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Cleveland Cavaliers recent trade don’t look good after Bradley Beal trade

By Chad Porto

CLEVELAND, OHIO - MARCH 17: Donovan Mitchell #45 of the Cleveland Cavaliers drives to the basket between Kyle Kuzma #33 and Bradley Beal #3 of the Washington Wizards during the first half of the game at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse on March 17, 2023 in Cleveland, Ohio. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images)
CLEVELAND, OHIO - MARCH 17: Donovan Mitchell #45 of the Cleveland Cavaliers drives to the basket between Kyle Kuzma #33 and Bradley Beal #3 of the Washington Wizards during the first half of the game at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse on March 17, 2023 in Cleveland, Ohio. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images) /
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Compared to the recent Bradley Beal trade news, the Cleveland Cavaliers may have overpaid for Donovan Mitchell.

The Cleveland Cavaliers’ trade for Donovan Mitchell continues to lose its luster with each passing week. Once seen by many, including us, as the trade the Cavs needed to make to get to the NBA Finals again, now many, again ourselves included, are wondering if it was the right move after all. This thought popped back up after the recent Bradley Beal trade went down.

Beal got dealt just for an aging Chris Paul, Landry Shamet, a bunch of second-round picks, and some first-round swaps. As of press time, the number of picks and swaps is unknown. The Suns gave up next to nothing to land Beal, who had a no-trade clause in his contract with the Wizard. That reality was likely the reason the Phoenix Suns landed the former Washington Wizards guard for very little.

After all, the Cavs gave up three first-round picks, two other first-round pick swaps (the Jazz can swap picks if the Cavs have earlier draft picks), as well as three players; Lauri Markkanen, Collin Sexton, and Ochai Agbaji.

Markkanen made the All-Star Team in Utah, Sexton (despite just playing 48 games), shot over 50% from the floor and saw his three-point rate go up. And while Agbaji didn’t tear the cover off the ball, he showed promise as a rookie.

Mitchell made the All-NBA Team with the Cavs and finished in the Top 10 of MVP voting, but his play against the New York Knicks was concerning, as he devolved into shooting ugly jumpers off of bad isos. He also is on a deadline of sorts, as many expect him to leave Cleveland and go to New York when his contract is up.

The Beal deal has made the Mitchell deal look very bad by proxy.

The Cleveland Cavaliers deal for Donovan Mitchell continues to look worse and worse

I fully understand the Wizards were limited in where they could send Beal, and what they could realistically get back for him. But the Wizards are likely to just waive Paul, and the Suns didn’t actually lose any first-round picks in the deal. They just have to swap places with the Wizards in the off-chance the Suns have a higher pick than the Wizards.

And Mitchell, albeit younger, is a very similar player to Beal in terms of style, size, and limitations. So seeing what the Suns had to give up hurts. Yes, again, for the third time, the Wizards are handcuffed in what they could do with Beal.

But that doesn’t make it any easier for us as Cavs fans to swallow. The team gave up too much for Mitchell. Maybe not by much, but by enough for us to wonder if we’d have been better off with Markkanen, Sexton, and Agbaji instead.

Next. The 2007 Cleveland Cavaliers squad is better than they’re given credit for. dark

  • Published on 06/19/2023 at 02:00 AM
  • Last updated at 06/19/2023 at 02:00 AM
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