Cavs: Evaluating a suggested trade with the Hawks involving Tristan Thompson

The suggested deal

The trade scenario goes as follows.

The Hawks would send over Evan Turner and Cam Reddish in exchange for TT, and this deal works, per Trade NBA.

Turner has averaged 3.3 points, 2.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists in just 13.2 minutes per game and only 19 appearances this season, as noted by Basketball Reference.

He’s only involved due to him being on an expiring deal and making $18.6 million this season, though the 6-foot-6 Turner could realistically provide some decent minutes as a secondary playmaker for Cleveland head coach John Beilein over the last few months of the year.

Most of Turner’s minutes this season, he’s actually played the 1, for reference. Albeit, he is a natural wing, though.

As a side note, Turner seems to be an exemplary teammate and great locker room presence, too, which is a plus for pieces such as Collin Sexton, Darius Garland, Cedi Osman and Kevin Porter Jr. 

If Henson and Thompson are both traded by the deadline, a locker room presence the likes of Turner could also help Kevin Love in that realm.

For reference, according to Wojnarowski on a recent episode of his podcast, The Woj Pod, (and as transcribed by Bleacher Report’s Scott Polacek) Love is reportedly not likely to be traded by the deadline because of Cleveland being “resigned right now that there is no trade for them between now and Thursday.”

Love is set to make $91.5 million over the next three seasons following 2019-20 and with his injury history, Woj’s report isn’t totally shocking. Granted, according to Sports Illustrated‘s Chris Mannix, the LA Clippers have reportedly “kicked the tires on Kevin Love,” but that is not a preferred trade target for them, whereas, per Mannix, there’s “some interest in Tristan Thompson,” by the Clips’ front office as feasibly an alternative.

Anyhow, though Uggetti’s suggested deal did not include a future second-round pick and/or picks, a player that’s a 20-year-old rookie in Reddish that could provide the Cleveland Cavaliers with a player that could become a very good wing defender at 6-foot-8 that can match up with some 4’s in coming years would be a good asset to have.

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No, Reddish’s 9.1 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 26.0 minutes per game is not eye-popping. Along with that, his three-point shooting rate of 30.9 percent and effective field goal shooting clip of just 41.9 percent (per NBA.com) on the season have been really underwhelming.

That being said, Reddish is starting to get more comfortable, as in January, he had 11.9 points per game and shot 40.3 percent from three-point range, to go with 3.9 rebounds and 1.1 steals per outing, per NBA.com.

To me, while Reddish is definitely raw, he’s a player that is a fluid athlete with a 7-foot-1 wingspan and has good defensive feel as a wing defender and against some small-ball 4’s, and alongside the likes of Porter and realistically Sexton in point-of-attack defense, could develop into a key defensive piece for Beilein and company.

It’s probably going to take a while for Reddish’s offensive game to come along, but he has promise as a perimeter shooter, and if he’s able to develop his pull-up game more and learn to finish through contact more near the rim, could be a much higher ceiling wing than Cleveland’s current starter at the 3 in Cedi Osman.

Now obviously it’s understandable to think the Hawks wouldn’t want to part with Reddish this soon, but let’s also not act as if he’s had a scorching start to his career, and that’s while playing off the likes of Young a good deal as a playmaker.

In addition, while again even with Reddish’s rocky start (albeit with a good January) the Hawks likely wouldn’t just give Reddish away, Atlanta could very well have a top five pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, anyhow. Thompson could definitely fit into their near future as a piece for Young to feed/run pick-and-rolls with that’s likely cheaper than Collins projecting forward, too.

Anyway, Reddish is the kind of young asset Cleveland general manager Koby Altman and the front office should be looking for.