The Cleveland Cavaliers are encircled by trade rumors. They’ve been linked to the Utah Jazz and the Atlanta Hawks and the Detroit Pistons and the Dallas Mavericks and the San Antonio Spurs — all in just the last week! It’s no secret that the Cavs want to upgrade the small forward position, and there is no shortage of potential options out there on the trade market.
Trading Caris LeVert for that upgrade at small forward is the Cavs’ most obvious choice, as they don’t otherwise have much ammunition. LeVert is a talented and valuable member of the rotation, however, so the Cavaliers aren’t going to trade him for just anything.
The Cleveland Cavaliers are working the trade market in search of an upgrade.
Bill Simmons of The Ringer is well known for his trade ideas; he was one of the first mainstream guys to start tossing them around as a feature, and his “trade value” lists started a trend that is virulent now. For whatever you think of his partisan approach, he has a long track record of building trade ideas, and he might have just landed on one for the Cavaliers that actually works.
On a recent episode of The Bill Simmons Podcast, while discussing Eastern Conference All-Stars with guest Zach Lowe, Simmons paired the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Dallas Mavericks in a trade idea. What’s interesting is that the deal isn’t centered around Tim Hardaway Jr., as has been rumored, but instead around another Mavericks player.
The kicker? Simmons’ trade actually makes a lot of sense, and might just be worth sending Caris LeVert to another team.
Cavaliers trade proposal: Building it out
The trade proposed by Bill Simmons recognized that the Cleveland Cavaliers needed a 3-and-D starter enough to trade Caris LeVert, and that the Dallas Mavericks need more perimeter creation enough to trade a trusted starter. The deal? It centered around the swap of LeVert to the Mavericks and Dorian Finney-Smith to the Cavaliers.
The money for that doesn’t quite work, as LeVert makes more than Finney-Smith, but we can balance things out by including a player on both sides. Here is the final construction:
The Cavaliers get a player in Dorian Finney-Smith who has started the past four years for the Mavericks, shooting 38.3 percent from 3-point range while providing high-level defense. The Mavericks get a wing with size and ball-handling chops, the archetype they need but don’t have.
Finney-Smith has been a crucial part of the Mavericks’ attack for the past four years, and his 3-and-D skillset is a perfect fit around Luka Doncic. Even so, the Mavs have other options behind him (Maxi Kleber, Josh Green, Reggie Bullock) and add a third ball-handler with enough size not to compromise their defensive philosophy. Cleveland tosses in a second-round pick to help get this over the hump, and the Mavericks walk away with a player who can help now and more flexibility this summer.
This trade is a great deal for the Cavaliers
Many of the trades that are suggested for the Cavaliers focus on one need or the other, often at the expense of the big picture. Trading for Doug McDermott may seem like it would juice the offense, but given his defensive deficiencies there is no way he would see the floor in the playoffs. Trading Kevin Love for a guard leaves a gaping hole for a stretch big in the rotation. So on and so forth.
What’s great about this trade is that the Cavaliers get a player that perfectly meets their biggest needs. Losing Caris LeVert hurts, but his value to the Cavs is mostly as redundancy for when Darius Garland or Donovan Mitchell miss time. To reach their ceiling the Cavs need a reliable 3-and-D wing, and Dorian Finney-Smith is exactly that.
“DFS” has the size to defend power forwards and the length and agility to stay with guards on switches. The Cavs can put him on an opponent’s best wing player and expect great results, and while his shot is a little cold this year his track record suggests he’s a knockdown guy when he can catch and shoot in an open pocket.
The Cavaliers instantly get their fifth starter and have a pair of reliable combo forwards in Finney-Smith and Dean Wade to lock down that small forward position. If the Mavericks would say yes, this is the kind of trade the Cavs should be looking to make. Well done, Mr. Simmons.