5 players the Cleveland Cavaliers should try trade for and how to get them
By Chad Porto
3. Doug McDermott
The Spurs are going nowhere, and at 29-years-old, Doug McDermott is not looking to be part of a rebuild. At least, one would assume so. He’s become a bit of a trade asset that the team could use to get younger and some draft picks, but probably not both. McDermott is a great scorer, and his recent splits .472/.435/.704 are good. You’d like to see a higher free-throw stat but you’re not looking for an All-NBA/franchise guy right now, so you take what you can get.
The three-point shooting is key, the Cavs need better three-point shooting, McDermott is known for his three-point shooting. He’s not Kyle Korver but he’s probably the closest thing to Korver who’s not Steph Curry.
The big hangup on McDermott, and it’s the same hangup for LeVert, is that he’s not good on defense. With the Cavs being a defensive first team, that creates their offense a lot of times through defensive stops, McDermott may cause liability. Now, Kevin Love was considered a bad defensive player but this year he’s become a very good one, with a RAPTOR score of +1.7 on defense through the year, so maybe McDermott just needs a better situation.
The Cavs can get this done with Cedi Osman as the center-piece. He’s not overly young but his point-foward potential could pair well with the established core the team already has, and considering they won’t be getting too much more than this for a guy who’s about to turn 30 and isn’t known for anything other than his three-point shooting, this seems fair.
You could attach a second-round pick or two to get the deal done.