Cleveland Cavaliers: Grading recent trade with the Lakers

The Cleveland Cavaliers recently conducted a trade with the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday.

It’s not been surprising that the Cleveland Cavaliers haven’t been too active in free agency aside from a few undrafted free agent signings.

Cleveland has agreed to a two-way deal with undrafted free agent forward Lamar Stevens and on Sunday, they agreed to a contract with undrafted free agent guard/wing Charles Matthews. That’s an Exhibit 10 contract, regarding a reported update per Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor. Those two perhaps could be quality defensive developmental pieces for Cleveland, one way or another, though.

Albeit on Sunday, Cleveland conducted a trade with the Los Angeles Lakers which netted rotational big JaVale McGee and a 2026 second-round draft pick. And in terms of the reported details involved with the deal, you can view those here.

So how did the Cavs make out overall in that trade, then?

We’ll get into my trade grade for the Cavs here.

For the Cavs, I’m not going to say the McGee acquisition knocked my socks off, but for what Cleveland traded away? It was a solid move by Cavaliers general manager, assistant general manager Mike Gansey and company.

Cleveland dealt away the non-guaranteed Jordan Bell, who would’ve likely played spot minutes, anyhow, and Alfonzo McKinnie was non-guaranteed for next season, too.

Frankly, I was a fan of what McKinnie provided when he was out there for the Cavs last season, though, as a very capable defender on-ball in matchups against 3’s and 4’s. His feel off-ball defensively shouldn’t be discounted, either, and McKinnie is an adept cutter and transition threat.

But McKinnie’s minutes would’ve been limited had he stuck around, when considering the burn likely for Cedi Osman, Isaac Okoro, Dylan Windler and Larry Nance Jr., when weighing in the 3 and 4, realistically. Kevin Porter Jr., to some extent, would be in the mix, too.

Moving on to the McGee aspect here for Cleveland, then, it’s evident that he’s set to be Andre Drummond‘s primary backup at the 5. And McGee, though he’s 32, is still a formidable interior presence near the rim in his minutes-share, that should be a productive roller/screener/lob threat and offensive rebounder.

For his career, McGee has hit 70.7 percent of his shots in the restricted area, and he should be a productive above-the-rim target for Darius Garland, Collin Sexton, Porter and/or Windler when he’s out there. I could see McGee and Larry Nance Jr., a gifted passing big, have a nice big-to-big chemistry, too.

McGee’s presence in that realm should help open up shooting opportunities via skip passes to Windler, Cedi and others over-the-top, I would imagine. Also, regarding the shooting element, McGee isn’t one himself, but his 7-foot presence should aid the off-screen/off-movement shooting game for Cleveland’s perimeter threats, such as Garland, Windler and Kevin Love.

McGee, whose had an offensive rebounding clip of 12.8 percent the last four seasons with the Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Lakers, should generate extra possessions and/or putbacks for the Cavs in rotational minutes, too.

When projecting McGee’s defensive outlook for Cleveland, similarly to the offensive end, McGee will make his presence felt near the rim/in the paint.

McGee, who has a 7-foot-6 wingspan, brings a rim protection element in his minutes still, and even at 32, is still particularly active when it comes to altering shots near the rim.

And for a Cavs squad that’s placed last in the NBA the past two seasons in defensive rating and has conceded the second-highest and highest field goal percentage in the restricted area the past two seasons, per NBA.com’s opponent shooting data, that’s a welcomed add. Drummond with more of a sample size with the Cavaliers next season could aid that area, too, anyhow.

McGee’s not switchable, really, in pick-and-roll coverage, but in minutes spelling Drummond, having his size in there should help out perimeter players, to an extent, I would think. That could deter some drivers.

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Albeit with McGee, the foul troubles are far from ideal, he’s had 4.9 personal fouls per-36 minutes the past four seasons, hence as to why he’s not a guy that you’re going to be playing a ton of minutes, to go with the lack of perimeter shot creation/range.

All things considered, though, for Cleveland, this deal/acquisition of McGee was a good move, I’d say.

For players like McKinnie and Bell, for the Cleveland Cavaliers to net a more than serviceable backup rim-runner/protector in McGee and a future second-round pick, I’d say that’s a plus for the most part.

Now as far as that future second-rounder, which is again, all the way in 2026, it’s tough to foresee what that asset can be for the Wine and Gold. But for McKinnie and Bell? It could’ve been worse.

So, what’s my grade for the Cavs here, then?

I’ll give this trade a B+ for the Cavs.

Giving this trade a B+ grade seems reasonable to me for Altman and company, as McGee is still a capable interior presence as a backup at both ends, is a rim protector/active rebounder/screener, and they didn’t give much, if at all.

Additionally, while they’d have to bring back a 5 in a deal down the road, with Drummond seeming to be likely to eventually traded at some point by Cleveland before the 2021 deadline, McGee could feasibly be a stop gap starting 5 for the Cavs.

Or, perhaps McGee, who is set to make $4.2 million this season after opting into his player option for next season, could be an expiring trade piece in his own right for Cleveland at some point? We’ll have to see there, but that’d seem plausible.

Looking at next season, we’ll have to see as to what other moves the Cavs make, anyway. In that realm, the Cavs have 12 rostered players after this trade (filling out the roster max would be 15 in terms of spots, not counting two-ways), for context.

And according to a report from Fedor, the Cavs will “continue to explore potential signings, most likely a backup point guard, using their mid-level exception.” That’s seemingly set for the $9.8 million non-taxpayer MLE; this trade is not yet official, though.

Next. Grading the Cavs' Isaac Okoro draft selection. dark

But for now, I’m a fan of this trade, for the most part, for the Cavs. Granted, McGee is still prone to some Shaqtin’ moments from time to time still, admittedly.