Constructing the perfect Cleveland Cavaliers trade deadline in 2024

January is drawing to a close, which is roughly the midpoint of the NBA season and the height of NBA trade season. The NBA Trade Deadline is just 10 days away, with teams wheeling and dealing right up to the 3:00 PM ET deadline on Thursday, February 8th. The Cleveland Cavaliers are historically quite active at the deadline, and this year looks to be no exception.

While in most seasons the activity tends to take place in the final few days before the deadline, this season a number of big trades have already happened. Pascal Siakam, OG Anunoby and Terry Rozier have already changed teams, and the rumors and whispers have continued to swirl around all 30 teams as the deadline approaches.

The Cavaliers came into the season with their sights set on contention, but a slow start and multiple key injuries looked ready to turn the Cavs into sellers instead. Then the team ripped off a 15-4 record over the past six weeks to not only right the ship but put them in line to secure a high playoff seed. The Cavaliers are buyers once more heading into the deadline.

Crafting the perfect Trade Deadline

What would a perfect Trade Deadline for the Cleveland Cavaliers look like? It wouldn't involve trading bench players for an All-Star; we're talking about realistic trades. We're also not contemplating some sort of massive 10-team impossibility where the Cavs flip the entire roster over for Stephen Curry, LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Joel Embiid.

What is a path forward that the Cavaliers could realistically take with the assets available to them to improve the team and set them up for increased success in the playoffs? This isn't a list of trades for the team to make, but rather principles for them to take into negotiations.

Let's dig into the perfect plan for the Cavs to win the trade deadline and prepare for a deep playoff run.

Step No. 1: Don't break up the band

The Cleveland Cavaliers have a core of four stars on which they have built their success. That group propelled them to 51 wins and the league's second-best net rating last season, but was then obliterated in the playoffs by the New York Knicks. This year they re-armed around that group to see if more shooting could lift them to greater success, with the background implication being that the team would likely break up the band if things didn't go well.

Such a breakup seemed imminent when the season looked on the brink of collapse, but the Cavs' dominance over the past six weeks has reset their expectations. They also have raised a necessary question: if the Cavaliers are playing so well without Darius Garland and Evan Mobley, is that proof this group of four doesn't fit together well enough to go to war with?

There are problems downstream of that answer. Do the Cavaliers fully commit to playing Donovan Mitchell at point guard and look to trade Darius Garland? That could lead to a serious problem if Mitchell walks in free agency in the summer of 2025. Do they trade Evan Mobley? It would be seriously difficult to get back proper value for Mobley given his value, small contract and recent injury. Trade Jarrett Allen? He has been way too good for the Cavs to move on from him now; he's been the backbone of the league's best defense in January.

The Cavs' approach with Mobley and Garland sidelined has been the right one; J.B. Bickerstaff deserves a lot of credit for leaning into wing defense and 3-point shooting. Yet playing the percentages and racking up regular-season wins only goes so far; as ESPN's Zach Lowe recently said when discussing the Cavs, a certain level of raw talent is necessary for winning in the playoffs.

Can Bickerstaff integrate Evan Mobley and Darius Garland back into the rotation and yet keep this offensive attack? Will the defense on the perimeter hold up when Mitchell and Garland are closing games instead of Mitchell and Max Strus?

It may very well be necessary for this core of four players to be broken up, but the Cavaliers shouldn't pull the plug right now. Plugging Mobley and Garland back in will be difficult and potentially disruptive, but trading them would only mean new players to integrate. Cleveland should make a run this season and reevaluate in the summer. They can't gain proof of concept by the deadline, and this group has too high of an upside to flush them without giving it a shot.

Step No. 2: Trade Caris LeVert

This isn't the same sort of call to trade a palyer like with the Chicago Bulls and Zach LaVine, who should take any deal they can find to get off of his contract. Nor is it a situation with a toxic player the team needs to wash their hands of. Caris LeVert is on a reasonable contract, is playing well and is a positive influence on the locker.

So why trade him? Because he is the best trade asset the Cavaliers have right now outside of their starting lineup, and given their lack of draft picks it's unlikely that the Cavs can make any sort of real upgrade without moving him. His salary of $15.38 million is high enough to match someone significant, and he holds value on his own and even more if paired with second-round picks.

LeVert has been a valuable player to the Cavaliers. His ability to step up in the absence of Garland or Mitchell and raise the floor of the offense is valuable, and he has been an important part of their success over the past two months. Yet when this team is at full strength they will rely on LeVert much less, even more so as they increase the stagger between Garland and Mitchell to continue maximizing shooting and defense on the perimeter.

