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

Given recent reports, it would seem there’s a good possibility that the Cleveland Cavaliers will deal Tristan Thompson by Thursday’s NBA trade deadline. A team that is rumored to have interest is the Atlanta Hawks, and a suggested trade between the two was sensible.

The Cleveland Cavaliers, one would think, will make their presence felt in the next few days in deals with the team rebuilding and the NBA trade deadline on February 6 at 3 p.m.

One of the pieces that Cleveland should very much consider moving is veteran big man Tristan Thompson, who is playing very good basketball this season, but is turning 29 next month, and is on an expiring contract.

The Cavs have a number of players that are on expiring deals currently, in big John Henson, big Ante Zizic, though he is reportedly sidelined indefinitely with a vestibular condition, to go with guards Matthew Dellavedova and Brandon Knight.

Henson, who has played well off the bench this season and is leading Cleveland with 1.1 blocks per game, per NBA.com, actually was actually a piece previously involved in trade talks between the Cavs and New York Knicks, according to Yahoo! Sports’ Chris Haynes, but those talks have since “cooled,” though.

Henson, who is due to make $9.7 million, I’d imagine Cleveland could still very well by the deadline, at any rate, as he would provide teams with a solid rolling/interior presence that has been a good interior defender/rotational rim protector throughout his career, predominantly with the Milwaukee Bucks.

Swinging back to Thompson, though, there’s been several reports involving potential suitors for his services.

First off, the aforementioned Haynes also reported on Monday that Thompson “is available on the market” with the deadline on Thursday.

Anyhow, as far a few possible suitors for TT, according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst on a recent episode of The Lowe Post podcast hosted by ESPN’s Zach Lowe, the Washington Wizards could be a player for Thompson.

Along with that, Candace Buckner of the Washington Post heard that as well involving the Wiz and Thompson.

The Wizards have a near-salary matching player in big Ian Mahinmi that’s due to make $15.45 million this season, and as Buckner hit on, Washington would have Thompson’s Bird rights looking at free agency this coming offseason, too.

Nonetheless, as Bullet Forever’s Albert Lee noted, it’s difficult to see a deal happening due to that “Washington is reluctant to let go of their draft picks,” and with Thompson having what would be career-highs in points (11.9), rebounds (10.4) and assists (2.1) per game this season, according to Basketball Reference, a future second-rounder I’d assume would certainly be in play for the Cavs to even consider something like that, too.

Additionally, Windhorst also expressed on a recent episode of his podcast, The Hoop Collective, how several other teams have shown interest in TT (and h/t Fear The Sword’s Justin Rowan).

Anyway, another suggested trade suitor for Tristan Thompson is also the Atlanta Hawks, provided they are not able to swing a trade for Houston Rockets center Clint Capela; a three-team deal was reportedly at least discussed, according to The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor, involving that scenario with the Minnesota Timberwolves as well related to Robert Covington going to Houston. From there, O’Connor noted how the Twolves were looking to flip picks to the Golden State Warriors in exchange for D’Angelo Russell going to Minny.

O’Connor emphasized how the Hawks do not want to pay big money either this summer or next summer in restricted free agency for John Collins, who they’d likely find a new destination for, and that Capela is a cheaper alternative for coming years.

That being said, O’Connor also touched on how Thompson could be that cheaper alternative, too, if a deal for Capela doesn’t happen.

Now, for reference, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, there is ultimately a possibility for a four-way trade between Atlanta, Minnesota, Houston and Golden State, but that the Minnesota-Golden State talks have a “gulf to overcome,” in regards to potential draft picks and Wojnarowski also noted how the Wolves’ “Andrew Wiggins would have to be included in almost any Russell trade package.”

Thompson, who is due to make $18.5 million in 2019-20, is again, expiring, but given that the Hawks have a good young core of Trae Young, DeAndre Hunter and Kevin Huerter, minus Collins in this scenario, I could see Thompson signing another deal with Atlanta this offseason that’s fairly reasonable from a team standpoint and not many teams projecting to have big cap space this summer.

Moreover, a suggested deal for Thompson by The Ringer’s Paolo Uggetti was a sensible one involving the Hawks, in my opinion.

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.

Be realistic, Cavs

Anyhow, to me, while the Cavaliers are reportedly seeking a first-round pick for Thompson in a trade, according to Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor, considering Thompson was previously interested in a contract extension but now Thompson’s camp/those close to the big man reportedly say it is now a “priority” that he’s dealt by the deadline, according to The Athletic‘s Joe Vardon (subscription required), Cleveland needs to be realistic.

A young piece the likes of Reddish could prove to be a solid return for Thompson attached with salary matching.

The Cavs, given that the 2020 free agent pool is weak and with the team not a free agent destination, don’t want to lose Thompson for nothing, either.

Now I’d prefer the Cavaliers, in this sort of suggested deal by Uggetti, to also seek out Golden State’s 2024 second-round pick or the Brooklyn Nets’ 2025 second-round pick of which Atlanta has, but again, a young asset the likes of Reddish would be the kind of return the Cavs should be looking for.

I love TT, who has given the Cavs his all for so long since 2011, but a first-round pick seems steep in today’s NBA.

Plus, as Fedor alluded to, Beilein’s ideal five-out style in terms of floor spacing is filled with Nance playing at the 5, of which we’ll seemingly see much more of alongside Love in the final few months of 2019-20.

Factoring in that the Cavs should have a good chance of getting a quality big in the 2020 NBA Draft, such as Dayton’s Obi Toppin or a rim protector such as James Wiseman or USC’s Onyeka Okongwu, a younger, cheaper replacement for TT could be developed in a rebuilding scenario, anyway.

This sort of suggested deal would be a sensible one for Thompson by Thursday, and with Vardon’s report on Tuesday, the Cavaliers need to move TT.