The Cleveland Cavaliers completed the second big trade of the NBA season in shipping out forward De’Andre Hunter to the Kings while bringing back wing Keon Ellis and point guard Dennis Schroder, also shipping a second-round pick to the Bulls in the bargain.
After the trade, it was clear that the Cavaliers were not done dealing, with the team desperate to find a taker for Lonzo Ball and still hopeful that maybe there was a way to chop enough off their payroll to get under the NBA’s second apron of the luxury tax.
Overnight, though, it was revealed that the Cavaliers have bigger fish to fry. Cleveland has been discussed as a candidate for a Giannis Antetokounmpo trade, which would be a complicated deal to pull off, but an easier deal to make, it turns out, is lingering: The Cavs could send out Darius Garland to the Clippers for James Harden, who is apparently disgruntled again.
As Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com wrote: “The talks between Cleveland and Los Angeles, which were said to not yet have reached the advanced stage, would be centered on injured point guard Darius Garland. The Cavs, sources say, would hope to receive draft-pick compensation in any Harden iteration.”
NBA Trade Rumors: Cavaliers May Have More Coming
Don’t bother building complicated trades to get Harden to the Cavaliers–because they are a second-apron team, they can’t aggregate players in a deal. The only way Cleveland can acquire Harden ($39.2 million this year) is in a 1-for-1 deal for a player who makes slightly more money, and Garland ($39.5 million) would fit the bill.
The Cavs can take draft compensation from the Clippers, which would be required.
But the question for the Cavs would be … why? Harden has been known to be a perpetually unhappy player who has demanded trades from the Rockets, Nets and Sixers before him, and will want a major contract extension from Cleveland, even at age 35. He is a dominator of the ball, and would have to somehow fit with Donovan Mitchell.
There are other teams that had expressed interest in Harden, but those talks never advanced very far.
The Cavaliers are still $14 million over the second luxury-tax apron and if dealing for Harden nets them another first-round pick, the hope is that they could attach that pick (or another) to Lonzo Ball and dump him off on a team with cap space to be rid of his $10 million in salary.
The Cavs saved more than &8 million in the Hunter trade.
“It’s a tough needle to thread, getting better as a team and saving money and cutting payroll, but the Hunter deal did that for them,” one NBA exec said. “Now they’ve just got to do it again.”
Nets Could Be Patient
The Brooklyn Nets remain a team of interest, with several players sought by other teams, from Michael Porter Jr. to Nic Claxton and Day’Ron Sharpe and even Cam Thomas. But they’re signaling that they’re willing to wait on deals.
“The Nets would be perfectly fine letting this trade deadline go with Porter still on the roster and seeing if they can get two first-rounders next summer,” one Eastern Conference GM said. “They can be patient. They’re bad with him (12-34) so it is not like they need to trade him to tank. Everything else is just collecting assets, using their cap space to fill a spot and take on a pick.”
GettyMichael Porter Jr. #17 of the Brooklyn Nets is one of the mysteries of the NBA trade rumor mill.
Lakers Shopping Former Starter
The Lakers are shopping Rui Hachimura, though that is a situation in which they’re having a hard time finding a taker. Hachimura can be a free agent next summer.
“There are teams they like Rui and would want to keep him with Bird rights,” the executive said. “But first you’ve got to find a team that wants him, and then you have to see if there’s anything that matches up with what they need, and then you’ve got to make sure the contract does not last past this year. They’re listening on him. They’re shopping him. But they’re not getting the return they want for him.”
Eastern Conference NBA Trade Rumors
- The Pacers have quietly made their mark in NBA trade rumors, as they are gathering up offers on Bennedict Mathurin and hoping to wring a first-round pick for him. Mathurin is heading into restricted free agency, and the Pacers are hoping to cash out on him before having to deal with that process. He’s averaging 17.6 points and shooting 37.9% from the 3-point line this year.
- The Bulls are simultaneously sellers and buyers at the deadline. They picked up two second-round picks in the Cavs-Kings trade but would be opening to add. They’d like to move Nikola Vucevic and Coby White in the next week, but are not necessarily looking for just draft picks in return. “They want to get better, they’ve been telling people,” one NBA source said. “Whoever they send out, they want someone who is going to help them now in return.”
- The Celtics might end up selling off Chris Boucher at the trade deadline, but may not get much else done. They do not want to sacrifice first-round picks, and they do not want to take on additional salary, which has always put rumors about Boston getting a starting-caliber big man on thin ice.
NBA Trade Rumors: Countdown Is on to Thursday Deadline