Cavs: 2 key takeaways from JaVale McGee trade with Nuggets

There have been plenty of rumors involving Cleveland Cavaliers players potentially being traded, and although we’ll see if Andre Drummond is, a few names that have been mentioned in rumors have been Cedi Osman, JaVale McGee and Taurean Prince.

Kevin Love and Larry Nance Jr. have been mentioned, albeit Love being dealt by Thursday’s 3 PM deadline still seems very unlikely, and Nance, with what he means for Cleveland on and off the floor, wouldn’t seemingly be dealt. That’s been reportedly unlikely, too.

In any case, it appeared that Osman, factoring in recent rumors/reports as of Wednesday, and McGee could very well end up being dealt, and that’s played out with the latter at least for now.

According to a report on Thursday morning from Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium, McGee was traded to the Denver Nuggets.

And per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, that was reportedly in exchange for Isaiah Hartenstein and two future second-round picks. Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor shortly thereafter reported how the two picks are a 2023 one that’s top-46 protected, and that the second is a 2027 one that’s unprotected.

So what jumps out from this Cavs trade, then?

Two things do from the Wine and Gold’s perspective, realistically, and we’ll begin with the first of those/the future pick/asset element.

The first has to do with Cleveland wanting to get something in exchange for McGee, who has played well for the Cavs after being acquired via trade from the Los Angeles Lakers before the season, to go with a 2026 second-round pick.

#1: The Cavs get those two future 2s for the expiring McGee, create trade exception

McGee has again played pretty well for the Cavaliers this season in backup 5 run, earlier on for Andre Drummond, and since Drummond has been sitting/Jarrett Allen has been the starting 5, for Allen. McGee’s had 8.0 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.2 blocks in 15.2 minutes per outing for Cleveland this season, and has been active on both ends on the interior.

There have been instances when McGee has had head-scratching plays, sure, as he’s had a career-high 3.2 turnovers per-36 minutes, but he often provided energy for the Cavs on both ends, and as always, was a legitimate rim protector/shot alterer inside.

McGee, given his $4.2 million team-friendly and expiring deal, seemed to be eventually in-line to be traded, though, and also considering he is 33. Credit goes to JaVale for him being still so engaged in his time with the Cavs, though, and for how he was reportedly a key leadership presence in his tenure.

He’ll help spell Nikola Jokic I would think, and as many know, he is a three-time NBA champ with his share of meaningful playoff experience. He also was with Denver earlier in his career in time in the 2011-12 seasons, through some of the 2014-15 campaign before being dealt to the Philadelphia 76ers then.

For the Cavs here, it was a plus that they were able to land something for McGee, who again has played well, but is not exactly a young center, at 33. As Fedor again reported, the protected 2023 second-rounder is protected to 46, and the 2027 second-rounder is unprotected.

Frankly, while the 2027 second-rounder is so far down the road, and we’ll have to see if that ends up being meaningful, considering all the Cavs originally gave up for McGee was Alfonzo McKinnie and Jordan Bell, that and the 2023 protected 2 wasn’t a bad return. And as a positive, though, the 2027 second could be a very meaningful one, depending on what plays out down the road for Denver.

Obviously, McGee was a valuable player for Cleveland’s rotation, but for the Cavs, even while they could potentially have a shot at the play-in tournament, this club still could use a few more assets. That’s for possibly further trades down the road, even while fans aren’t going to be jumping for joy about this in the near term.

Also, the Cavaliers, per Fedor, reportedly generated a $4.2 million trade exception for McGee, who was, despite rumors of it potentially being the case previously, not a player they had interest in buying out.

So moving on, how about the other aspect to the move?

#2: The Cavs land a project 5 in Hartenstein; we’ll have to see there

Hartenstein, who was a second-round pick by the Houston Rockets in 2017, but whose NBA career with them begin in 2018-19, hasn’t had many fireworks to this point.

Hartenstein has played sparingly in his three career seasons, albeit on postseason/contending teams with Houston, who waived him last summer, and with Denver, of whom he signed a two-year, minimum deal with back in November. He’ll have a $1.8 million player option for next season, after which he could become a restricted free agent.

With Hartenstein, he again is definitely one that’d qualify as a project, if we see him back next season. In roughly 2.5 seasons thus far, he’s had 3.3 points and 2.7 rebounds in 9.4 minutes per outing in 81 appearances.

He is definitely not a stretch big, albeit McGee wouldn’t qualify as that either, but he has been a capable roller with some touch on push shots/dives, which could work in filling in in spurts with Collin Sexton, Darius Garland and/or others.

On the defensive end, also on the plus side, he could provide some viable rotational rim protection in spurts, as he is fairly sturdy at 7-foot and 250 pounds and does seem to play pretty well with verticality.

And lastly, Hartenstein, just like Jarrett Allen, is still just 22. So perhaps Cleveland can find something here looking onward, and he should get a chance to prove his viability in real rotational burn here soon enough.

In any case, while again it stings some that McGee is no longer with the Cavaliers, I can’t blame them for potentially a few assets and/or a younger rotational 5 back, as Hartenstein can be a capable rim protector in burn, which is serviceable. And for what it’s worth, the Cavs, per Fedor’s aforementioned report, actually “expressed interest in Hartenstein this past offseason.”

It’ll be interesting to see what happens in regards to his outlook with Cleveland. For this season, Hartenstein has had 3.5 points and 2.8 rebounds in 9.1 minutes per outing, for further context.

Hartenstein did make his presence in a big way with the Rockets’ G League Affiliate, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, during the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons, though, and had 24.9 points and 14.8 rebounds per outing in 2019-20. That was in 14 appearances with them.

Moreover, one could expect to see more moves involving the Cavs/perhaps Osman/Prince and maybe Drummond with the trade deadline approaching here at 3 PM on Thursday.