Cleveland Cavaliers

After being featured in NBA trade rumors for reportedly shopping a lot of the players on their roster, the Cavaliers ended their NBA trade deadline by sending JaVale McGee to the Nuggets for Isaiah Hartenstein and two second-round picks, as well as buying out Andre Drummond from his massive contract. 

Now, the Cavaliers took a major cap hit by buying out Drummond and all they got were two second-round picks, which are not too valuable in the grand scheme of things. The Cavaliers should have been able to trade Andre Drummond for at least something and they also could have traded Larry Nance Jr. or Cedi Osman while their values were high. 

Nance Jr. was drawing a ton of interest around the league and with him being 28-years-old, the Cavaliers could have likely received a first-round pick and more young talents for him, but instead, they will keep him in a very crowded frontcourt. 

RELATED: NBA Trade Rumors: Evaluating 4 biggest winners at 2021 NBA trade deadline

The Cavaliers will still have a chance to move either Larry Nance Jr. or Cedi Osman in the offseason should they look to trade some of their frontcourt talent, but both of these player’s values were very high on the open market at this year’s NBA trade deadline. 

It’s clear the Cavaliers are not in a bad position at all as a franchise, as Collin Sexton and Darius Garland make up one of the better, young backcourts in the league, but they are still a couple of seasons away from being playoff contenders. For this reason, is why the Cavaliers could have made a mistake not selling more of their talent at the trade deadline for future assets to build with.