There is plenty of content to be found about the NBA Trade Deadline. From primers to overviews to breakdowns to roundups, every entity that has anything to do with the NBA is covering trade season. And with good reason; it’s the one major point in the season when the face of the league can shift.
One of the best things to come out of trade season is the Mock Trade Deadline by the Dunc’d On Basketball Podcast. Started by Nate Duncan and Danny Leroux, the podcast itself is one of the deepest dives into the NBA out there. Every year, the hosts welcome Dan Feldman and Kevin Pelton aboard to conduct a “mock” of how the trades at the deadline could go.
The Cleveland Cavaliers made a trade in a popular “Mock Trade Deadline” podcast.
A number of trades went off during the 3-part podcast, including blockbusters involving the Philadelphia 76ers, LA Clippers, Toronto Raptors and Miami Heat. The person controlling the Cleveland Cavaliers tried to wade into the trade waters a few different times, including a push to land Portland’s Josh Hart.
In the end, the wing that the Cavaliers landed did not come from Portland, but from the Big Apple. Cam Reddish is an intriguing young wing with plenty of upside and plenty of evidence he won’t bring it all together. Would the Cavs make a play for such a player? And what did they give up to do so?
Details of Cavaliers trade for Cam Reddish
Cam Reddish is on a small deal in his fourth season in the league, but it’s enough to demand some actual salary matching from the Cavaliers. His $5.9 million can be paired up in a number of ways, but in this configuration, the Cavs stack Dylan Windler and the now-superfluous Raul Neto together to bring Reddish back.
Neto’s role has been greatly diminished with the return of Ricky Rubio, and even prior to that his role in the rotation was being marginalized. He could be a solid backup point guard for the Knicks, while Dylan Windler is just salary flotsam at this point in his career, as unfortunate as that is. The two picks weigh the scale even more.
The Knicks aren’t going to find much more than this out there, a team willing to offer two second-round picks. Reddish’s trajectory has bottomed out, and he is struggling just to stay in the league at this point. Perhaps he will have a better situation at his next stop, but it’s clear that stop is not New York.
Would the Cavaliers make this trade?
This deal has the outline of the right kind of deal for the Cavaliers. Cam Reddish is 6’8″ with ideal size to play the 3, he is only 23 years old, and he will almost certainly be on a team-friendly contract next season as a result of his play and his restricted status.
This season, Reddish is shooting a middling 44.9 percent from the field, with a 30.4 percent accuracy from long-range. If the Cavs trade for him, they need to be confident that he can take a step forward. That’s hard to evaluate from afar.
If the Reddish who dominated high school basketball and played very well at Duke can’t find his way back to the court, he’s not worth giving up any assets. If he can put things together he has the exact profile for the player who fills the hole in the starting lineup. How confident can the Cavs be before making a deal?
Taking a swing without giving up a valuable player seems like a reasonable deal, a relatively low cost for a low-probability shot at finding a future starter. It’s so hard to find a two-way wing that even moves with a low chance of converting might be worth doing. Hopefully, whether at the deadline or in the offseason, the Cavs can find a better deal than this.
Grade: C+