Cleveland isn’t getting Durant, but they could bolster their supporting cast by being the third or fourth team in a deal.
The Cleveland Cavaliers aren’t trading for Kevin Durant. The second apron makes it functionally impossible for them to take on Durant’s $51 million contract. There’s no reason to give a hypothetical deal where he ends up in Cleveland any thought.
However, that doesn’t mean the Cavs can’t benefit from the Phoenix Suns trading Durant.
Reporting from Jake Fischer seems to suggest that a deal for Durant could “happen as soon as next week.” The Minnesota Timberwolves, Miami Heat, Houston Rockets, San Antonio Spurs, Los Angeles Clippers, New York Knicks, and Toronto Raptors are all teams that seem to be in the mix for Durant.
It’s anyone’s guess as to where Durant will end up. But whatever team trades for him will likely need to move multiple rotation-level players to make the trade work from a financial perspective. A team like the Suns may not want that many rotation pieces in return. Or at the very least, could be willing to sell them off for draft picks like the Portland Trail Blazers did in the aftermath of the Damian Lillard trade.
This is where the Cavs come in.
They could grab one of those extra rotation players by sending out a salary like Isaac Okoro’s with draft compensation attached.
For example, the Rockets might need to send out four rotation players for a deal. Would Cleveland’s 2031 first, some seconds, and a few first-round pick swaps be enough to reroute someone like Jabari Smith Jr. in the deal? Maybe not, but there’s no harm in trying.
The same thought process works for any other team that could trade for Durant.
If there’s a trade with the Clippers, the Cavs might be able to grab someone like Derrick Jones Jr. If it’s the Timberwolves, Mike Conley could make sense as a backup point guard. The Cavs drafted Ochai Agbaji once, who’s to say they wouldn’t want to use another draft pick on getting him back? What about Kyle Anderson? He could fit with what the Cavs need from a backup four.
These are the type of players that might not otherwise be available, but could be because of a Durant trade.
Koby Altman has a history of salvaging treasure from the wreckage of a blockbuster deal. He got Jarrett Allen in the James Harden trade to the Brooklyn Nets because the Rockets preferred another first-round pick over Allen.
We’ve also seen that these types of trades can be the ones that are most beneficial for a team in the Cavs’ position. The Boston Celtics won the Lillard trade by acquiring Jrue Holiday in a separate move after the blockbuster deal. Holiday’s presence turned out to be the missing piece as they went on to win the championship the next year.
Fischer also reported that the Suns could be looking to move Grayson Allen and Royce O’Neale — someone who has a history of working well with Donovan Mitchell when they were both with the Utah Jazz.
Grayson Allen’s $15.6 million contract makes him difficult to acquire. Cleveland would need to send out a player like Jarrett Allen to make the salaries work, and a deal like that wouldn’t help Cleveland. But O’Neal’s $9.3 million could be had in a swap that included Okoro (the Suns are currently a second-apron team, so that deal wouldn’t be allowed now, but could be feasible after the Durant trade is finalized).
It’s difficult to speculate on who the Cavs may be able to acquire in a Durant deal or its aftermath. There’s too many unknowns right now, and there may be teams with better assets trying to come in and grab these players.
That said, blockbuster deals like this could allow Altman to upgrade some of Cleveland’s rotation players. In the long run, that may be more beneficial for a team like the Cavs that is close to being a championship-level team, but needs better-fitting pieces on the margins to make the leap.
The second apron will make it more difficult for the Cavs to make moves this offseason, but it doesn’t make it impossible. We’ll see if Cleveland can make any improvements by getting involved as the third or fourth team in a blockbuster trade.