Cleveland Cavaliers Make Iman Shumpert Available In Trade Talks
The Cleveland Cavaliers have made Iman Shumpert available in trade talks.
According to ESPN’s senior writer Brian Windhorst, speaking on ESPN’s “The Insiders” in a “Hey Windy” episode, Iman Shumpert is available in trade talks.
Shumpert, who has frankly surprised this season by shooting a career-high 40.3 percent from three-point range, has shown steady improvement in other areas of his game as well. His passes are more precise and he’s on pace to finish with the lowest amount of “bad pass” turnovers in his career. He’s also still particularly efficient on his long-twos, knocking down 44.4 percent of those.
This has led to his offensive rating being the highest it’s ever been in his career at 111 points per 100 possessions.
Defensively, Shumpert is a known-quantity. He can be a lockdown defender with his size, aggressiveness and athleticism. In addition, he’s always energetic and flying around the court on rotations. He shows quick hands in transition in particular. This season, Shumpert has 49 total steals and 15 blocks.
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Shumpert being available though isn’t surprising. While general manager David Griffin has stated that the team likes their core, Shumpert was a player who was available before but his trade value was significantly less than it is now after Shumpert had one of his worst seasons as a pro. After Kevin Love’s knee surgery and owner Dan Gilbert’s subsequent stance on increasing the the team’s payroll, the only way the Cavs would get the level of help they want (or increase payroll spending) is by trading away a talented player.
In this case, the most talented and expendable player is Shumpert. The Cleveland Cavaliers are stacked at shooting guard and have a 3-and-D clone for Shumpert in DeAndre Liggins. Shumpert averages 1.4 steals per 36 minutes, Liggins averages 2.2. Shumpert shoots 40.3 percent from three-point range, Liggins shoots 38.6 percent from three-point range. The big difference is that Shumpert takes 3.6 three-point attempts per game while Liggins only takes 1.0.
However, with Kyle Korver on the roster and J.R. Smith slowly inching towards an April return, the difference between the volume shooting of Shumpert and the reluctant shooting of Liggins matters less.
As far as who the Cleveland Cavaliers could trade for? The Cavs have a number of reported targets but with Shumpert’s $9 million contract they’re likely looking at players like Ricky Rubio, Jrue Holiday, Tyreke Evans and Brandon Knight to be their playmaking guard in the second unit.
The Minnesota Timberwolves reportedly have interest in Shumpert according to basketball insider Sam Amico, while the Phoenix Suns have made Brandon Knight available via trade (link). The Cleveland Cavaliers are also talking trade with the New Orleans Pelicans (link).
The trade deadline is February 23rd at 3:00 PM EST.
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Will the Cleveland Cavaliers trade Iman Shumpert? If so, for who? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section or Twitter @KJG_NBA.