The Cleveland Cavaliers love to benefit from the Brooklyn Nets’ dysfunction.
In 2018 they went to the NBA Finals, but then picked in the Top 10 of the 2018 NBA Draft because they owned the Brooklyn Nets’ pick that year; that picked netted them Collin Sexton. A few years later they stepped in as an “extra” team in the James Harden trade and used a first-round pick to add Jarrett Allen, who last year made his first All-Star team.
The Nets are at it again, with the team and mercurial point guard (and former Cavalier) Kyrie Irving at an impasse over a new contract. The most recent rumors suggest that Kevin Durant is not pleased with the current state of affairs, and The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported Durant is “monitoring” the situation and “considering options” with his future. If Irving walks or forces a trade, then Durant could decide he wants out of Brooklyn.
The Cleveland Cavaliers have a budding star in Evan Mobley. If the Nets call and ask, should the Cavs trade Mobley for Kevin Durant?
That possibility has set the NBA world abuzz. Where might Durant, a top-5 player in this league but seemingly in his late prime, want to go? How much will the Nets, who hold nearly all of the leverage, take into account Durant’s personal preferences? Who will they call and ask about.
It seems likely that a scenario where Kyrie is leaving and Durant is looking for greener pastures will have the Nets first make a few calls to teams with the very best young talent. The presence of Evan Mobley, a defensive star after just one season, puts the Cavs near the top of the list. ESPN’s Zach Lowe theorized on a recent Lowe Post episode that the Toronto Raptors would be the Nets’ first call, and that Cleveland would be second.
Let’s say for a moment that this scenario unfolds. Kyrie Irving signs with the New York Knicks, and Durant demands out of Brooklyn. The Nets call the Cavs and offer to trade Kevin Durant for a package centered around Evan Mobley. What does that trade look like, and do the Cavs say yes?
Should Cavs trade Evan Mobley for Kevin Durant? What a trade would look like
As the third overall pick in the draft, Evan Mobley is making just $8.4 million next season. Kevin Durant, on the other hand, is making $44.1 million max contract. For a trade to be feasible, the Nets and Cavs would have to match up salary by including more contracts heading back to Brooklyn.
One configuration used Kevin Love’s salary as the main chunk to match up with Durant’s. Love make $28.9 million in the last year of his extension. If you add in Mobley, plus Isaac Okoro and Cedi Osman, you get a deal that works financially. Then the Cavs would toss in a pair of first-round picks and a pair of pick swaps, and perhaps they get themselves a deal.
The Nets would then have Love’s expiring deal, a pair of reasonably-priced wings in Okoro and Osman, and their future star to build around in Mobley.
The other version of this deal involves more moving parts, but the Nets might prefer that to maximize their flexibility in moving those players again at the trade deadline. Lauri Markkanen makes $16.4 million, and Caris LeVert $18.7. Add Mobley and Okoro and you get a framework that should work, and perhaps the draft capital heading out is a bit less.
Let’s assume the Nets want the first configuration for the salary flexibility and evaluate the deal from there.
Should Cavs trade Evan Mobley for Kevin Durant? Why Cavs would do it
It’s right for fans of the Cavaliers to balk at the idea of trading Evan Mobey. He seems like one of the most untouchable players in the league, and he probably is. Why would the Cavs trade a 21-year-old rising star for an expensive 33-year-old?
The answer is that having Kevin Durant on your team immediately puts you in the title picture. He is one of the five best players in the league, an offense unto himself and an impactful defender. His versatility allows him to fit in a variety of lineups, and he can excel on and off-ball.
Last year, in his age 33 season, Durant averaged 29.9 points, 7.4 rebounds and 6.4 assists per game. A player has averaged at least 29 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists just 14 other times in NBA history, and all of those players are Hall of Famers. Add in a reasonable benchmark of 3-point shooting and the list essentially becomes Durant, LeBron James and James Harden.
Durant clearly still has a lot left in the tank. Even playing on a team where every other rotation player was in-and-out of the lineup around him, Durant ranked fifth in Estimated Plus-Minus. His true shooting percentage of 64 percent was the highest of any non-big with a decent shot load (Gary Payton II and Grant Williams technically ranked above him, but both were dependent players).
