The Cleveland Cavaliers have achieved phenomenal regular season success with a gaping hole in their starting lineup.
For years this franchise has struggled to find a starting small forward. Isaac Okoro has been the poster child of that search, starting for multiple seasons to start his career and off-and-on over the last couple of years, including this season in the absence of Max Strus. Yet Strus is hardly the perfect answer, a 6'5" shooting guard who lacks the size to defend the entire array of forwards they face.
The Cavaliers have also tried swinging things the other way, such as when they started the seven-foot Lauri Markkanen at small forward alongside a pair of centers three seasons ago. Dean Wade has seen quite a bit of tick in that spot as well and has probably been the best fit, but he's also this team's best answer at power forward to space the court and he is so injury prone the Cavs need to both limit his minutes and have an alternate plan.
What the Cavaliers truly need is a starting small forward who can defend at an above-average level and absolutely shoot the leather off the basketball. That would unlock the versatility of this defense while not sacrificing their potent offense. As always, however, the question remains how they could go about acquiring such a player.
That leads many analysts and fans to consider various options around the league. Should the Cavaliers trade for Brandon Ingram? Can Cameron Johnson play the 3? Is Corey Kispert a low-cost swing at a solution? Should they trade for the disaster that is Kyle Kuzma?
One such answer was provided via the popular trade site Fanspo, which considers a wide variety of deals and posts the most interesting on social media for discussion. They recently posted a deal that would bring a small forward to Cleveland; a young, two-way forward who would seem to check all of the boxes for the Cavaliers.
Let's take a look.
Unpacking the trade
The team in mind for this trade is the Sacramento Kings. They have achieved a franchise renaissance the last few seasons, breaking a two-decade playoff drought two seasons ago and then having a similar season but falling to the Play-In Tournament a season ago. This year, despite adding DeMar DeRozan, the Kings have struggled out of the gate and their 12-13 record is good for just 12th in the ultra-competitive Western Conference.
A piece of that struggle has been the play of third-year forward Keegan Murray. Sliding to the starting power forward spot after Harrison Barnes was swapped for DeRozan, Murray has taken on a high defensive role to mixed results, but most concerningly has seen his 3-point shooting crater this season to just 29.2 percent.
It's possible that the Kings could be discouraged enough by his poor play to entertain the thought of moving on. If so, when they look at their need for bench scoring and perimeter defense, Murray could be a potential path to addressing those needs, especially if he is not meeting other needs for the team right now.
If that hypothetical situation did come to pass, the Cavaliers have a package that they could offer:
The Cleveland Cavaliers would be buying low on their small forward of the future. Murray is only in his third season, although as an older rookie he is 24 years old, about eight months younger than Darius Garland. He would fit right into this team's timeline and be able to grow with them oer the coming years.
Murray is having a cold shooting slump to start the season, but he did shoot 41 percent as a rookie on high volume, setting the record for most 3-pointers as a rookie. Last season his accuracy dipped to 35.8 percent but he continued to shoot at a high volume, and forced teams to defend him.
His shot form is smooth, and in the right environment it's reasonable to think he could bounce back as a shooter. It's certainly not a guarantee, but 25 games to start the season shouldn't doom his career.
Murray is also a capable defender who would thrive with the defensive support in Cleveland he has never received in Sacramento. He is also an underrated rebounder and could find ways to excel as a cutter as well playing next to Evan Mobley in a similar way to his offball movement playing off of Domantas Sabonis in Sacramento.
Losing Isaac Okoro and Ty Jerome is not painless, but each is replaceable given the depth of this Cavaliers team. Between Murray, Caris LeVert and Craig Porter Jr. the Cavs can approximate the impact of those valuable support players.
This deal would be an excellent one for the Cavaliers. The only problem? Sacramento will probably never go for it.
Teams that draft a player and see that player hit, even if only briefly, have an irrational love for that player. Look to the Golden State Warriors refusing to include Brandin Podziemski in a trade for Lauri Markkanen this past summer, or the Houston Rockets making Tari Eason "off-limits" for a deal. Teams love the guys they draft.
There is essentially no chance that the Kings will include their beloved, home-grown forward Keegan Murray in anything short of a blockbuster deal for a star. Even if this deal would help them - and it's honestly arguable both ways - the likelihood that they would pull the trigger is slim.
For the Cavaliers, however, this would be the kind of move to invest in another core player that could propel the team to even greater heights. If you believe in Keegan Murray and his ability as a shooter, this would be a slam-dunk deal to land the perfect player for their small forward slot.
Grade: A