NBA Rumor: Cavs Center a Trade Target
The Cleveland Cavaliers will likely be engaged with one NBA rumor after another this off-season. That is especially true today, NBA Draft day, as the Cavs have been looking to move assets to acquire talent that fits around LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and likely Kevin Love.
In the middle of the night we got this tweet from Adrian Wojnarowski:
Sources: Brooklyn, San Antonio among teams checking with Cavs on deal for rights to sign center Sasha Kaun. He's leaving Russia for NBA.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 25, 2015
Not your typical #WOJBomb but for Cavs fans an interesting development. Sasha Kaun was drafted years ago by the Cavs in the 2nd Round. The former Kansas Jayhawk returned to Russia and has played there ever since.
There was talk that he was retiring this off-season but he has since refuted that only saying that he was leaving Europe for a chance at the NBA.
Kaun, the 7 foot center, hasn’t had overly impressive stats in Russia. Last year, in a little over 20 minutes a game, he averaged 9.9 points and 4.5 rebounds. Decent numbers for his limited minutes. The Cavs had reported interest in bringing him over this year but circumstances have changed.
The Cavs are less likely to sign Kaun as their front court already has Timofey Mozgov, Tristan Thompson and Anderson Varejao who can man the center spot. None of those players are deft at spacing the floor on offense either so adding another player who would clog the lane doesn’t make a lot of sense.
Yet the interest from Brooklyn and San Antonio gives the Cavs another piece that they can deal. Right now Brendan Haywood‘s contract, #24 and #53 picks and Kaun are their lone assets. Only Varejao, Irving, Mozgov and Joe Harris are under contract, with only Harris moveable but with little value.
With their Russian owner, the Nets make sense to target Kaun. Yet they have Brook Lopez and Mason Plumlee as a good rotation at center. Rumors have it that they are looking to deal Plumlee, which could lead them to needing a solid backup like Kaun. The Nets have the 29th and 41st picks that could intrigue the Cavs. Plumlee would as well but would be costly.
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The Spurs have long loved European players and Kaun could help replace Tiago Splitter, who the Spurs are reportedly looking to move in a trade. Tim Duncan is year to year at this point so another strong bodied center to take some punishment down low would be helpful. The Spurs have the 26th and 55th picks. With the Cavs unlikely to sign Kaun, the team’s leverage isn’t great in any deal but the 55th pick may not be enough to get the Spurs the reliable Kaun.
Are you surprised by this NBA Rumor?