What If Wednesdays: What if the Cavs traded the 8th pick in 2018?

Lineup #1 – Would a new Point Guard have been enough?

If you recall, the summer of 2018 was teeming with rumors and speculations in Cleveland. After the Warriors swept the Cavs in four games, winning the NBA finals again, the topic of discussion became LeBron’s next destination. At this point, we know he took his talents to La La Land. However, let’s say the Cavs decided to use that 8th pick in a trade that kept LeBron around. What would that trade have looked like? Who would make up this new alternate Cavs lineup?

To start off, let’s take a look at the value of that trade pick. In the NBA draft class of 2018, the league saw budding talents such as Luka Doncic, Deandre Ayton, Trae Young, Michael Porter Jr, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Collin Sexton, and many more make their debut. Looking back, it’s clear that the 2018 class consisted of many skilled players that could bring success to almost any franchise that drafted them. So if the Cavs decided to pass up on their chance to make their selection in the 2018 draft, what could they have gotten for that pick instead? Let’s look at some of the teams that could have been in the running for that 8th pick via a trade with the Cavs.

The first team that comes to mind is the Charlotte Hornets. I always imagined if the Cavs front office were able to work out some sort of trade deal with the Hornets back in 2018, it would have looked something like Cleveland sending Kevin Love, George Hill, and that 8th pick to Charlotte in exchange for Kemba Walker, Nicolas Batum, and Marvin Williams. If that trade was enough to convince LeBron to stay in Cleveland, perhaps that Cavs’ lineup going into 2018 and beyond would have been something like Kemba Walker at point guard, Jordan Clarkson running the two position, with LeBron at small forward, Nicolas Batum at power forward, and Tristan Thompson holding it down as the center of the team. Meanwhile, the bench would be made up of Cedi Osman, Larry Nance Jr, Marvin Williams, JR Smith, and others.

Now, would a Cavs team with LeBron and Kemba Walker, and even Nicolas Batum have been interesting? Sure. I remember hearing the rumors all those years ago that Cleveland would bring Walker in to give LeBron that star caliber point guard to play with, in an attempt to fill the void Irving left upon his departure. However, would this lineup actually be worth it in the long run? In short, I would say no.

Yes, LeBron had just come off of what many consider to be the greatest playoff run in his career, and adding Kemba into the roster would have potentially elevated the Cavs back into playoff contention that next year with him averaging 22.1 points and 5.6 assists per game in the 2017-18 season. Yet, I believe that team begins to fall apart when we go to the bench. A bench made up of Cedi Osman, Larry Nance Jr, and JR Smith just would not have cut it. Larry himself has stated that he was not ready for the magnitude of playing in the Finals in 2018.

I have full confidence that the Larry we see now could lead the bench, but turn the clock back a few years and I have some doubts. Not to mention the team would be lacking that spark to ignite them during key moments. In my opinion, this hypothetical trade with the Hornets just does not cut it for Cleveland. That being said, there is another potential trade that could have gone down heavily in favor of the Cavs.