Can Cavs take advantage of Lakers’ desperation for a trade?
Can Cavs take advantage of Lakers’ desperation for a trade? A Three-team trade
Things get a lot more complicated, yet exciting, when three-team deals are unpacked. In such a scenario the rebuilding team can take on the expiring deal for Russell Westbrook, but the Lakers can get a veteran player they like more from a third team.
What if it’s the Cavs who are that third team? Let’s lay out a scenario where the Lakers trade Russell Westbrook to the Indiana Pacers, get back Myles Turner and Caris LeVert, give Indiana those two juicy draft picks and the Cavs get Buddy Hield and a Lakers’ second. Do the Cavs like the shooting of Hield over the playmaking of LeVert?
Other similar scenarios can be spun out. A three-team deal with the Utah Jazz could add Malik Beasley. If a deal is with Charlotte, Kelly Oubre Jr. could head to Cleveland (or Gordon Hayward, with Kevin Love going to L.A.). The New York Knicks get crazy for a year and it’s Julius Randle and LeVert to the Lakers with Evan Fournier coming to the Cavs.
Not all of those deals make sense for Cleveland, but it’s worth being a part of trade conversations in case a path opens up that does. The Lakers have to make a move, and it’s possible in their desperation they toss around what few assets they have and the Cavs can reach out and snatch one.
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The Lakers’ lack of assets puts them in a bind and limits the pathways to making a deal with them, for the Cavs and for any other team. Yet the Cavs have partially built their team from taking advantage of desperate teams, and they understand all too well the pressures put on a front office by LeBron James. If there’s a way to get in on fleecing the Lakers, they have as good of a chance as anyone.