After trading De'Andre Hunter to the Sacramento Kings, the Cleveland Cavaliers are approaching the February 4 trade deadline with eyes on the NBA Finals.
In exchange for Hunter, Cleveland added Dennis Schroder and Keon Ellis. The Cavs dropped roughly $50 million in luxury tax penalties and now sit just $14 million away from leaving the second apron. With the deadline a few days away, the Cavaliers are in a position to find financial relief and still build towards a greater Finals contender.
Following the Hunter deal, news and rumors quickly circled around veteran guard Lonzo Ball and his future. His Cleveland tenure has fallen short, making him a clear trade candidate over the next few days. The Washington Wizards are one of a few teams to show interest to absorb his salary for second-round draft compensation.
If Cleveland can successfully pivot away from Lonzo, they would sit just $4 million from the second apron threshold and could make the biggest swing of the deadline in a league-changing blockbuster deal.
The Cavaliers are a perfect home for Giannis
As all 30 teams in the NBA have been doing, the Cavs are showing some level of interest in trading for Giannis Antetokounmpo. The former MVP and NBA Champion is finally facing an inevitable fallout with the Milwaukee Bucks, looking for his next home to build a potential dynasty.
If there is any team with the perfect mix of star talent and two-way role players, it is the Cavaliers. Following a Lonzo salary dump, the pathway to acquiring Giannis opens up and makes Cleveland the perfect destination.
Evan Mobley is an elite defensive talent and has slowly shifted into a center role. Donovan Mitchell is one of the most electric offensive players in the NBA, and his continued excellence could pair with Giannis as an unstoppable duo. The emergence of Jaylon Tyson also gives added fire power.
The addition of Ellis and Schroder provide two more ideal role players for a Giannis-led Cavaliers squad. Ellis' perimeter defense and Schroder's playmaking complement what Giannis brings.
How Cleveland gets to a Giannis deal
The current trade rules restrict teams above the second apron from combining contracts in a trade or taking on extra salary in a deal. Those rules only apply based on where a team sits financially after the trade takes place, meaning if the Cavs move on from Lonzo, they must drop an extra $4 million in a Giannis deal to make it legal and leave the second apron.
Trading for Giannis would undoubtedly force the Cavaliers to break up the core four, and finding a third team to get involved would be a necessity. Looking around the NBA landscape, a clear suitor for Cleveland's Darius Garland could be the Houston Rockets as they attempt to navigate a win-now mindset with Kevin Durant while building a path towards future contention, too. Garland is an elite point guard to replace the injured Fred VanVleet, elevating the Rockets' offense and overall prowess out west.
In total, this multi-team blockbuster sees the Rockets and Cavaliers split the cost of Giannis while establishing new star cores of their own. Houston adds an All-Star talent guard in Garland without surrendering their current rising stars, and the Bucks find a bevy of quality veteran talents and a haul of future draft assets.
Cleveland would send their 2030 and 2032 first-rounders, and the Rockets would ship out their 2027 Brooklyn Nets and 2027 Phoenix Suns firsts.
For Cleveland, this establishes a true big three, placing Mobley at the center position with Giannis at the four. Mitchell assumes a full-time point guard role, starting alongside Ellis and Tyson.
Losing Jarrett Allen hampers the Cavs' frontcourt depth further, but signing Nae'Qwan Tomlin to a standard contract and retaining Thomas Bryant and Larry Nance, Jr. at least fixes some of those issues. Dean Wade also serves as a steady backup power forward, spacing the floor next to Giannis.
Obviously, the Cavs' loss of Garland raises questions about Mitchell's ability as a point guard. Still, the Cavaliers would likely choose to experiment with a Mitchell-Ellis backcourt rather than refuse a pathway to one of the greatest players to hit the hardwood.
Bringing Giannis to Cleveland is as unlikely of a dream scenario as any fan could conjure. If the Bucks trade their franchise cornerstone, they would expect a king's ransom that makes the 2022 Mitchell trade look like a simple transaction. Still, if Milwaukee cannot find a trade for a solidified young star and draft picks, this could be a worthwhile second option.
The Cleveland Cavaliers are almost certainly out of the Giannis sweepstakes, but their Hunter trade nonetheless opened the window just enough to let the rumors fly and trade machines churn. If president of basketball operations Koby Altman really wants to see the NBA world collectively see their jaws hit the floor, this would be the trade deadline to do so.