After landing LeBron James and Kevin Love this summer, the Cleveland Cavaliers have succeeded in assembling a star studded roster with David Griffin as the general manager. Griffin also managed to capitalize some of the Cavaliers stock piled non-guaranteed contracts (Alonzo Gee and Scotty Hopson), bringing in Brendan Haywood and Dwight Powell. Haywood provides the team with some much needed fortification int their front court while Powell was a trade chip to acquire Keith Bogans from the Boston Celtics.
But what's even more significant about Hawywood and Bogan's signing is the fact that both contracts are non-guaranteed after the end of this season which means that the Cavaliers have $16 million in attractive non-guaranteed deals for next summer which they can use to bring in another key player per Alex Kennedy of NBA Insiders:
By stockpiling these non-guaranteed deals, Cleveland could trade for a star-level player and the team parting ways with the star wouldn't have to take back a single dollar. Throw in some draft picks and maybe a young asset, and suddenly Cleveland has a very interesting package to offer as they try to further improve their star-studded core of LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love.
On paper, the current Cavaliers roster lack size and their defense is a major concern which means that the team may be looking to fill in a quality big man who can defend the rim. The team has reportedly been interested with Timofey Mozgov of the Denver Nuggets although a trade for JaVale Mcgee is more likely according to Kevin Pelton of ESPN who says, "If the Cavaliers and Nuggets make a trade, my money is on JaVale McGee for Brendan Haywood's instant expiring next summer".
Kenneth Faried is set for a massive payday after an impressive outing in this year's FIBA World Cup for team USA which means that the Nuggets may be forced to part ways with Mcgee for salary cap reasons. But a third team may be necessary if the Cavs really want to pursue a trade deal for Mcgee whose maturity and basketball IQ has been questionable in his entire career.
If Cleveland were serious about acquiring McGee, a straight McGee-Haywood swap wouldn't work. Cleveland would need to shed around $8 million in salary cap space, which would likely force Cleveland to bring in a third team to help facilitate the trade. It's also doubtful Cleveland would want to give away anything valuable for McGee. per HNGN
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