Durant’s shooting allows him to thrive off-ball while warping a defense towards him, and his ball-handling, passing and ability to pull up over any contest make him one of the league’s most lethal on-ball players. He and Darius Garland would have a tremendous two-man game, and Jarrett Allen would give Durant a backline presence he hasn’t played with since Draymond Green.
A Cavaliers starting lineup of Darius Garland, Caris LeVert, Lauri Markkanen, Kevin Durant and Evan Mobley would be decent defensively and absolutely nasty on offense. Add in Sexton as a Sixth Man, with Dean Wade, Lamar Stevens, Ochai Agbaji and a couple of veteran free agents at the 1 and the 5, and this team would immediately be a contender to win the Eastern Conference.
Should Cavs trade Evan Mobley for Kevin Durant? Why Cavs would not do it
Evan Mobley is roughly 13 years younger than Kevin Durant, entering just the second season of his rookie contract. Given the amount of team control the restricted free agency process affords a team, barring something unexpected the Cavs can expect to have Mobley around for at least another seven years, and if things go reasonably well for even longer than that.
The core of this team is young, and under contract for a number of years. They can and should grow together, taking steps further up the ladder towards contention. Trading Mobley for Durant accelerates that timetable, placing them in contention right now, but it also shortens their window. How many prime years does Durant have left? And what happens when and if he leaves; the Cavs have gone through that divorce with a superstar forward too many times before.
There is also the reality that Durant has only played 88 regular-season games over the past three seasons. He seems to be at his normal level post-Achilles, which is amazing and exciting, but he has suffered a mid-term injury in each of the two subsequent seasons. Are those flukes, or indicative of the reality with KD at this point in his career?
The real reason the Cavs wouldn’t do this trade is the pressure. If the Cavs push in their chips, including their best trade asset, for Durant and they don’t make the NBA Finals? Suddenly Koby Altman is being replaced. With Mobley, he likely has bought himself a long stretch of road. The same likely goes with J.B. Bickerstaff, who has done an excellent job configuring lineups of ill-fitting players and getting buy-in but may not have the X’s and O’s grasp to win four playoff series.
Should Cavs trade Evan Mobley for Kevin Durant? Final Verdict
Evan Mobley is amazing. He did things no defensive rookie since Tim Duncan has done before, he is brimming with potential and he is just 21 years old.
Kevin Durant is amazing. He handles like a guard, shoots like a wing and is the size of a center, he has proven to elevate his game in the playoffs, and he would propel this team towards the top of the standings.
The ultimate question is whether adding Durant for the deal outlined above (Mobley, Love, Okoro, Osman and picks for Durant) makes them an instant title contender. The answer to that is probably yes. Allen is a real defensive anchor, Garland is a budding perimeter star, and they have role players like Dean Wade, Lauri Markkanen and Ochai Agbaji that give them some versatility in different lineups. If they re-sign Collin Sexton as their Sixth Man or trade him for another rotation player, even better. If they add Caris LeVert as an expiring contract to the deal in return for Joe Harris from the Nets, suddenly they’re cooking with gas.
The flip side of the coin is also compelling, though. If Mobley is the two-way superstar he appears to be, the Cavs could have a foundation of a Top 10 player in Mobley, a Top-20 guy in Garland and a top-35 or so guy in Allen. That’s how you compete for titles. There is a very real possibility Garland and Mobley compete for titles for a much longer stretch than Garland and Durant could.
It’s a difficult decision, and reasonable both ways. The Warriors resisted trading Klay Thompson for Kevin Love and it launched a dynasty; the Clippers moved Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for Paul George and have set them up for a window of contention, even if untimely injuries have kept them from reaching the NBA Finals thus far. The Lakers moved their young pieces for Anthony Davis and won a title. You can make the argument every which way.
Final Verdict: Do it. Evan Mobley could be a generational superstar. Kevin Durant is one, right now. The Cavs can compete for a title for the next few seasons and still have the core in place to reset for another run during the primes of Garland and Allen. It’s certainly not a no-brainer, but if the Nets call and ask, the Cavs should say yes.