Cavs: Pluses, minuses of potentially trading for Chris Paul

The Cleveland Cavaliers could reportedly get involved in Chris Paul trade discussions, at least theoretically.

It’s tough to say for certain as to the Cleveland Cavaliers‘ outlook would be for next season. The squad has a ways to go before becoming legitimate postseason threats, let alone contenders.

Cleveland’s set to begin the third year of their full-rebuild, and internal growth, one would think, is crucial for them looking onward, and the progression of youngsters such as Darius Garland, Collin Sexton and Kevin Porter Jr. is paramount. Unfortunately for the Wine and Gold, them not participating in the NBA’s Orlando-area bubble restart was tough, in relation to player development.

The Cavaliers didn’t get to see much of Andre Drummond game action with the squad, either, due to the novel coronavirus-induced hiatus/ultimately the end of the past season for Cleveland. The Drummond sample size has been just eight games with the Cavs, as a result.

And though Drummond is reportedly undecided about exercising his $28.7 million player option for next season, it’s still difficult to foresee him not eventually opting into that. Albeit it doesn’t seem likely that Drummond is going to be a long-term piece for Cleveland, given that the sides are reportedly far apart on potential contract extension talks.

It also seems evident that Drummond could very well be moved by Cleveland at some point, and as far as a possible deal, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst noted that a deal for Chris Paul with the Oklahoma City Thunder could be in-play. He alluded to how it could be from Drummond and Cedi Osman in a package for Paul, at least in a hypothetical sense.

As far as what he said on a recent appearance on the Wine & Gold Talk Podcast with Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor and Hayden Grove, though, let’s hit on the context here.

This was as was transcribed, at least in terms of Windhorst’s key comments, following Fedor/Grove comments, by Cavs superfan and very knowledgable fan, at that, Twitter user Brayden Ballin. That was in response to Ti Windisch of the Gyro Step podcast.

As Ballin alluded to, Windhorst make it clear as day that there have been no proposed trades involving the Cavs and Oklahoma City Thunder centered on Chris Paul to this point. Windhorst put that out there as a caveat.

But in the case that the Cavaliers/Thunder were to engage in talks, this deal of Paul for Drummond and Osman would eventually lead to Steven Adams and Drummond both being rostered by OKC, which wouldn’t be great for OKC.

One would assume they’d look to deal one and/or the other near the deadline/one being much earlier, anyhow, although for Cleveland, a potential Paul-centric trade with Adams, too, wouldn’t realistically work. Albeit Windy’s suggested deal was centered on Osman and Dre for Paul, to reiterate, but one would think OKC could get better from the Milwaukee Bucks, for example.

At any rate, here, we’ll look at the pluses and minuses of the Cavs potentially trading for CP3.

We’ll start with the pluses.

Pluses for the Cavs: Helping young guards, being more competitive and leadership

The first plus to me for Cleveland in potentially trading for Paul would be how he could aid the Cavs’ young guards in their development, in relation to Darius Garland, Collin Sexton and Kevin Porter Jr.

Paul, who averaged 17.6 points, 6.7 assists and 5.0 rebounds per game in 2019-20 for OKC, is one of the best point guards in the history of the game.

He’s masterful in the pick-and-roll game, and could help those youngsters in their growth as scorers, and Garland and KPJ, in particular, as passers. Let’s not discount Paul’s defensive chops, either, and behind the scenes/on the sideline, he could help Sexton/Garland considerably in regards to their defensive IQ.

Secondly in terms of positives for a possible trade for Paul for Cleveland, he’d help make the Cavs be more competitive, I’d imagine. He was a key reason that the Thunder seemingly shocked everybody last season and ended up being the fifth seed in the Western Conference, in which they would lose in the first round in seven games to the Houston Rockets.

The circumstances aren’t completely paralleled, but with Paul largely leading the way, the Cavs, you would think, could very well be in the conversation for participating in the 7-10 seed tournament for the Eastern Conference’s final two postseason spots.

That’s if that were to go through, and of which ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and ESPN’s Zach Lowe reported could be agreed upon for next season, based on how play-in play was a success in the Orlando bubble. Albeit the #9 and #10 seeds would have to win twice without losing, in that sense, of which you can view more on Woj’s reported proposal details below.

Paul again, with his playmaking capabilities and big-time shooting ability, especially via the pull-up/step back variety, would impact winning for the Cavaliers.

They’d be more competitive game-to-game, one would think, say if Tristan Thompson, whose set to be unrestricted, were to come back and/or the Cavs also drafted a big.

That’s with Kevin Love at the 4 a bunch with Thompson/perhaps USC big Onyeka Okongwu, in that scenario.

And thirdly, while he is a demanding teammate, Paul could help Cleveland in relation to the leadership realm. He could aid in changing the culture more toward a winner for the Cavs, and serve essentially as an extension of head coach J.B. Bickerstaff and Cleveland’s coaching staff, which could help elevate his teammates, at least to some degree.

Moving on here, we’ll examine the minuses if the Cavs were to pursue a trade 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.

My general take: The Cavs should trade for CP3

All things considered, based on Windhorst’s comments about the Cavs feasibly being able to trade for CP3 for Drummond and Osman, though again him not saying that’s not been discussed at all, in that sense, the Cavs should trade for Paul. That’s seemingly sooner rather than later, when trades are given the go-ahead by the NBA again. Well, in relation to this deal, involving Drummond/Cedi.

I still believe Osman is a nice bench piece, when looking long-term not at the current time, to have for Cleveland. That’s with him solidifying himself as a quality perimeter shooter last season and hitting 38.3 percent of his three-point attempts.

But with the way CP3 could help Garland and Sexton behind the scenes, with Garland in a bench role if Paul were to be traded to Cleveland, that could be invaluable for those two young guards from an all-around perspective. Paul could really aid KPJ on both ends, I’d imagine, too.

Not to mention, Paul could be a key trade piece down the road for the Cavs, in the case he were to eventually opt into his 2021-22 player option.

Moreover, with Windhorst noting how the Cavs aren’t going to be significant players in the 2021 free agency period, although some flexibility for them could be useful, even if CP3 were to opt in, that probably wouldn’t be so crippling, anyway.

To be clear, though, this would seem to be anything but a set-in-stone deal to happen, as it hasn’t been discussed. And the Bucks and LA Clippers, for instance, and the New York Knicks are clubs that could seem to be in-play for Paul’s services already, per Windy. There’s been “no traction” when it comes to the Bucks involving Paul trade discussions with OKC, though, for example, per a report from ESPN’s Zach Lowe.

But if the Cavs were to trade for Paul, they’d be in the right, as the pluses would probably outweigh the minuses, overall. Either way, we’ll keep looking out for more Cavs potential deals/rumors.