The Cleveland Cavaliers made a single trade at the NBA Trade Deadline.
It was a significant one, to be sure, but it was only one. Publicly, therefore, there is proof of just one player the Cavaliers were interested in trading for. The reality, of course, is that the Cleveland front office likely considered dozens of players, thinking through which kinds of players would most improve their team ahead of an important playoff run.
Considering a player can take many different forms, of course, from five minutes of musing to weeks of deliberating. Based on after-the-fact reporting, it appears that there were three players who rose into a top tier of consideration by the front office. Those players warranted the most research, the most thought, and ultimately yielded a high-end addition for the franchise.
The Cavaliers considered three top target at the Trade Deadline
Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com reported that the Cavaliers prepared a comprehensive dossier on their top trade targets. The three names that Fedor mentioned? De'Andre Hunter, Cameron Johnson and Marcus Smart.
Hunter was the player the front office ultimately zeroed in on, negotiating exclusively with Atlanta the morning of the Trade Deadline to hammer a deal out. The Hawks wanted to open space for their young forwards to flourish and get off of Hunter's long-term money. Ultimately, he checked enough boxes for the Cavaliers that he is the player they ultimately brought aboard.
Cameron Johnson was long-rumored to not only be available on the market but to be a player the Cavaliers had called about. He would have brought elite shooting ability to the team, multiplying a strength even further, but he was not a defensive difference-maker and would have added a weak spot on that end of the court. Given that the cost to add him was reportedly quite high, it's not surprising that the Cavaliers backed off.
The third name is one that was not being discussed ahead of the Trade Deadline. Marcus Smart, once the Defensive Player of the Year, was having a disappointing year with the Memphis Grizzlies and was known to be available. Per Fedor, the Cavaliers did careful research on Smart and his potential fit on the roster.
Part of that evaluation was on the court, whether Smart still had the skillset to be a difference-maker for the Cavaliers. The 6'3" guard, a longtime member of the Boston Celtics before spending the last two seasons in Memphis, is strong, tough and has excellent defensive instincts. He is also prone to taking low-percentage shots that are outside the flow on offense and is a shaky 3-point shooter for his career, including just 35.8 percent from deep this year.
The other side of the coin is Smart's long-term availability. He has dealt with a plethora of injuries over the past few seasons, appearing in just 20 games last season and 19 this year. He will turn 31 years old in a month and his availability moving forward is very much in question. As a player making $20 million this season and $21 million next year, the Cavaliers would have needed to commit significant matching salary to bring him aboard and make difficult financial decisions for next season as well.
Smart would likely have been the cheapest player to acquire, given that the Grizzlies ultimately paid the Washington Wizards to take on his contract (in and of itself a red flag for his injury status). Ultimately, however, the Cavaliers decided not to go down the Marcus Smart road, instead spending the hours before the Trade Deadline locking in on De'Andre Hunter and working out a trade.
They will move forward with Hunter playing a key rotation role on their title-contending team. Johnson and Smart, unfortunately for them, will play on two of the worst teams in the Eastern Conference and miss out on postseason play. That's how the Trade Deadline works, and the Cavaliers feel that they identified the perfect addition to make a great team even better.