Everyone is trying to figure out what the Cleveland Cavaliers are going to do at the Trade Deadline.
Cleveland is historically a team that likes to make moves at this time of the year, whether that was midseason shake-ups to drive their run to the NBA Finals in 2015 and 2018, or the deal that brought in Caris LeVert a few years back. While many of the team's biggest trades have come in the offseason, the Cavs are not afraid to take a swing during the season.
This year's Cleveland Cavaliers are in an incredible position, 36-6 and leading the Eastern Conference by a wide margin. They have defeated all of the other title favorites across the league and proven themselves an inner-circle title contender. This is a team poised to do what no non-LeBron James Cleveland team has ever done: win the Eastern Conference and reach the NBA Finals.
The Trade Deadline can be a way to improve those chances. Cleveland could trade for a big-name player, pushing their remaining assets into the middle to maximize their chances this season. Jimmy Butler seems like an unlikely way to do so, but Brandon Ingram has frequently been linked to the Cavaliers, as has Cam Johnson of the Brooklyn Nets or Jerami Grant of the Portland Trail Blazers.
They may also make a smaller move on the margins, content to largely ride this core of players and see what they can accomplish together. Trying to find one more perimeter defender or a third center to have on hand in case of emergency could come via a small trade or scanning the buyout market.
The path no Cavaliers fan wants them to take
There is one other path the team could take this Trade Deadline, and it's not exactly one that would maximize winning. The Cavaliers are $1.6 million over the luxury tax line, and historically teams that are that close find a way to get out of the tax entirely. There is no team-building restriction that would affect the Cavs by being in the tax this season, but it would cost them a significant payout this year and accelerate more harsh luxury tax penalties in the future -- again, not harming their ability to build and maintain the roster, but costing owner Dan Gilbert money.
Such a deal might not be a major issue if there was an obvious small contract on the books to offload, but that's not the case for the Cavaliers. Trading a minimum contract like Tristan Thompson won't do the trick because they need to then replace him. It would likely need to be a larger deal.
The most obvious candidate on the roster is Caris LeVert. The 6'6" wing is making $16.6 million in the final year of the $32 million contract he signed to stay with the Cavaliers in 2023. This summer he will be an unrestricted free agent, and the Cavaliers may be hard-pressed to re-sign him with new contracts for Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley kicking in and other players like Ty Jerome also hitting free agency.
If LeVert is a strong candidate to leave this summer, it makes "asset" sense for the Cavaliers to trade him now when they can get back something of value for him. Sending out LeVert and receiving back a player who costs less money could help them to duck the luxury tax entirely., and it's something that is bubbling up in league rumors as a possible plan for Cleveland by the Trade Deadline.
The problem with that plan, of course, is that Caris LeVert is a crucial member of the rotation, a Sixth Man of the Year candidate shooting the leather off the basketball and playing solid defense. When one of the backcourt stars misses time, he is able to step up and approximate their role. He has learned to excel alongside the stars and is valuable and perhaps necessary protection against an injury.
Trading LeVert (or Max Strus, or Dean Wade) means moving on from a crucial rotation player, someone who has contributed meaningfully to the team's historic start, all in the name of saving a bit of money for billionaire owner Dan Gilbert. To his credit, Gilbert has always been willing to pay for expensive contending Cleveland teams in the past; will he do so again, or be persuaded by financial advisors stacking up towers of gold coins that he should make the "smart business decision" and make this team worse to make them less expensive.
With just over two weeks remaining until the NBA Trade Deadline we will soon have our answer. Rumors are percolating, however, that Koby Altman may be told he has to find a trade to make this team worse. That would be a painful pill to swallow.