Cleveland Cavaliers: Cavs recent signing indicates a trade could be on the way

The Cleveland Cavaliers have an overloaded backcourt which could mean that they plan to trade at least one of their guards.

With a packed backcourt, the Cleveland Cavaliers could continue to deal in the trade market, a market they’ve been extremely active in since last February. Most recently, they traded for the Clippers Sam Dekker who was likely to be waived by LA.

To further fill out that backcourt, the Cavaliers signed former NBA G-League guard Isaiah Taylor. Taylor averaged 6.6 points per game in 63 games with the Atlanta Hawks last season. His signing shouldn’t go overlooked, but on this team, with this roster, it seems odd.

Why sign a point guard when you boast two pure point guards and one full-on combo guard.

Do you really think Taylor will get any minutes behind Sexton, Hill and Clarkson? Sexton, by himself, might command about 30 minutes. Then if Hill plays even 22 and reasonably splits them at the one and two like Clarkson would, there’s still hardly any minutes left.

The Cavaliers seem to be on a path towards trading one of their valuable, one-dimensional guards such as J.R. Smith or Kyle Korver. Trading a two would open up minutes for both Hill and Clarkson and clear time for Taylor as well.

A few days ago, our very own Quenton Albertie touched on a report that broke about both Korver and Smith being on the trading block. That said, does the Taylor signing indicate a trade will be made in the next few days?

It seems quite possible.

The three rumors that have floated around in the past few months are J.R. Smith to Houston, Korver to Philly, and someone to Miami for Hassan Whiteside.

As it currently stands, the Smith to Houston scenario seems the most likely.

Smith’s contract is up next season, and while Houston would have to trade a few valuable assets to Cleveland, they’d be able to clear Ryan Anderson’s egregious contract off the books.

The difference in contention odds between Cleveland and Houston is significant and the Cavs could hold onto Anderson’s contract while Houston can play for the now and take on a shooter to further compliment their approach offensively.

Korver to Philly also makes sense, but is far less likely as Cleveland has reportedly demanded a first in return. And, to top it off, the Whiteside rumors seem to just be a hoax, or at least, that’s how it seems.

While one of those may actually occur, signing Taylor was the perfect move to have an additional point guard ready for when they decide to empty out a few of their backcourt players.