Cavaliers trade rumors: Three-team proposal overhauls bench

Laying out a three-team trade with the Cavaliers

There are a number of ways for the Cavs to make a trade without sending out Caris LeVert, and a few reasons to hang onto him, but his large salary of $18.8 million allows the Cavs much more flexibility in bringing back another player. In this case, it is the foundation for bringing back three:

The Cavaliers would add a movement shooter in Duncan Robinson, a proto-3-and-D wing in Saddiq Bey, and a combo guard in Alec Burks. That is three different wings with three different skillsets to overhaul the bench and give the Cavs plenty of lineup versatility.

The Heat have been trying to get off of Robinson’s contract for the past few months as his shooting has declined and they have realized their need to have a better defensive option in that slot with the deficiencies of Tyler Herro on that end. It costs a first-round pick to do it, but now the Heat have another ball-handler for the playoffs and the cap space flexibility this summer with LeVert on an expiring deal.

The Pistons make this deal for the draft equity. They are building a new core with Cade Cunningham, Jalen Duren and Jaden Ivey, and Saddiq Bey is not a lock to be a part of it. This move gives the Pistons a real asset to draft a new player this June and gets them off of Bey’s contract before he needs an extension. They almost certainly want more capital than this to move both, but the reasoning is at least present.