Cavs: Suggested trade piece Justin Jackson could be a welcomed addition

As the 2019 NBA Finals wind down, 28 other teams are already gearing up for next season. This includes the Cleveland Cavaliers, who will try to build an improved roster around All-Star Kevin Love and promising young players in Cedi Osman and Collin Sexton, and J.R. Smith plays into that, too.

One asset the Cleveland Cavaliers have to better the team around those players is the contract of J.R. Smith, who basically came to an agreement with Cleveland to not be an active player the majority of the 2018-19 season after the team turned toward rebuild mode.

Smith, who has one year left on his contract (currently), will need to be waived before July 1st, or else his $15.68 million contract becomes fully guaranteed, and that guaranteed deal it seems will definitely not be, and Smith’s non-guaranteed contract is due to be 3.87 million (per Spotrac).

As was previously detailed by Hoops Rumors’ Luke Adams, Smith’s deal is the last of its kind in the NBA in regards to his guaranteed salary for next season counting for its entire salary-matching value (under the old CBA), even with a potential trade partner only having to eventually pay the non-guaranteed compensation (if he is waived, which will almost certainly happen, and he could be stretched as well). That wouldn’t be the case if Smith’s current contract was signed under the new CBA.

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As was pointed out by Hoops Rumors’ Chris Crouse (and h/t The Smoking Cuban’s Tyler Watts) a potential fit for a Smith trade partner would be the Dallas Mavericks (and the Brooklyn Nets and Portland Trail Blazers, but we’ll stick with the Mavericks here).

The article by Crouse also noted that Dallas could include 24-year-old Justin Jackson in any trade (or offer up the number 37 pick in the 2019 NBA Draft), and Watts touched on how Jackson closed last season strong with Dallas after being reportedly traded there by the Sacramento Kings near last season’s deadline, and Watts also noted how Jackson could be potentially packaged with a second-round pick in coming years, for the record.

Of course, trading for Jackson would likely be a move by the Cleveland Cavaliers if a possible Smith trade partner does not eventually include a first-round pick in this year’s draft, and Watts suggested that Dallas would be including Courtney Lee‘s $12.76 million deal (which is expiring after next season, per Spotrac) for 2019-20 salary matching as well, and with Cleveland majority owner/chairman Dan Gilbert’s willingness to accumulate assets even while adding considerable payroll (as we’ve often hit on), Cleveland could feasibly take that deal with Jackson’s potential to grow under Cavaliers head coach John Beilein and his staff.

At any rate, Jackson, a forward from North Carolina, has shown he can be a decent role piece when given opportunities.

Jackson did come on toward the end of this past season for the Mavs, as he averaged 8.2 points on 56.8% effective field goal shooting, including a 37.2% hit rate from three-point range (per Sports Reference) in 18.3 minutes per game.

At 6-foot-8 and 210 pounds, Jackson has your prototypical wing player style in today’s NBA game. He displays the capability of scoring the ball from different levels on the floor and looks to be developing a nice outside shot, as he displayed in his career at UNC.

Defensively, he does a solid job. Jackson is a good communicator on that end of the floor and uses his size and athletic nature to perform well as a defender, as well as be able to guard multiple positions on the floor.

Putting him on the floor alongside Collin Sexton, Kevin Love, and Cedi Osman would give the Wine and Gold one more young, valuable scoring threat who can also play sound on the defensive side of the ball, which is something the Cleveland Cavaliers desperately need. Plus, with Jackson seemingly just coming into his own at 24, this addition for the Cavaliers would be like adding another first-round draft pick to the team.

Pair the potential addition of Jackson along with picks number five and 26, and the Cavaliers could be seeing a nice infusion of young talent added to this roster in just one offseason. This deal would mean that Cleveland would be adding two and subtracting one to the roster, but that’s just fine, anyhow, and the Cavs could be active in the offseason via trades or mid next season up until the 2020 deadline.

It is no secret that the Cavaliers are not a marquee destination for the top free agents, so the best way to build them back up to relevance is through the addition of young talent via the draft and trades such as this suggested one with Smith, mainly for Jackson.

Sure, the Cavaliers are still a ways away from competing in the Eastern Conference, but they seem to be headed in the right direction and sending J.R. to Dallas and getting back a skilled wing in Jackson, would undoubtedly be seen as another solid move by the Cavaliers’ front office headed by general manager Koby Altman.

Smith will likely be on the move sometime in the coming weeks, due to the contract situation mentioned above, and if the Cavaliers can play their cards right, they could be adding another young piece to what many hope to be an improved roster come the 2019-20 season.