The Cleveland Cavaliers will probably make an upgrade by the NBA Trade Deadline in February. They tend to make an in-season trade every season, be that Caris LeVert last year, Jarrett Allen the year before, dating all the way back to Larry Nance Jr. and Jordan Clarkson in the last season of LeBron James’ second term as King of Cleveland.
Koby Altman will therefore likely do so again this season, so the question turns from “if” to “who” in sussing out what will happen. Do the Cavs target a movement shooter, a 3-and-D wing, or a stretch big? Perhaps they can try to approximate all three by pursuing a Croatian scorer who is having a great season for a bad team.
The Cleveland Cavaliers could pull off this trade for a Croatian scorer and meet multiple needs.
Bojan Bogdanovic is back in the Central Division with the Detroit Pistons, after stints in Brooklyn, Washington, Indiana and Utah. He has developed into an excellent shooter, hitting 40.9 percent of his 3-pointers, and overall having the best scoring season of his career. He’s putting up 20.9 points per game and has only missed one game this season.
The Pistons might posture about keeping him around, but as they make themselves comfortable at the bottom of the standings it makes sense to move Bogdanovic and get back whatever value they can for him. If the Cavaliers were to jump into the fray, what would such a trade look like?