3 increasingly bold ways for Cavs to enter Russell Westbrook trade

3 bold ways for Cavs to enter Westbrook trade: Snagging a pick

This is the broadest highway for the Cavs to travel in entering into a Westbrook trade. The Lakers are not a contender by any means at this point, but with LeBron James turning 38 this year they have to find a way to contending. Moving Westbrook and spending two potentially high-value first-round picks only makes sense if they can truly move into the ring of contenders – the fringe is fine, but the play-in is not.

It’s very possible that the Lakers find a suitor amenable to taking on Westbrook, but without the pieces they want back in a deal. In that scenario, the Cavs could step in and offer a player in return for a pick that the Lakers are more open to adding.

Cedi Osman would be an interesting movement shooter next to LeBron James who has experience playing with The King.. Caris LeVert could be a big playmaker to run the offense when LeBron is on the bench.

A hybrid version of these first two options is that the Cavs step in and swap players, sending someone like LeVert or Osman to the Lakers and adding a player from the Jazz or Pacers themselves. The Cavs probably would flip any pick they get for a player anyway, so this could be an acceleration of that path.