Cavs: Pluses, minuses of potentially trading for Chris Paul

Minuses for the Cavs: Taking minutes away from young guards, 2021-22 player option and age

As far as the minuses of potentially dealing for CP3, the first relates to that he’d take minutes away from the Cavs’ young guards, in some iteration between Sexton and Garland.

Now, that’s not necessarily the worst thing, with Paul obviously being a star, and one of the best PnR maestro’s in the game, and being a productive guard defender. For those players’ development, though, factoring in other combinations feasibly to come at the 2 in some stretches, with Cleveland still likely being a ways from being a bonafide postseason team, that might be an issue from a long-term sense.

That’s more so when weighing that other Eastern Conference players, such as the Brooklyn Nets, Orlando Magic, and potentially Chicago Bulls or Atlanta Hawks next season, being in the conversation. The Nets look like a contender, with Kyrie Irving more and Kevin Durant set to be in the fold, too.

So could Paul taking minutes away from Garland and/or Sexton backfire for long-term? Cleveland would have to take a closer look at that.

Secondly, the Cavaliers couldn’t gloss over Paul’s 2021-22 player option which would be $44 million-plus, should he opt into that, and one would imagine he very well could/would. If the Cavs would want to have more cap flexibility in the 2021 offseason/perhaps for the 2021 NBA Draft, that’d put a wrench in that, you’d think.

Lastly, the third minus for the Cavs potentially considering a trade for Paul would be his age. Paul is currently 35, and has had injury troubles in recent seasons, before last. And should he miss significant time, that’d put a damper on the Wine and Gold snagging CP3, as all Cavs fans would acknowledge.

What’s my general take then? We’ll look at that next.