2 goals for Frank Ntilikina if he’s traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers

The Cleveland Cavaliers are a team that has always been active during the NBA trade deadline with and without LeBron James, with this year being no different. All reports have pointed to the young core as well as Larry Nance Jr. being the only closest thing to untouchables, if you will, on this team with Andre Drummond receiving the most interest in trade rumors.

Drummond started the season off nicely for the Cavaliers, being locked in on defense and providing them with a scoring punch which helped them start the season off 8-7. Once Jarrett Allen was traded for, Drummond’s play declined and he became timid on both ends of the floor, though.

The writing was already on the wall and Allen was the obvious future center for this team. Soon after Allen’s arrival, the decision was made to sit Drummond until a potential trade for him was made.

Multiple teams have interest in Drummond but, the New York Knicks seem like the most likely destination, and per a report from Sam Amico of Forty Eight Minutes and OutKick, they are the “frontrunner” for Drummond. In regards to other recent reports/rumors involving Drummond/other possible Cavs trade candidates, you can view those here, as KJG’s Dan Gilinsky hit on.

The Knicks are in a position to make the playoffs for the first time in over half a decade and have already started to make moves to obtain this goal as they recently traded for Derrick Rose. A move to acquire Drummond wouldn’t take much from the Knicks as they have cap space and young players that can be moved without messing with the core of the team.

The most likely candidate to be moved in this situation would be Frank Ntilikina, and Nerlens Noel would seemingly be involved as well, for instance. A former eighth overall pick, Ntilikina hasn’t had the best start to his young NBA career due to injuries, poor fit, and a lack of consistency on his terms.

In situations like Ntilikina’s, a change of scenery is something that could get his career back on the right track, as the aforementioned Gilinsky seemingly hit on as well recently. Seeing as both Drummond and Ntilikina are set to be free agents at the end of this season, with Ntilikina not being a realistic candidate to have an $8.3 million qualifying offer extended to him, this is a trade that would make sense and benefit both teams.

With all of that being said, here, we will look at a couple of goals for Frank Ntilikina if he is traded to the Cavs.

We’ll begin with goal #1, in regards to his offense.