Cavs: Suggested Andre Drummond trade with Knicks would be win-win

Why this Cavs-Knicks deal would be sensible for the former

Okay, so from the Cavs viewpoint here, to me, Cleveland would be able to land another quality backup 5 in Noel that’d be an impact rolling/lob threat and effective screener, which could mesh well with Darius Garland, Collin Sexton and company. And from there, if the Cavs were to trade JaVale McGee, whose been a reported trade candiate himself, too, per Charania and is on a very tradeable expiring deal at $4.2 million, then I’d get their reasoning.

Noel is not a player with the thickness of McGee in terms of the defensive interior, but as a backup 5, would fill in more than fine there and has consistently proven to have great team defensive instincts.

In that realm, Noel, who has a 7-foot-4 wingspan, has averaged 2.1 steals per-36 minutes in his career, and has been a nice energy big in that way, so I’d think he could help out Cleveland’s defense. Plus, if Noel were to work out with Cleveland, he could perhaps be re-signed seemingly via team-friendly deal this upcoming offseason, anyhow.

From there, while Knox is not a player that’s worked out well with the Knicks, as evidenced by him having an effective field goal shooting percentage of 44.4 percent thus far in his coming on 2.5 seasons.

That said, Knox has at least shown flashes as a 6-foot-9 wing shooter, and has hit 38.5 percent of his deep attempts this season, so perhaps he could benefit from a change of scenery with Cleveland in some minutes; though I’m not discounting that Knox has a ways to go.

He’s set to be a restricted free agent after next season, however, and could maybe a piece that could be of use in a trade down the road, whether that’s wishful thinking or not.

Lastly, to me, Ntilikina, who has not been in the rotation really this season and has only been four active in games, because of Quickley’s emergence, and Elfrid Payton, I’d imagine Rose from here and some due to COVID-19 health and safety protocols, could be a very meaningful piece for the Cavs.

Ntilikina, whose had a career effective field goal percentage of just 42.5 percent, is raw offensively/as a shooter. He’s a 31.6 percent three-point shooter lifetime, for what it’s worth, but on the plus side, did show mid-range pull-up growth last season, which is a positive.

Albeit with Ntilikina, he has made strides as a playmaker, and with Cleveland’s need for a legitimate backup point guard with Matthew Dellavedova still working his way back, if he can eventually be back, that’d help out Garland/Sexton. At 6-foot-4, and being a strong defender against 1’s and 2’s, and primary guard playmakers, especially, I’d imagine that Ntilikina could be a valuable reserve for the Cavs right away, too.

Ntilikina could maybe end up being another solid rotational piece for Cleveland to have in the fold in coming years as well, and could potentially have some room for growth, as he’s only 22. Ntilikina is set to be a restricted free agent this upcoming offseason, though, and a qualifying offer for him is set to be $8.3 million.

The Cavaliers would have some decisions to make in these potential scenarios to come in the offseason, when Allen definitely, and reportedly, Collin Sexton, new deals/extensions appear to be on the horizon.

For Drummond, though, Noel and Ntilikina, mostly, could be very valuable defensive rotational pieces right away, and could maybe end up being able to re-signed this upcoming offseason on the cheap if they’d end up being sold on playing with guys like Sexton and company.

At the very least, Cleveland wouldn’t be taking back any bad contracts, really, in this hypothetical deal proposed from Davies. “Frankie Smokes” I’d be really on-board with, also.