cavs go get another guard in a trade or finally land Garrison Mathews, who would fill so many gaps on the team.

Either way, it’s a risk I’d take. As long as you don’t have to give up any first-round picks.