3 trade targets for the Cavs to upgrade their forward depth

3 trade targets for the Cavs: Kyle Kuzma, Washington Wizards

Kyle Kuzma was a late first-round draft pick and immediately came in and proved himself to be a solid combo forward, then improving his shot and developing his defensive chops to be a role player on a championship team with the Los Angeles Lakers when LeBron James arrived. His reward? He was dumped on the Washington Wizards in order to add Russell Westbrook. Kuzma alone would have helped the Lakers more last year than Westbrook.

On the Wizards Kuzma just continued his solid play, starting all 66 games he appeared in and averaging 17.1 points per game. His shot wobbled a bit back down to 34.1 percent, but he made up for it by averaging a career-high 8.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists. He has the scoring ability to step up when needed, but otherwise he has become a solid role player any team would like to have in their rotation.

The reason he could be available is that the WIzards are flush with combo forwards. Rui Hachimura and Deni Avdija are recent lottery picks of the team who will need minutes, while last year’s rookies Corey Kispert and Isaiah Todd are forwards as well. The Wizards are unlikely to be a playoff team next season, so they could elect to move Kuzma in order to open up playing time for their young forwards and figure out who is worth keeping long-term.

Kuzma could step in as forward depth for the Cavs, moving back to the bench and pairing with Dean Wade as the backup forwards. Kuzma’s defensive toughness and rebounding will help the Cavs maintain their advantages in both areas, and hopefully his shooting can come back around. He’s more of a 3.8 than a true 3.5 combo forward, but he would give the Cavs a solid option to work into the mix.