That makes LeVert more valuable to other teams than to the Cavaliers, and makes him their best shot at trading for a 3-and-D player to plug into the lineup, someone better deployed off-ball on offense. Trading LeVert opens up a much larger pool of trade candidates for the team. If they don't find a trade that clearly makes them better they can and should hang onto LeVert, but they need to go into deadline discussions with LeVert on the table.

Step 3: Keep Dean Wade

Dean Wade continues to be one of the most underrated players in the NBA, a somewhat shocking development given how marketable the "low-usage, scrappy role player" archetype tends to be. NBA analysts and broadcasters love to point out the undervalued role players. Still, somehow Wade's impact has been lost as Jarrett Allen and Donovan Mitchell have sucked up all of the oxygen during Cleveland's impressive run.

Only Donovan Mitchell has been a more impactful player on the Cavaliers' scoring margin than Dean Wade. When Wade is on the court the Cavs outscore opponents by 8.4 points per 100 possessions. He is shooting 40.4 percent from deep as the ultimate release valve, living in the corners, while his perimeter defense is among the league's best. Literally, Basketball Index ranked Wade as the top "Wing Stopper" in the NBA this season:

Now it's time to add in Dean Wade's contract. The 27-year-old combo forward is in the first year of a three-year, $18.5 million deal with only a partial guarantee on the final season. That's an elite bargain for a player who fits seamlessly into nearly any lineup, as Wade does.

Many trade ideas being bandied about involving the Cavaliers have Dean Wade included, and that makes some sense on the surface; he's not one of the stars and therefore has salary that can be used to match a player coming back. Yet the reality is that what the Cavs need most are 3-and-D players, and they already have a great one in Dean Wade. Would trading him for someone like Royce O'Neale or D'Andre Hunter actually be an upgrade? Or is Wade a more useful player in his role than they are?

The Cavs should keep Dean Wade and go looking for another player like him, not send him out in a lateral move. He has proven himself much too valuable.

Step 4: Trade for someone who can shoot and defend

This guideline seems simple enough, if not easy. The Cleveland Cavaliers have offensive creators and they have elite interior defenders, and they need to fill in the lineup between them. That's been the mandate for two seasons now since the Donovan Mitchell trade, and led them to make additions such as Max Strus and Georges Niang.

The difficulty, of course, is that every good NBA team is looking for such players. The "3-and-D" wing archetype is one of the most valued ones around the league, and role players who check one box and even a hint of the other are often some of the most pursued players on the trade market. The Cavs will need to outbid other teams for the players who fit this archetype, names like Dorian Finney-Smith or Gary Harris.

The Cavs may be tempted to try and shop in less expensive waters, especially considering their dearth of draft assets. Yet the reality is that their depth has shone through over the past two months, and trading for a bargain player who either shoots or defends won't cut it, because they won't play.

If Cleveland adds a pure shooter, it's highly unlikely they would see playing time over Sam Merrill or Georges Niang. If they add a defender with a questionable shot, why would they play over Isaac Okoro or Dean Wade? Trading their few remaining assets for a 12th-man isn't worth it, especially considering how tight J.B. Bickerstaff runs his rotations. It's a real two-way player or bust for Cleveland at this point.

Step 5: Be aggressive on the buyout market

This final step technically falls after the NBA Trade Deadline, but the Cavaliers' approach to the deadline will be influenced by how they plan to approach the buyout market. Once the dust settles from the trade deadline, veteran players on losing teams will be working to secure contract buyouts to hit the open market.

Given the road map outlined in this piece, the Cavaliers should look to the buyout market to fill in the last couple of roster spots. They are under the luxury tax aprons, unlike most of the other contenders in the NBA, which means they can pursue players that those teams are now forbidden to sign under the new CBA: names like Kyle Lowry, Joe Harris and Gordon Hayward.

The buyout market may be unusually rich this season, giving the Cavs a chance to add veteran point guard depth, a third center they trust more than Damian Jones, and even a veteran wing; all of those needs could be reasonably met on the buyout market. That should relieve pressure for Cleveland to address those areas on the trade market.

That's the plan: keep the core together, don't move on from Dean Wade, and only make a trade if it brings back a two-way player who will actually see minutes for this team. If Caris LeVert is the cost to make such a deal, so be it. If such a difference-maker can't be acquired, the Cavs should stay patient and look to the buyout market to fill in the gaps.

The Cavaliers look like one of the best teams in the NBA right now. This is the plan to stay the course and aim for a postseason filled with more success than failure. The chaos of the NBA Trade Deadline can be used to this team's advantage and make them even better than before.