A Guide To The 2021 NBA Trade Deadline For The Cleveland Cavaliers

We’re four days away from the annual NBA trade deadline and the Cleveland Cavaliers are expected to be serious sellers leading up to 3 PM EST on Thursday. Cleveland, who is in season three of life after LeBron James (again), will be looking to move a few players on their roster to acquire assets to assist in their rebuild. Today, we’ll be breaking down who is and isn’t available for the Cavaliers and what the expectations should be for the team overall for the trade deadline.

Who’s available

The biggest name, and contract, that’s most openly available for Cleveland is big man Andre Drummond. Drummond, who is on a $28.7 million expiring contract, hasn’t played a game for Cleveland since February 12 in a 129-110 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers. The reason for this is a combination of a few things, but mostly due to the Cavaliers acquiring Jarrett Allen from the Brooklyn Nets in the infamous James Harden trade. Cleveland views Allen as the team’s franchise center of the future and wanted to get him integrated and familiar with the team’s young core. Drummond, a former All-Star and NBA rebounding leader, worked with the Cavaliers to decide it’s in everyone’s best interest for him to stay home while Cleveland tries to find him a new team while Allen took over as the team’s permanent starter.

According to league sources, the Cavaliers have spoken to multiple teams throughout the league to gauge their interest in acquiring Drummond via trade. The Toronto Raptors are the team that remains interested, according to those same sources, but it’s become more tepid with how well Norman Powell has played as of late. But, other than that the market has run dry for Drummond due to his mammoth price tag. If Cleveland is unable to trade him, then he’ll likely have his contract bought out by the organization and the list of interested teams grows tremendously. According to sources, at the front of that list are the Los Angeles Lakers, Brooklyn Nets, Boston Celtics and the New York Knicks. New York could trade for Drummond due to their cap space, but, it seems unlikely at this time Drummond will be traded by the Cavaliers.

Speaking of Cleveland big men that are available at the trade deadline that was impacted by the Allen acquisition, JaVale McGee is garnering a ton of interest from contenders. According to sources, the Brooklyn Nets, the Golden State Warriors and the Portland Trail Blazers are all interested in acquiring McGee’s services to bolster their respective rotations. Making only $4.2 million on an expiring contract, McGee is an easily moveable piece for the Cavaliers. At most, Cleveland will get back a future second-round selection for McGee. Considering that’s what the Cavaliers also got when they acquired him from the Los Angeles Lakers, moving McGee for an additional second is a huge win for Cleveland.

Other than McGee and Drummond, wing players like Taurean Prince, Damyean Dotson and Cedi Osman are also garnering interest on the trade market for the Cavaliers. Prince is a known commodity in today’s NBA as a 3-and-D specialist that can play, and more importantly guard, one through four. The issue that runs with Prince is the fact he isn’t on an expiring deal and is set to make approximately $15 million next season. That could complicate things which means Dotson, who is on a two-year deal where the second year isn’t guaranteed, becomes much more appealing. Dotson could provide a role somewhat similar to Prince but at a much cheaper rate.

Osman, meanwhile, is an interesting piece to pop up in trade talks for the Cavaliers. The Turkish forward is only 25-years-old and is on a relatively cost-effective four-year contract with the final year not even being fully guaranteed. He also is connecting on 32.3% of his three-point attempts this season and is one of Cleveland’s better shooters. But, with rookie marksman Dylan Windler entering the fold and the Cavaliers likely looking to take a wing in the 2021 NBA Draft, Osman has become somewhat expendable. According to sources, the Golden State Warriors would be interested in acquiring Osman, along with McGee, if the price is right. There’s no immediate pressure for Cleveland to trade Osman, mind you. It just would be a disservice on Cavaliers’ general manager Koby Altman’s part to not see what’s out there for some players on his roster.

Who isn’t available

When Cleveland acquired Allen as part of the James Harden trade, the former Brooklyn big man joined a young core that already featured Darius Garland, Collin Sexton and Isaac Okoro. According to sources, this core four for the Cavaliers is considered nearly untouchable – barring anything like a superstar caliber player suddenly becoming available and trying to force their way to Cleveland. But, that probably isn’t going to happen unless no. 23 in Los Angeles is suddenly feeling nostalgic for a second time.

Making that aforementioned core mostly unavailable in trade talks is the right call for Cleveland’s front office. None of these players are superstars, mind you. But, they are building blocks for the Cavaliers to set the foundation when they can acquire a superstar of their own – whether that’s through the draft, a trade or free agency. Rebuilds aren’t a sprint, they’re a marathon and that means teams like Cleveland need to accumulate young talent whenever they can and allow them to blossom naturally. Trading any of those young players is a disservice to both the player and the organization as a whole. That’s why these players aren’t available at the moment.

Joining the Cavaliers’ young core in being nearly-untouchable is Larry Nance Jr., according to league sources. Nance has grown into a jack of all trades, master of none player on both ends of the court for Cleveland and has had plenty of interested suitors including the Phoenix Suns, the Denver Nuggets, the Boston Celtics, the Brooklyn Nets and the New Orleans Pelicans, according to sources. Much like the rest of their young core, the Cavaliers would have to be blown away by an offer for Nance to even consider trading him. Not only is his on-court production invaluable to Cleveland but his work as a civic leader in the community has also made him a nearly-untouchable player.

Final thoughts

While the Cavaliers are trying to be big-time players at this year’s deadline, it may end up being relatively quiet for the organization. McGee is the most likely candidate to be on the move for Cleveland and the team will hopefully add draft capital along the way. Osman may join McGee if Cleveland and Golden State can bang out an agreeable deal for both sides. Drummond’s contract, meanwhile, is probably too massive to move without another team gutting the majority of their roster and rotation. So, expect him to come to a buyout agreement soon after the trade deadline passes. But, Altman is also known as a general manager that can make some kind of trade happen where there was initially thought to be nothing there. It should be an interesting week for the Cavaliers and the team should look a lot different come Friday when the team takes on the Los Angeles Lakers.