Grade the Trade: Can Cavaliers make a deal for Boston forward?

Building a Cavaliers trade for Grant Williams

Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com recently reported that the Cavaliers have checked in on a Boston Celtics forward ahead of the Trade Deadline. No, it’s not Jayson Tatum or Jaylen Brown, but rather Grant Williams.

After the Celtics were not willing to extend a workable extension to Williams prior to the start of the season, many around the league hypothesized Williams could be expendable as Boston tries to keep its team costs down moving forward. Can the Cavs pounce and add Williams to their mix?

The fourth-year forward has played his entire career for the Celtics and is nearing restricted free agency after the season. He is not a prolific scorer, settling into a low-usage role, but he does just about everything well that you want from a role player. If he is truly available, it makes sense that the Cavs would make an offer.

To be clear, the Boston Celtics should absolutely not trade Grant Williams. His style of basketball will be undervalued by his next contract, and he fits perfectly alongside the other core pieces in Boston. But if the Celtics do decide to move Williams instead of paying him, this is a structure that could work.

Danilo Gallinari was signed to juice the Celtics’ bench scoring this summer, but then suffered a major knee injury in international play. He is not going to play this season and is likely to be a step slow next year. Boston can shave a lot of money off of their luxury tax bill by making this deal, and get a defensive 4 to replace Williams’ role on that end by trading for Lamar Stevens.

Cedi Osman is insurance in case they move on from Derrick White. It’s a way to approximate the players they lose while saving a lot of money this year and next. If that’s a priority for them, this is a path to accomplishing that.