• Changing RCF's index page, please click on "Forums" to access the forums.

Cavaliers Fantasy Trade Thread: 2020-21 regular season edition

Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Okay, let's swing for the fences.

View attachment 4987


Also to Minnesota: the Wolves' own 2021 #1 pick, top-three protected (currently owned by GS); Cavs 2021 and 2023 first-round picks.

It's the combination of a couple of ideas that I've seen floating around here, and can really be analyzed as two separate trades.

First: Drummond to GS for Wiggins, Poole, and the Minny 2021 pick, plus possibly other picks (don't get excited; thinking of a second-rounder or two or three). The Cavs do this to get something for Drummond (who can walk at season's end) and to acquire the valuable Minny pick. The Warriors do this to get out of their luxury-tax hell -- they are projected to owe north of $100M in each of the next three seasons. By acquiring Drummond (who, again, is a free agent after this season), they can get out of the tax after this season (and they'd same some money this season as well, as Drummond makes about $2.8M less than Wiggins/Poole; Poole is in the trade mainly to give the Dubs more immediate tax relief, while also allowing the Cavs to kick the tires on a young player). If not Poole, the Dubs have a number of other small-ish salaries that could be slotted into the deal in his place. The key here is to give them more savings up front, in order to entice them to deal the valuable Minny pick.

Second: Wiggins, Garland, the Minny pick, and two additional firsts (2021 and 2023) to the Wolves for Towns and Davis (or, as he should be more accurately called here, "$5 Million Expiring Salary To Make The Numbers Work"). Supposedly, KAT is making noises about wanting to be traded out of Minny, and the Wolves are considering trading him for a bucket of young players/picks and smacking the reset button for the whatever-eth time. This deal does that for them. They get a promising young PG in Garland, plus their own (likely to be very high) 2021 pick back, plus two additional firsts, plus Wiggins. They also lop off one year of a big salary, as Wiggins' deal ends one year before Towns'.

The Cavs get the star player they need. We've said all along that the Cavs should look to strike for a disgruntled star when one becomes available ... here's their chance.

Post-trade, the Cavs' roster would be: KAT, Allen, McGee, Love, Nance, Davis, Prince, Okoro, Osman, Windler, Sexton, Dotson, Poole, Delly, and Wade. The squad wouldn't be quite complete -- there would be a pressing need for a veteran PG and maybe one more guard, which could be solved by trading away a player or two from that SF/PF/C logjam -- but they'd be a hell of a lot closer to where they need to be.

Would KAT and Allen together be a problem? Maybe, but I think it could work. There are 48 minutes a night at the center position; if those guys combine for ~65 minutes a night, that means 17-ish minutes a night where they are on the court together. Both of them are young, athletic, and have either some (Allen) or a lot (KAT) of outside shooting ability.

Would Wiggins be amenable to another tour of duty in Minny? Good question. He may not want to return there, so another team would have to come into the deal. But I didn't want to chase down that rabbit hole here. This trade idea is already complicated enough. The main points here are that (1) we need a big salary to send back to Minny to match Towns, which basically means Wiggins or Love; and (2) I do not want Wiggins and his empty stats on the Cavs.

Garland is tough to give up, but you've got to break a few eggs if you want an omelet. Besides, I don't see Garland-Sexton as the ideal long-term fit in the backcourt (or Garland-Sexton-Okoro as the 1-2-3). It may be able to work, but then you have to scheme around it.

My preference is for a starting backcourt of Sexton and Okoro, with a floor-general type PG coming off the bench. Not sure who you'd start at the 3-4-5, but man, would you have options. Could be Windler-KAT-Allen, could be Prince-Love-KAT, could be a bunch of other options based on the available talent after this trade.

Final thought: it would have been really fucking precious if KPJ would have waited six months before losing his shit, because he could have gone in this trade and maybe saved the Cavs a pick or two. But that's neither here nor there.

Do you think KAT has the tools to become an average defender?

Also, they could play KAT at PF and Allen at C much of the time.
 
Do you think KAT has the tools to become an average defender?

Also, they could play KAT at PF and Allen at C much of the time.

That's what I'm thinking - they can run with Allen and KAT, at least some of the time.

Talent on KAT's level just doesn't become available that often. If KAT does hit the market, it behooves the Cavs to try their hardest to land him.
 
Do you think KAT has the tools to become an average defender?

