Trade Targets for Cavs to Avoid at 2024 Deadline
The Cleveland Cavaliers spent the first half of the 2023-24 NBA season cementing their place among the Eastern Conference's second tier.
With a clean bill of health and a productive trade deadline, though, this squad has a non-zero chance of cracking that elite tier by season's end.
Cleveland should be careful, though, as paying up for the wrong player could not only knock this roster off-balance, it might also make it trickier to broker future trades. The following three players in particular should be kept off the shopping list.
Andre Drummond, Chicago Bulls
1 of 3
The Cavaliers could be in the big-man market after losing Tristan Thompson to a 25-game suspension for violating the league's anti-drug program.
Not just any sizable center would do, though. Not if said big man is going to cost this club any kind of assets, at least.
What the Cavaliers need more than anything is a stretch big capable of playing alongside Evan Mobley or Jarrett Allen. That obviously isn't Andre Drummond.
The 6'11", 279-pounder is a relentless rebounder and a relatively reliable finisher from point blank. That's about the extent of his skill set, though, and the Mobley-Allen combo already has those areas covered. With questions already raised about the viability of that non-shooting tandem come playoff time, the last thing Cleveland needs is another floor-shrinker.
Tyus Jones, Washington Wizards
2 of 3
The Cavaliers could look to add another ball-mover before the deadline.
Between Ricky Rubio's retirement and the ankle injury Ty Jerome can't seem to shake, Cleveland is lighter on playmakers than expected. Craig Porter Jr. has looked mostly solid, but he's an undrafted rookie on a two-way contract, so who knows how much—if at all—he factors into the postseason plans. Caris LeVert is a capable creator, but he's more of a scorer than a natural table-setter.
Tyus Jones would fill that void and then some, but he wouldn't be worth what it would cost the Cavs to pry him away from the Wizards.
Cleveland needs size in the backcourt, and the 6'1", 196-pound Jones offers none of it. Cleveland could also use more stoppers at the guard spots, and while he's a capable team defender, he isn't locking up high-end point guards one-on-one. Finally, Cleveland needs all the volume shooting it can get around its range-restricted bigs, and he's averaged fewer than a three per night for his career.
Luke Kennard, Memphis Grizzlies
3 of 3
The Cavaliers will never have too many shooters so long as they keep the Mobley-Allen frontcourt together.
In theory, then, it might be worth seeing what it would cost for the going-nowhere Grizzlies to give up Luke Kennard. There aren't many players in this league—let alone realistically available ones—capable of matching his career blend of three-point volume (2.0 makes per outing) and efficiency (43.6).
Cleveland already has its share of shooting specialists, though, including one in Sam Merrill whose numbers are simply better than Kennard's (2.5 threes on 43.1 percent shooting to Kennard's 2.6 on 42.6). Kennard has a longer track record and offers a pinch more passing, but he also has a near-$15 million salary, per Spotrac. Merrill's salary, meanwhile, is south of $2 million.
While the Cavs should search for shooting ahead of the deadline, what they really need are wing-sized shooters who contribute on both ends. No part of that description beyond the shooter label fits Kennard.
