Evaluating both OKC, ATL as reported potential draft trade partners for Cavs

It’s been reported that both the Oklahoma City Thunder and Atlanta Hawks could be trade partners with the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2019 NBA Draft.

We know that the Cleveland Cavaliers are not going to be afraid to wheel and deal in the near future, as general manager Koby Altman has proven that in his first two NBA seasons in that role with the organization. Fitting that script, it seems that the 2019 NBA Draft will be no exception when it comes to Cleveland possibly making trades.

Two teams that reportedly could be trade partners with Cleveland are the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Atlanta Hawks; we’ll first examine the possibility with the Thunder.

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It was reported by Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium (subscription required and h/t Sam Amico of Amico Hoops), that Oklahoma City is looking to deal away their first-round pick due to them essentially not wanting to pay that guaranteed salary (their first-rounder is 21st overall, by the way).

Playing into that, the Cleveland Cavaliers were mentioned as one of three teams that could be interested in taking on that Thunder 21st pick; the other were the Phoenix Suns and Denver Nuggets, (h/t Amico).

Cleveland majority owner/chairman Dan Gilbert (who reportedly won’t be at the 2019 NBA Draft due to him recovering from his recent stroke) gave Altman/the Cavaliers’ front office the thumbs up to be “aggressive” in potentially accumulating more draft assets, even though that would add salary, as was reported by Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor, so adding the OKC pick to their fifth and 26th overall selections in the first round would play right into an aggressive draft mindset.

According to Amico, “the Thunder may be willing to move their first for multiple second-rounders this year or a future first.”

Since Cleveland does not currently have a second-round pick (though per Fedor, it appears they could acquire one via purchase), I could see OKC and general manager Sam Presti taking back Cleveland’s 2022 first-round pick via the Milwaukee Bucks as a salary relief move.

That would likely convey to them if Milwaukee can keep Giannis Antetokounmpo around, as Milwaukee will likely convey it’s top-7 protected pick to the Suns in 2020, anyhow (that information courtesy of Real GM).

If the Cavs did do that deal, I could see them perhaps targeting a wing defender such as Washington’s Matisse Thybulle, a big-time shooter and possible backcourt pair to Collin Sexton in Kentucky’s Tyler Herro, or if they are lucky, a player that could bring real value as a post-up player on both ends and secondary playmaker in Tennessee’s Grant Williams.

So, now on to a trade possibility with the Hawks.

According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, it seems that the Hawks, after a reported trade with the Brooklyn Nets, could be interested in the Cavs’ number five overall pick. But first, we’ll show the trade, to provide context.

So now, with Atlanta’s war chest of picks, it appears, per Wojnarowski, that the Cleveland Cavaliers’ first first-rounder in the 2019 NBA Draft could be a Hawks’ target.

Fear The Sword’s Justin Rowan suggested that Cleveland could possibly make a deal with Atlanta where the Hawks acquire the Cavs’ fifth pick and Cleveland receives Atlanta’s eighth and tenth overall picks in return, which seems reasonable.

He hit on how the Cavs could possibly still get a player in Duke’s Cam Reddish (a prospect we’ve often discussed here at KJG) and Gonzaga’s Brandon Clarke with those two selections.

Clarke (whose first two collegiate seasons were at San Jose State, by the way) was a big-time shot blocker and impact defender at the college level, and his timing and functional athleticism should project well at the NBA level; he had 2.4 blocks per game in three NCAA seasons and had a block rate of a whopping 8.8% (per Sports Reference).

I would hope the Cavaliers would strongly consider a Reddish pairing with Texas’ Jaxson Hayes (another quality rim protector and roller, like Clarke) with two picks if possible at eight and ten as well, anyhow.

In one season, Hayes showed he too is a quality shot blocker as he averaged 2.2 blocks per game and had a block rate of 10.6% in one season, per Sports Reference).

The point is clear, anyhow, in that Altman and Cleveland’s front office has the ultimate green light to make deals to move potentially both up or down due to Gilbert’s willingness to take on additional salary to help the team rebuild, and that’s very encouraging for fans.

It’s good to know that that’s the case, and with them looking to have gotten a quality player for their future with the eighth overall pick in 2018 in Sexton, I would hope they can add some solid pieces for head coach John Beilein in this year’s draft, too, with likely more picks.

Hopefully there’s no 19-63 record (as there was in 2018-19, per NBA.com) for the Cavs in 2019-20.