Cleveland Cavaliers
One of the best up-and-coming teams in the Eastern Conference, the Cleveland Cavaliers surprised a lot of people with their performance during the 2021-22 season. They finished in eighth place, losing to the Nets and Atlanta Hawks in the NBA Play-In Tournament, but they won the most games in a season without LeBron James since the 1997-98 campaign.
This is a Cavaliers team on the rise and heading in the right direction following LeBron James’ latest departure from Cleveland. While they could ride things out a little longer and see how their young core develops, they could look to make a big splash this offseason and push for being contenders as soon as this season.
With the Cavaliers facing a need on the wing, they should make some calls about Kevin Durant to get him to Cleveland. He would catapult them into contenders as they already have two young All-Stars in Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen in place. Evan Mobley looks like a future All-Star as well, as this young core would benefit greatly from the presence of a superstar such as Durant.
The Cavaliers have tradable contracts in the expiring Caris LeVert and Kevin Love that the Nets could have interest in. Young players such as Isaac Okoro, Dylan Windler and 2022 first-round pick Ochai Agbaji could also be included. A Collin Sexton sign-and-trade would be an option as well.
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The Cleveland Cavaliers don’t have their 2023 first-round pick but own the rest of theirs going forward after that. The price would be worthwhile inserting Durant into the middle of their lineup.
