Grade the Trade: Cavaliers swap center for forward in midseason deal

Laying out a Jarrett Allen trade

The reason the Cavaliers would be open to moving Jarrett Allen is that he and Evan Mobley overlap in role a fair amount defensively, and unless Mobley takes a major step forward as a shooter the pairing constricts the spacing of any lineup built around them. Trading Allen for a frontcourt player who can shoot solves that issue.

Such players are obviously highly valued around the league, but one potential target is Jerami Grant of the Portland Trail Blazers. He just re-signed with the Blazers on a lucrative new deal, but they appear headed for a roster reset of some sort after drafting Scoot Henderson, with Damian Lillard requesting a trade.

Grant will become eligible to be traded in January, and a Portland team looking to compete in a few years instead of right now could look to move Grant while he still has strong value. The deal could look something like this:

Grant’s new contract is ascending, so the easiest path to salary-matching comes in the first season. The Blazers would get younger and the Cavaliers would balance their roster better positionally. Does that mean the two teams would say yes?