Playing keep, trade or cut with the entire Cavs roster of players

Keep, trade or cut with Cavs roster: Players to Trade

Caris LeVert, Isaac Okoro, Cedi Osman, Collin Sexton, Lamar Stevens

To clarify what this grouping is, these are the players who are not essential to what the Cavs are building and have some amount of trade value. The Cavs shouldn’t be dumping these players for nothing, but rather if and when they have the opportunity to make trade offers for upgrades or to move up in the draft, these are the players that should be offered.

We’ll start with Collin Sexton, who is a restricted free agent this summer. The team could certainly re-sign him to a long-term deal, but there are serious fit concerns in starting Sexton and Garland together. Given that his salary expectations are greater than that of a Sixth Man, the Cavs’ best option long-term is to try and facilitate a sign-and-trade elsewhere.

Caris LeVert was added at the trade deadline for a rather significant cost, but that shouldn’t stop the Cavaliers from moving him along in another deal. Small sample size caveats aside, he was not a great fit down the stretch, with some offensive value negated by his defensive issues. If a team like the New York Knicks or Detroit Pistons can be talked into him, the Cavs should pull the trigger.

Isaac Okoro has failed to return fair value from his 5th overall draft slot, and the Cavs should be open to including him in deals if other teams are interested. Similarly, Cedi Osman is a useful player but likely not going to be part of their playoff rotation, so any interested parties should be listened to. Lamar Stevens is a bargain on his non-guaranteed $1.8 million deal and could be a sweetener to get a deal across the finish line; the Cavs would be happy to keep him, but he is buried on the depth chart otherwise through no fault of his own.