The Cleveland Cavaliers certainly have their trade targets around the league. Whether they are investigating blockbuster deals for another star or sniffing around on a buy-low option, the Cavs are surely hard at work canvassing the lead to look for avenues to improve their team. That includes calling other teams to pitch potential trades.
We found out this week that other teams are doing that to the Cavs as well, as Bleacher Report’s Jake Fischer reported that the Utah Jazz have called the Cavaliers to propose a trade. Specifically, he wrote Wednesday “Utah has explored a sign-and-trade scenario that would send veteran point guard Mike Conley to Cleveland in exchange for restricted free agent Collin Sexton, sources said.”
The Cleveland Cavaliers have been called about trading Collin Sexton for Mike Conley. Should the Cavs be interested in such a trade, or suggest another?
Mike Conley has been a longtime sub-All-Star point guard, at times a steady hand and at others a driving force for the success of the Memphis Grizzlies and Utah Jazz. At age 34 he has lost a step on both ends of the court, but he still rated as a strongly positive player last season and has become a borderline elite shooter from the point guard position.
Should the Cavs do more than simply listen to the Jazz front office when they call? Is this the sort of deal they should seriously engage with and potentially pull the trigger on? Let’s answer that question and then suggest some other options on the Jazz the Cavs could ask about trading for instead.
Rumored Cavs trade for Mike Conley: Does it make sense for the Cavs?
Mike Conley is a 6’1″ point guard. Even at his age, he would instantly be one of the five best players on the Cavaliers, but he would also be a very difficult fit in the backcourt alongside Darius Garland, another 6’1″ point guard.
The Cavs are suddenly flush with point guards. Ricky Rubio has agreed to a three-year pact with the team, and they also signed a steady hand in Raul Neto to back up Garland until Rubio is healthy and serve as an overqualified third point guard after that. They don’t need more reinforcements at that position.
Cleveland could try to play Garland and Conley together in the backcourt, as the Jazz did with the similarly-sized Donovan Mitchell these past few years. That is a tough defensive combination to swallow, however, especially as Conley ages past his defensive prime. The Jazz were frequently pierced by driving perimeter players who beat Conley and Mitchell 1-on-1. If Conley isn’t adding star-level offensive production, the trade-off isn’t worth it.
That’s before factoring in the cost, both in salary and in trade demands. Conley makes $22.8 million this season, so adding a modest contract to Collin Sexton should make the money work. Is Conley better for the Cavs next season than Sexton? Probably, but as the years go on that proposition becomes weighted towards the much younger Sexton. Do the Jazz want another first in the deal? If so, the idea that the Cavs would be upgrading becomes even less likely.
The Cavs need forwards; they have a plethora of guards. Conley is a good player and a solid veteran, but he is’t going to lift this team’s ceiling enough to make him worth the trade. Could the Cavs still keep talking with the Jazz, though? Perhaps there is someone else on the roster worth asking about.
Rumored Cavs trade for Mike Conley: Other targets on the Jazz?
The obvious trade target on the Utah Jazz is Donovan Mitchell, and reports are that the Jazz are now open to discussing packages for Mitchell. That being said, the cost to acquire him will be sky-high, and while he is a much more valuable player than Conley he introduces some of the same defensive issues. Such a deal makes less sense for Cleveland than it does for other franchises more motivated to throw the kitchen sink at Utah.
Who else could be a target for the Cavs? A couple of role players could step into the Cavs’ rotation. Jarred Vanderbilt is a rebounding machine and solid defender who could give the Cavs another defensive big to rotate with Kevin Love and Lauri Markkanen, although his complete lack of a shot would complicate pairings. Malik Beasley is intriguing as a small forward who can absolutely shoot the basketball, but the Cavs hopefully got their version of Beasley in the draft with Ochai Agbaji.
The most intriguing option is Bojan Bogdanovic. The Bosnian forward is an incredibly talented offensive option at the 3 or 4, a career 39.2 percent 3-point shooter who can create his own shot and loves to bully smaller players in the post. He is 33 years old, so he likely doesn’t have a place in the Jazz’ future, but he could fill a veteran role with the Cavs.
Bogdanovic is a better shooter, a better scorer and a better defender than Lauri Markkanen. Would the Jazz be interested in, effectively, a swap of the two players? The Jazz ger the younger building block under contract for multiple years, and the Cavs get a better fit at the 3 who is more two-way versatile. It’s at least worth asking about.
The Cavs don’t get much better by trading for Mike Conley, and whether Collin Sexton returns or is traded for a different package, the Cavs can get better production from a different option. Perhaps that other option is trading for a different Jazz player during the fire sale, but it’s not by trading for Conley.