When the Brooklyn Nets traded Mikal Bridges to the New York Knicks the message was clear: the Nets plan to blow up their roster and begin a full rebuild. Their more expensive and valuable players are available, and they are not looking for stars in return, but rather young players and draft picks. This is great news for the Cleveland Cavaliers as Brooklyn has multiple wings that could be a perfect fit with this Cavaliers roster. And since the Nets are rebuilding, the Cavaliers wouldn't have to give up a major piece to complete the trade.
ESPN Insider, Zach Lowe reported that the Cavaliers have an interest in acquiring either Cam Johnson or Dorian Finney-Smith in a trade with the Nets. Also, Bobby Marks of ESPN made some interesting remarks about the availability of Isaac Okoro in a sign-and-trade for the Cavs.
"Cleveland’s got Isaac Okoro who’s a restricted free agent. Look at maybe sign and trade options for him. Maybe a bigger wing . . . I don’t want to give away the beans here, so keep an eye on Cleveland as far as Isaac Okoro here. . . [The Cavs] are about $9.5 million below the luxury tax. So, if you do a sign-and-trade with Okoro, you got to be careful as far as what money is coming back."Bobby Marks
Cam Johnson is making about 23 million dollars next year, so the Cavs would likely have to include another player in the deal to match the salaries. Caris LeVert, Georges Niang and Dean Wade have the salaries to help the trade and may be available by the Cavaliers front office. LeVert and Wade would rather be kept by Cleveland, but depending on how badly they want Cam Johnson, they may include one of them in a deal.
Dorian Finney-Smith is only making 14 million dollars next year, and Okoro's qualifying offer is 11.8 million dollars. So, the Cavaliers wouldn't need to include another true rotational player in this trade to make it work depending on what contract Okoro and the Nets agree upon in a sign-and-trade.
Brooklyn will certainly want draft picks included in either deal to help their rebuild. However, the Cavaliers don't have a first-round pick until 2030. A pick that far in the future may not be enticing enough for Brooklyn, but since this is set to be a longer rebuild, Brooklyn may be content with it. Let's take a closer look at each player to see what they could bring to Cleveland.