Also, they could play KAT at PF and Allen at C much of the time.


KAT has the tools to be an elite defender. Coming out of college, we expected an impact defender day 1 with a developing offensive game, similar to what he was at UK. We ended up getting the total opposite
 
KAT has the tools to be an elite defender. Coming out of college, we expected an impact defender day 1 with a developing offensive game, similar to what he was at UK. We ended up getting the total opposite

Some would say otherwise. @Jordan
 
Here's the moves I would make for the Cavs to make the next step:

Trade #1

Cleveland gets: Aaron Gordon & Terrence Ross

Orlando gets: Kevin Love & '21 unprotected first

Why? Cleveland adds talent @ the forward spot. Ross is a good contributor as well. For Orlando, they get a valuable pick in a strong draft to upstart their rebuild.

Trade #2

Cleveland gets: Gary Harris & Will Barton

Denver gets: Andre Drummond & '23 unprotected first

Why? Cleveland adds more firepower @ their guard spots with Harris, who I think could benefit of a change of scenery. Barton is a solid role player. For Denver, it's all about that unprotected first. Drummond is there to make salaries match. They can flip him if they want.

Trade #3

Cleveland gets: Dennis Smith Jr.

New York gets: Javale McGee & '22 second round pick (more favorable of the three).

Why? We could use a backup guard after losing Exum. Dellavedova has no timetable on his return either. I think Smith Jr. still has potential.

PG: Collin Sexton / Darius Garland / Dennis Smith Jr. / Matthew Dellavedova
SG: Gary Harris / Terrence Ross / Damyean Dotson
SF: Isaac Okoro / Cedi Osman / Will Barton / Dylan Windler
PF: Aaron Gordon / Larry Nance Jr. / Taurean Prince / Dean Wade
C: Jarrett Allen
Coach: J.B. Bickerstaff
 
Here's the moves I would make for the Cavs to make the next step:

Trade #1

Cleveland gets: Aaron Gordon & Terrence Ross

Orlando gets: Kevin Love & '21 unprotected first

Why? Cleveland adds talent @ the forward spot. Ross is a good contributor as well. For Orlando, they get a valuable pick in a strong draft to upstart their rebuild.

Trade #2

Cleveland gets: Gary Harris & Will Barton

Denver gets: Andre Drummond & '23 unprotected first

Why? Cleveland adds more firepower @ their guard spots with Harris, who I think could benefit of a change of scenery. Barton is a solid role player. For Denver, it's all about that unprotected first. Drummond is there to make salaries match. They can flip him if they want.

Trade #3

Cleveland gets: Dennis Smith Jr.

New York gets: Javale McGee & '22 second round pick (more favorable of the three).

Why? We could use a backup guard after losing Exum. Dellavedova has no timetable on his return either. I think Smith Jr. still has potential.

PG: Collin Sexton / Darius Garland / Dennis Smith Jr. / Matthew Dellavedova
SG: Gary Harris / Terrence Ross / Damyean Dotson
SF: Isaac Okoro / Cedi Osman / Will Barton / Dylan Windler
PF: Aaron Gordon / Larry Nance Jr. / Taurean Prince / Dean Wade
C: Jarrett Allen
Coach: J.B. Bickerstaff

I'm gonna sound like a dick responding to this, even though I don't mean to.

These are bad.

The Knicks deal. Why are the Cavaliers giving up a pick for a guy (DSJ) that you have listed as 3rd on the PG depth chart?

The Denver trade. Again, you have us giving up a 1st rounder for a dude that pushes our recent #1s to the bench and another dude you have listed third on the SF depth chart (and who has made a stink about being the backup SF in Denver).

The Orlando trade looks good on paper, but i can't rationalize giving up a #1 for a dude that isn't all that much better than Larry Nance and another backup.

These deals mean we have to waive someone. It gives us *too* many guys that need minutes and will struggle to find a rhythm and develop (either for us, or to trade).
 
Here's the moves I would make for the Cavs to make the next step:

Trade #1

Cleveland gets: Aaron Gordon & Terrence Ross

Orlando gets: Kevin Love & '21 unprotected first

Why? Cleveland adds talent @ the forward spot. Ross is a good contributor as well. For Orlando, they get a valuable pick in a strong draft to upstart their rebuild.

