At this juncture, we’re fully aware that Andre Drummond will no longer in game action for the Cleveland Cavaliers. It was agreed upon earlier in the week between Drummond/his camp and the Cavaliers that in his remaining time with the Cavs, that Drummond will not be playing in games with them anymore.
In terms of potential suitors, the Cavs and Toronto Raptors reportedly were in discussions involving a possible Drummond trade, per Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium (subscription required). And more recently, per a report from Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson of Heavy.com, the Cavs and Miami Heat discussed a Drummond deal.
Regarding other possible teams that are said to have interest, the Boston Celtics have a “strong” interest in Drummond, per Sam Amico of Forty Eight Minutes and OutKick. Evan Dammarell of Forbes and Fear The Sword reported that the New York Knicks have interest in Drummond as well.
As far as other potential next destinations for Drummond, Amico stated along with the Knicks, the “Portland Trail Blazers, Charlotte Hornets,” and the LA Clippers do, “among several others.”
Nonetheless, in relation to the Raptors, though, Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca reported how the Raptors “aren’t actually interested in pursuing Drummond,” even while them being linked to him as a possible target as Grange seemingly hit on, would be sensible.
Granted, given Drummond’s $28.7 million salary for this season, moving him by the March 25 trade deadline isn’t the simplest task for the Cavs, and teams like the Brooklyn Nets (per Charania), it’d appear the Clippers and Heat would be more interested in Drummond via buyout. The Los Angeles Lakers and Milwaukee Bucks, as suggested by The Athletic‘s Jason Lloyd (subscription required) would be sensible suitors for Drummond via buyout, too, like the Heat seemingly and the Nets.
The Cavaliers don’t prefer that scenario, though, so we’ll see. But it’d still seem feasible that they could deal him, and Charania did express that while it could take a “while” to get a deal together, it could involve a number of teams, and I still believe Cleveland could make something happen.
As far as a potential/hypothetical deal, the aforementioned Dammarell suggested that the Knicks take in Drummond, and the Cavs receive Nerlens Noel, Kevin Knox, Frank Ntilikina and New York’s 2021 second-round pick (via the the Detroit Pistons).
For the Knicks, while I wouldn’t honestly expect them to put in that second-rounder, Drummond could help them out with Mitchell Robinson sidelined for a good bit yet because of a broken right hand, would be expiring and could be their starting 5 for a postseason push. Dammarell reported how having a veteran 5 the rest of this season would be New York’s preference, too.
Perhaps Drummond could be a long-term fit for them? That wouldn’t seem totally far-fetched, but we’d have to see.
For the Cavs, Noel, whose filled in really well as a backup 5 the past two seasons prior with the Oklahoma City Thunder as roller/screener/lob threat and heady team defender, could fill in behind Jarrett Allen, and would be effective than JaVale McGee overall I’d believe. Perhaps Cleveland could look to flip McGee from there, whose been a rumored trade candidate, anyhow.
Knox is a project player that’d be expiring after next season, but has hit 38.5 percent from three-point land in reserve minutes this season. Perhaps he could end up being more viable than Dean Wade, for example, who I’d expect Cleveland to waive if this deal were to occur before his guarantee date on Feb. 24.
Anyway, the key piece I’ll highlight here for the Cavs in this suggested Dammarell deal is Ntilikina, who hasn’t been a contributor really this season for New York, but I believe could be a notable one for Cleveland.
We’ll hit on what Ntilikina could provide for the Cavs here.
First, we’ll touch on the defensive end.
Ntilikina would be a solid defender for the Cavs
Ntilikina has not seen much action at all this season for the Knicks, as he’s been active in just four games, and has played an average of 10.5 minutes in those instances. That’s been due to the likes of Elfrid Payton and the emergence of rookie Immanuel Quickley, mostly, and New York recently acquired Derrick Rose via trade.
When Ntilikina has been regularly in there for the Knicks, though, which had been the case throughout his first three seasons when available, he regularly displayed his defensive chops on-ball on the perimeter against predominantly 1’s and 2’s.
With the Cavs, Ntilikina could help stagger Darius Garland and Collin Sexton for some stretches, and could realistically guard opposing primary playmakers. Here and there, he could feasibly play a bit with Damyean Dotson and/or Dylan Windler at the 2, in theory, as well.
Ntilikina’s offense, as evidenced by his career effective field goal shooting clip of 42.5 percent, has a ways to go still. But defensively, he does cut off driving lanes well against guards, anticipates pull-ups/push shots to deter those strongly, and closes out effectively to shooters and is particularly adept as a pick-and-roll defender.
In his last two seasons, Ntilikina has placed in the 65th percentile in defensive PnR primary coverage, and that was a healthy frequency of 45.5 percent, per Synergy Sports. The year prior, he placed in the 66th percentile on a frequency of 45.0 percent, again, per Synergy.
When on the subject of the team defensive abilities of Ntilikina/as a rotator, he has good feel in that regard, too, and throughout his approximately three seasons thus far, has averaged 1.4 steals per-36 minutes.
Ntilikina is 6-foot-4, but has a 7-foot-1 wingspan, which could help create turnovers, and allow the Cavs to get out and run more in his reserve minutes. And for a side note, Noel, whose an especially active team defender, and is a legitimate rim protecting presence, could aid Cleveland in that realm, too.
Anyway, moving on from there, Ntilikina could potentially fit in as a rotational piece that Cleveland could look to bring this upcoming offseason via team-friendly deal, also.
Maybe the Cavs could bring back Ntilikina via team-friendly deal, too?
Secondly, while Ntilikina is set to make $6.1 million this season, and could be a restricted free agent this upcoming offseason, there’s assuredly little chance a club would extend him an $8.3 million qualifying offer. That’s not happening, quite honestly.
Ntilikina has again, a ways to go offensively, is a lifetime 31.6 percent three-point shooter, and has not been regularly playing rotational minutes with the Knicks this season. He could be a solid defensive backup point guard, though, and has had a respectable 5.1 assists per-36 minutes in his career with the Knicks, while displaying some pull-up shooting growth last season.
Anyway, while the Cavs will look to lock up Jarrett Allen this upcoming offseason, potentially via matching a restricted offer sheet, and Cleveland could reportedly look to sign Collin Sexton to a significant contract extension, I could foresee Ntilikina being re-signed on the cheap.
I wouldn’t imagine a team-friendly, and perhaps even similar deal to Damyean Dotson’s of two years, and $4 million, with the second year non-guaranteed, as being out of the question, frankly.
Also considering that Matthew Dellavedova hasn’t played yet this season due to a serious concussion/symptoms with his concussion history, albeit could seemingly be with him getting back into working out individually, it’d seem to be a very high possibility Delly’s not back next season.
Moreover, Ntilikina, who is still only 22, might be a meaningful rotational contributor to bring back, if they were to acquire him via trade from New York as part of a return for Drummond and Ntilikina looked to be an impact rotational defender. He could be a competent backup point guard, too, which could possible benefit from a change of scenery, anyhow.
We’ll of course have to see if the Knicks and Cavs will end up executing a Drummond trade, though, but if they were to, Ntilikina could be a sneaky part of a return for him.
And the aforementioned suggested trade by Dammarell would be fine financially, as New York has $15 million in cap space.