The Cleveland Cavaliers keep signaling that they plan to sit out the NBA Trade Deadline. They have talked about how they like their team, they want to re-sign Caris LeVert, they trust in Isaac Okoro, and so on. That’s all likely true, but it doesn’t mean they wouldn’t make a deal for the right player.
A big reason the Cavs were likely to stay quiet is that the options on the trade market weren’t that enticing. Players that could reasonably start for the Cavs were probably too expensive, since the Cavaliers used all of their firsts trading for LeVert and Donovan Mitchell. The players at their price point weren’t going to move the needle in the playoffs.
The Cleveland Cavaliers could be back in business after the Kevin Durant trade.
That suddenly changed on Wednesday night, when the Brooklyn Nets traded Kevin Durant to the Phoenix Suns. In an instant the Nets went from a contender to a team hoarding wings and shooters to make a playoff push, to selling those players to recoup assets. The Nets won’t outright tank moving forward, but this year it behooves them to sell off anything of value and maximize their pick.
That means that a new group of players is suddenly available to the Cavs on the trade market. Could one of the Nets’ wings fit the need for Cleveland and fall within their price range? It’s possible, so let’s take a look at one potential construction.
Building a Cavaliers deal with the Nets
There are a lot of potential trade options on the Brooklyn Nets. Mikal Bridges and Nic Claxton are outside of the Cavs’ price range, Ben Simmons is radioactive and Jae Crowder was just rerouted to the Milwaukee Bucks. Movement shooters like Seth Curry and Patty Mills are intriguing, but not the best picks. Joe Harris has a big contract and plenty of injury risk.
The player the Cavaliers should pursue is Royce O’Neale. A former teammate of Donovan Mitchell’s with the Utah Jazz, O’Neale is a quintessential 3-and-D wing. He is a career 38.6 percent 3-point shooter hitting 40.3 percent of his attempts this season. At 6’4″ he isn’t the tallest wing, but he has a huge wingspan and plenty of strength, and would profile as a better option on small forwards than Isaac Okoro.
O’Neale is also on a bargain contract, making $9.2 million this season and $9.5 million next year. The Cavs can’t really get to matching salary with Dylan Windler plus minimums, but they can move Cedi Osman and some picks to bring him in.
The Nets don’t need O’Neale, and there aren’t a limitless number of first-rounders still out there. Two seconds is reasonable value for O’Neale, and keeping him around doesn’t do them a ton of good. Osman is fine as a replacement if they try to stay respectable this year, or they can flip him somewhere else. This isn’t a no-brainer for the Nets, but it’s a reasonable offer from the Cavs.
Why the Cavaliers would make this trade
The Cleveland Cavaliers don’t need to rush into finding their fifth starter, but if the right deal presents itself they are good enough to get value from adding another piece for this season’s playoff run. This trade for O’Neale is inexpensive enough that he can be that fifth starter or come off the bench.
Pairing O’Neale and Isaac Okoro would give head coach J.B. Bickerstaff two high-end defensive options, with Okoro a lockdown defender of guards and O’Neale perfect for wings. O’Neale is a more proven shooter, giving him the inside track on starting, but the two can be swapped for each other depending on the matchup.
The other thing this allows the Cavs to do is play more small lineups around just one of the two bigs. Dean Wade, Royce O’Neale and Isaac Okoro would be a lethal trio in between Evan Mobley and Darius Garland, for example. Add wings just makes a team more versatile, and in the playoffs, lineup flexibility is key.
Given the available options on the market, this is a great use of resources for the Cavs. Perhaps other players would be a better fit, but it’s hard to see Cleveland affording them. This gives up a fringe rotation player for a worthy starter, and that’s a deal worth making.
Grade: B+