3 trades the Cavs could make with Lauri Markkanen

3 trades the Cavs could make with Lauri Markkanen: San Antonio Spurs

Last offseason as Lauri Markkanen languished in restricted free agency, one team said to be interested in acquiring him was the San Antonio Spurs. It made sense to everyone who heard it; they have had success with international players and they love shooting from their big spots; players such as Davis Bertans, Matt Bonner and even LaMarcus Aldridge come to mind.

Markkanen would also pair well with an elite rim protector like Jakob Poetl. If they did downshift to slide Markkanen to the 5, they have the defense on the wing to protect him on the back line. The reason why the Spurs did not pull the trigger last summer was, according to Brian Windhorst of ESPN, that Markkanen wanted too much money.

A season later, with Markkanen playing well and part of the Cavs’ resurgence, the Spurs could be interested again. Armed with three first-round picks, the Spurs have the sort of mid-tier asset that would make this sort of a deal feasible from their end, and the salary cap flexibility to easily absorb Markkanen’s $16.5 million salary.

Why would the Cavs do this deal? If they don’t view Markkanen as a long-term piece of their core, they could move him for a first-round pick and add a rotation wing in Josh Richardson and a dart throw in Bates-Diop. That would allow them to continue looking for a long-term small forward while moving Markkanen while his value is high. If the Cavs negotiated hard perhaps they take a slightly worse draft pick (25th instead of 20th) and get Tre Jones swapped in for Bates-Diop to settle the backup point guard slot.