Cavs Trade Rumors: Nets' Royce O'Neale Eyed After Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving Deals
The Brooklyn Nets may not be done dealing.
After trading Kyrie Irving to the Dallas Mavericks and reportedly sending Kevin Durant to the Phoenix Suns, per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, the Nets could look to move forward Royce O'Neale.
According to Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com, the Cleveland Cavaliers are interested, "as they continue to scour the trade market for a potential wing upgrade."
With Irving and Durant no longer on the Nets, the Cavaliers have an opportunity to cement themselves as one of the top contenders in the Eastern Conference alongside the Boston Celtics, Milwaukee Bucks and Philadelphia 76ers.
The combination of Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley, Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen could compete with some of the best teams in the league, but the need for another wing player who could shoot from the outside and bring versatile defense is apparent.
Enter O'Neale, who is accustomed to playing away from the ball given the star power he suited up with in Brooklyn and wouldn't need to adjust much in Cleveland. He is also hitting a career-best 40.3 percent from deep this season.
The 29-year-old could take advantage of the spacing created by Mitchell's drives to find open three-point looks from the wing and corner, and he could also take some of the pressure off the primary playmakers on the defensive side as well with his ability to guard multiple positions.
Opponents are shooting 5.8 percent worse from within 10 feet of the basket and 1.0 percent worse overall than their normal averages when he guards them, per NBA.com.
Brooklyn figures to be looking to the future, and it received four unprotected future first-round picks in the Durant trade. While dealing O'Neale won't net that type of return, they could add to their assets as the front office attempts to build a new contender after the Durant, Irving and James Harden era didn't net the desired results.
As for Cleveland, it is in fourth place in the Eastern Conference and one game behind Philadelphia for the No. 3 spot. Adding someone like O'Neale to address an area of need could help the Cavs make a final push with seeding and home-court advantage on the line.