Trade #2

Cleveland gets: Gary Harris & Will Barton

Denver gets: Andre Drummond & '23 unprotected first

Why? Cleveland adds more firepower @ their guard spots with Harris, who I think could benefit of a change of scenery. Barton is a solid role player. For Denver, it's all about that unprotected first. Drummond is there to make salaries match. They can flip him if they want.

Trade #3

Cleveland gets: Dennis Smith Jr.

New York gets: Javale McGee & '22 second round pick (more favorable of the three).

Why? We could use a backup guard after losing Exum. Dellavedova has no timetable on his return either. I think Smith Jr. still has potential.

PG: Collin Sexton / Darius Garland / Dennis Smith Jr. / Matthew Dellavedova
SG: Gary Harris / Terrence Ross / Damyean Dotson
SF: Isaac Okoro / Cedi Osman / Will Barton / Dylan Windler
PF: Aaron Gordon / Larry Nance Jr. / Taurean Prince / Dean Wade
C: Jarrett Allen
Coach: J.B. Bickerstaff
Terrible trades. Dennis Smith Jr is a bona-fide scrub. The Knicks have been looking for a point guard for years and this guy is getting DNPs. Gary Harris is a good defender, but underwhelming at everything else; he looked promising a few years ago, got handed a big contract and has under performed since. Will Barton wants to start, and that won't be happening in Cleveland, so why add someone who's going to pout and possibly cause locker room issues. Aaron Gordon looked promising a few years ago, but hasn't gotten any better.

If the Cavs are trading multiple unprotected firsts, it'll be for a stud. Like the above posters said, you'd want to deal for a disgruntled superstar wanting out of their current situation; as in Karl Anthony-Towns, Bradley Beal, or someone of that caliber.
 
Cavaliers Receives: Bradley Beal, Deni Avdija

Washington Receives: Andre Drummond, Darius Garland, 2021 Unprotected 1st Rd Pick, 2023 Top 10 Protected 1st Rd Pick, 2025 Lottery 1st Rd Protected Pick, 2022 Pick Swap, 2024 Pick Swap
 
Cavaliers Receives: Bradley Beal, Deni Avdija

Washington Receives: Andre Drummond, Darius Garland, 2021 Unprotected 1st Rd Pick, 2023 Top 10 Protected 1st Rd Pick, 2025 Lottery 1st Rd Protected Pick, 2022 Pick Swap, 2024 Pick Swap
I'm not sure Washington is willing to give up on Deni just yet. If anyone gets pushed away from that organization, it'll be Scott Brooks, whose offense has been putrid thus far.
 
Deleted
 
Last edited:
Cavaliers Receives: Bradley Beal, Deni Avdija

Washington Receives: Andre Drummond, Darius Garland, 2021 Unprotected 1st Rd Pick, 2023 Top 10 Protected 1st Rd Pick, 2025 Lottery 1st Rd Protected Pick, 2022 Pick Swap, 2024 Pick Swap

I dont dislike this trade, but do worry if Beal would accelerate the build faster than would be beneficial. Also, I wonder if Love could be inserted instead of Drummond (using him for another deal), since he and Russ are friends? I'd feel better giving up all those picks if it meant coming off Loves long term money.
 
Cleveland gets: Gary Harris & Cody Zeller

Denver gets: Terry Rozier

Charlotte gets: Andre Drummond

Why?

Cleveland gets a guy that can contribute. Zeller is added for salary purposes, he can get bought out.

Denver flips Harris into Rozier, who might be a better fit next to Murray.

Charlotte needs a big if they want to contend for a playoff spot. Drummond is that guy.
 
Cleveland gets: Aaron Gordon & Dennis Smith Jr.

Orlando gets: Kevin Love, Frank Ntilikina & 3 '22 seconds via Cavs

New York gets: Evan Fournier

Why?

Cleveland could use a guy like Gordon. Smith Jr. is a decent back-up.

Orlando gambles on Love & they get a point guard in Ntilikina to fill the void left by Fultz.

New York gets Fournier for cheap & get his bird rights.
 
Cavs Trade: Drummond, Cedi
Mags Trade: Hardaway Jr, James Johnson

or

Cavs Trade: Drummond, Cedi
Kings Trade: Barnes, Cory Joseph
 

Rubber Rim Job Podcast Video

Episode 3-13: "Backup Bash Brothers"

Rubber Rim Job Podcast Spotify

Episode 3:11: "Clipping Bucks."
Top