Cleveland Cavaliers Trade Off $90 Million Young, Improving Scoring Star-Player Due To…
The Cleveland Cavaliers took a step forward last season, going from a first-round playoff exit team to one that reached the Semifinals. Now, it’s time to take another leap forward.
While Cleveland’s front office swapped head coaches, firing J.B. Bickerstaff and hiring Kenny Atkinson, the Cavaliers haven’t significantly upgraded the roster. Perhaps it’s time to change that.
Most of the top free agents have been picked over, but there are still several players who could strengthen the roster. Now the Cavs are even being linked to a potential star.
Bridges has never been an All-Star, but his play has come close to that level. If the Cavaliers want to add an explosive wing scorer, Bridges might be the perfect fit.
After missing the entire 2023-24 season after being suspended due to a domestic violence incident, Bridges came back as strong as ever in 2024. Still just 26 years old, Bridges could be a great buy-low candidate for the Cavaliers this offseason, and he fits their competitive timeline nicely.
It’s not known what the Hornets would want in return in a potential sign-and-trade, but being that they’re still a young team, chances are they’d prioritize future assets such as draft picks and high-potential athletes.
After Paul George landed with the Philadelphia 76ers and Klay Thompson chose to leave the Golden State Warriors for the Dallas Mavericks, NBA free agency has started to cool off, with few game-changers left on the open market.
At this point, most of the players still available are veteran role players, with teams looking to address needs in certain areas while filling out their rosters ahead of the NBA Summer League, which gets underway next week.
One player who has the potential to be a game-changer on both ends of the floor that is still available in free agency is controversial forward Miles Bridges, formerly of the Charlotte Hornets.
With Bridges having his problems off the floor and being someone that teams have purposely kept away from due to the negative attention they’d receive for signing him, he hasn’t gotten a lot of interest around the league, which isn’t all that surprising.
However, one team that might take a chance on him is the Cleveland Cavaliers, with NBA insider Marc Stein reporting that the Cavs might try to pull off a sign-and-trade with the Hornets for his services via NBA Central.
“It is not yet clear how serious the interest is, but league sources describe Cleveland as a team to watch in a potential sign-and-trade scenario for Miles Bridges. New Hornets executive vice president of basketball operations Jeff Peterson has said publicly that Charlotte hopes to retain Bridges, but Bridges is known to be interested in sign-and-trade options.”
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Cavs Veteran Could Be Included In A Sign-And-Trade This Offseason…
The Cleveland Cavaliers had high hopes for Isaac Okoro.
He was expected to be a major contributor to their future, as he had the defensive skills and instincts to become one of the best wing-stoppers in the game.
His offense, however, never truly caught up, and he struggled mightily to be a factor on that end of the floor.
So, now that he’s weighing his options and coming off a year of shooting a career-best 39% from beyond the arc, the Cavs are reportedly considering sign-and-trade scenarios with him.
Per Evan Sidery of Forbes Sports, the Cavaliers want to improve their rotation in the wing, and they could use the former No. 5 pick as trade bait to do so.
Okoro can still turn out to be one of the best defenders in the league, and there’s always a market for 3-and-D players.
The Cavs just hired Kenny Atkinson to be their next coach, so he’s most likely going to go after offensive-minded players for his project.
That’s nowhere near the case with Okoro, who drew comparisons to the likes of Kawhi Leonard before he entered the league but — with all due respect — could be closer to someone like Trevor Ariza if he keeps knocking down three-pointers at an efficient rate.
The Cavaliers know they’re not that far behind in terms of contention, and they cannot afford to waste any more time.
Developing Evan Mobley’s offensive game will be key for this team, but they will also need another scorer on the team to help take some weight off Donovan Mitchell’s shoulders.
The Cleveland Cavaliers got their biggest task out of the way.
They gave up a lot to get Donovan Mitchell to Ohio, but that wasn’t enough; they had to make sure he stayed there for good.
They did so, as the former Utah Jazz star has officially agreed on a three-year contract extension worth a whopping $150.3 million, according to a report by Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.