Cavaliers: 3 potential duos to target if they trade back with Hawks

Rumors have been circulating that the Atlanta Hawks may be looking for a trade partner in the upcoming NBA draft, and the Cleveland Cavaliers may fit the bill.

The Atlanta Hawks already have their young core in place with Trae Young and John Collins and they have draft picks number eight, number ten and number 17 in the first round, and ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski noted that the Hawks have been active in trade discussions involving their picks.

Wojnarowski also mentioned Atlanta may potentially be interested in the Cleveland Cavaliers’ fifth overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft.

Should the two teams hammer out a trade revolving around picks, it may be a swap in which the Cavs receive the eighth and tenth overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, while sending the fifth overall down south, as Fear The Sword’s Justin Rowan recently suggested, and with Cleveland majority owner/chairman Dan Gilbert’s reported willingness to spend, more salary/aggressiveness in adding picks seems to not be an issue, as Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor reported lately.

This makes sense for the Cavs since at this point in their rebuild, as they need to acquire as many talented young players as they can.

There are a few duos they could target with those picks.

Duo #1: It’s all about upside with Cam Reddish-Sekou Doumbouya

Duke’s Cam Reddish being available at eight may be a little bit of wishful thinking, but after the first two picks (or realistically three), it seems that anything can happen. Reddish has been rumored to be a priority for the Cavs, and despite a lackluster season at Duke, Reddish has all the tools.

He’s athletic and can shoot from the perimeter, and has the potential to be a big-time NBA wing.

International prospect Sekou Doumbouya is somewhat of a developmental forward who’s played professionally. He is only 18 and has NBA-athleticism and room to grow, though.

The projected lottery pick figures to be able to defend multiple positions, which would be attractive to the Cleveland Cavaliers, who were one of the worst defensive teams in NBA history this past season, as we’ve often discussed.

Duo #2: A pair of North Carolina Tar Heels with Coby White-Nassir Little

The Cavs could find themselves with a pair of rookies both hailing from Chapel Hill. Having Collin Sexton shouldn’t deter the Cavs from taking Coby White, who is a good combo guard prospect from UNC.

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White checks in at a listed 6-foot-5 (per NBA.com), so on defense he could check the opposing shooting guard if need be, and he would also let Sexton play more of a shooting guard role while White is the more traditional point man who can shoot the three-point shot at a high clip, too (White shot 35.3% from there in his one collegiate season, per Sports Reference, and even with plenty coming off the dribble).

He makes a ton of sense for the Cavs and figures to be an immediate impact player in the NBA.

His running mate, Nassir Little, needs a little more development.

Having come off the bench every game of his UNC career, Little, a 6-foot-6 forward/wing will have to work on developing a more consistent jumper. The athleticism and strength are there and he came on strong, playing some of his best ball in the NCAA tournament, but he still needs some fine-tuning, and off the ball, in particular, on both ends.

Duo 3: High ceilings, low floors in Kevin Porter Jr.-Jaxson Hayes

In the early portion of the rebuild, the Cavs need to find star potential. That is exactly why a team may add USC’s Kevin Porter Jr. toward the end of the lottery.

Porter, at times, has seemingly brought on the James Harden comparison with his ability to hit step-back jumpers and create for himself in a multitude of ways.

There are questions about Porter’s maturity level off the court, too, though, as evidenced by him being suspended due to “personal conduct issues,” per the Los Angeles Times’ Brady McCollough (and h/t Bleacher Report’s Rob Goldberg).

He embodies the “boom or bust” prospect; he could put it all together and be a star or struggle to stay on the court.

Similar to Porter, Texas’ Jaxson Hayes is still a well of untapped potential. He came on late in his high school career, as reportedly hit his growth spurt midway through high school.

He started his career at Texas as a reserve before eventually earning his starting spot and Big-12 All-Defensive Team honors; Hayes averaged 2.2 blocks per game and had an outstanding block rate of 10.6% (per Sports Reference), and his timing/rim protection could greatly help Cleveland’s interior defense.

He didn’t attempt a single three-pointer at the college level (according to Basketball Reference) and only averaged 5.0 boards per game, and recorded double-digit rebounds just one time all year.

Nonetheless, Hayes could put on more muscle, develop a mid-range jumper and continue to grow, and that seems like a reasonable risk for the Cleveland Cavaliers to take, if they were to take him at the tenth overall pick.

The Cavs, should they made a deal with Atlanta, will really have to drill down and decide whether they want to take risks in hopes they hit on a star or go with role players and look for a star elsewhere.