No. 2 - Robert Williams III
In this hypothetical exchange, the Cavaliers would send Georges Niang and Porter to the Portland Trailblazers for Robert Williams III.
This trade would help the Blazers, because last season they were the worst team in 3-point percentage (34.5), and they traded veteran guard Malcolm Brogdon to the Washington Wizards in the Deni Avdija trade.
This move is low-risk with a high payoff for the Wine and Gold because Williams is one of the best defenders in the NBA when healthy. Yet, that hasn’t been the case for a while. He’s only played in 41 outings over the last two regular seasons but was seventh in minutes for the Boston Celtics two years ago on a team that made the Eastern Conference Finals. He was also the seventh man on the Celtics' 2021-22 team that went to the Finals.
When healthy, Williams has swift maneuvering speed to cover all positions in a 6-foot-9, 237-pound frame and is like a roaming stack of TNT. When he played 61 games in 2021-22, the big man collected 0.9 steals and 2.2 rejections in 29.6 minutes nightly and was a Defensive Player of the Year candidate. Additionally, Williams is a low-usage rim roller.
Imagine having Williams come in to supplement the defense when one of Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen sit.