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r/nba•
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Is there a deal to be done between Cleveland, NOLA, and the Knicks?

Is there any way the Cavs could get into a potential Knick and Pelicans trade for the Anthony Davis allowing the Cavs to swap 5 for 3?

The Cavs would be able to provide the Knicks and/or Pelicans with salary relief and could offer up future protected picks.

Basically, if the Pelicans are willing to take the 3rd pick, Knox, Robinson, and DSJ for Anthony Davis, would they be willing to instead do the 5th pick, Knox, Robinson, DSJ and salary relief/26th pick?

If the Knicks want AD, I don't see any reason they don't do this if offered. They get salary relief making signing 2 max FAs and adding AD easier and in this scecario they aren't drafting anyone w/ 3 anyways. I guess they could see it as them getting shorted, but if the real prize for them is AD are you going to potentially hold that up?

The Pelicans are clearly the team least likely to do this. It basically comes down to what they value more: the 3rd pick or the 5th pick, 26th pick, and salary relief.

The other possibility is that the Cavs offer the same type of deal that the Mavs did with the Hawks last year, but I'm not sure the Cavs love Barrett or Garland the way the Mavs loved Luka and I'm equally unsure how much Griffin loves Barrett or Garland vs Culver or Hunter.

Admittedly this is a long shot, but I'm curious to hear opinions.

Posted May 16, 2019, 3:59 PM UTC

1138
kmcgheee•

I think Cleveland is more suited to move 26 than five. Miami is probably willing to move down from 13 if they can unload some salary.

The only way I see five being moved is if Atlanta really wants a shot at Culver. Maybe five and altering the pick protections on next year's pick for eight and 10?

21
Statshelp_TA•

As a Cavs fan, 26 and JR for 13 and a bad contract would be a dream scenario for me

18
kmcgheee•

For sure. It gives the Heat a chance to regroup and prepare for free agency 2020 and the Cavs get another lottery pick. Win/win all around.

10
Statshelp_TA•

5 for 8 & 10 would also be intriguing but I just don’t love anyone in that range this year. Either Reddish or Hayes will be off the board at 8 and 10 you’re looking at Clarke, Doumbouya, or White? People love White but I’m just not sure. But we’re so far from the draft that it wouldn’t surprise me someone like Little or Langford ends up as the guy at 10.

5
kmcgheee•

I think that choice also probably depends on how much the Cavs love Culver, Reddish or Hunter at five.

1
Im-A-W1zardCavaliers•

26 to 13 seems like a big jump, I feel like they'd want at least a decent player from us like Cedi or Clarkson.

0
Rkenne16Cavaliers•

If they want Clarkson that’s addition by subtraction for us.

7
Statshelp_TA•

They might want Clarkson but it would be because of his expiring deal, not because of his talent

3
suphater•

Too bad Knicks don't have any more salary to dump, we could swap 5 and 3 reasonably if they needed to clear another 10 mil.

1
Disgruntled-gradKnicks•

I think the perceived difference between 3 and 5 wouldn’t make this happen. Also, does NOLA really need salary relief if they are rebuilding?

11
Briguy_fieriPelicans•

Getting rid of AD gives us like 20 mil in cap relief to possibly sign a max.

6
daybreakerPelicans•

depends on how NBA-ready we think Zion is.

Trading Moore and Hill gives us room for a max player.

We could basically have the same team as last year, but with Zion, the 5th & 26th pick, and a Max FA, instead of AD. When healthy, last year's team was great.

3
DeenisdecentKnicks Tankswagon•

Holy shit. Talk about a quick fucking reset. This is a very Clippers like rebuild

7
daybreakerPelicans•

5 & 26 could maybe even be flipped for a quality starter

Payton (if we re-sign) / Jrue / Zion / Randle (if he opts in at $8mil) / Jah

Replace 2 of Payton, Randle, and Jah with a max FA and 2nd tier starter acquired by picks 5 and 26, then that also strengthens the bench by moving 2 decent starters there.

1
TheMentatBasharCavaliers•

Cavs need to dump salary themselves first before we can get back to being a haven of bad contracts for other teams. We have $135 million committed to 11 players as it currently stands.

5
Statshelp_TA•

We have a lot of expiring deals though. $15m of that is JR’s non-guaranteed deal, $18m is TT’s deal that will expire after this season, $14m is Clarkson’s deal that will expire after this season. $8m is Henson’s deal that will expire after this season, and $10m is Delly’s that is expiring after this season.

The Cavs only have 4 players under contract for 2021 and one of them is Zizic who is a non-guaranteed contract.

5
TheMentatBasharCavaliers•

Right, but I'm talking about this year. $135 million is already in the luxury tax, and we have two first round picks yet to sign, and we won 19 games last year. Gilbert would be a madman to pay the luxury tax for this current team. Something has to give, so if we can make trades that dump salary for this season but take up salary for next year, I guess that would be the ideal situation.

1
Statshelp_TA•

I’m not too worried about it. Everything that has been written about the Cavs says they want to take on bad money for assets and I’ve read nothing about them doing the opposite. I think if shedding cap was a major goal we’d have heard about it by now.

3
TheMentatBasharCavaliers•

I'm not worried about Gilbert's wallet either, but I can almost guarantee you, he isn't going to pay the luxury tax for this team. His accountants did an outstanding job last year getting us just $35,000 from the luxury tax line this year. Five teams did pay the tax though: Boston, Portland, Toronto, OKC and Golden State, except they are all good teams.

Since we want to use JR's contract as a trade chip as opposed to salary relief, which is a good call, don't be surprised if we make a move that dumps TT, Jordan Clarkson or if we're lucky, Brandon Knight in a trade that is lopsided financially to help us get under the cap. We can still take on future money, get more draft capital, and take shots on young guys with these trades, but we're also going to have to shed salary in the process.

Once we get our cap figure for this year under control, we can refocus on turning all of our expirings like Delly and Henson into draft capital, because like you mentioned, our books are pretty damn clean beyond next season. For for the moment though, shedding immediate salary is gonna be a top priority for the front office, but that doesn't mean it can't contribute towards the rebuild.

1
Rkenne16Cavaliers•

It all depends on what is on the table. It’s been said that he’s willing to if the right deal is out there.

2
AnotherStatsGuyPelicans•

Nah. If I'm Gilbert, I just suck it up. (But I'm not Gilbert.) Just think of it as the debts for the 2016 title. And it's not like you're dealing with a bunch of Batum level contracts.

1
TheMentatBasharCavaliers•

Maybe you're right, but if you are, it would be unprecedented, so I wouldn't bet on it.

The team also just gave Larry Nance Jr. a nice big extension. Meanwhile Tristan Thompson is as tradeable as he has ever been, coming off a career statistical season and his contract going into it's final year. Cavs have a log jammed front court right now with Love, Nance, Thompson, Zizic and Henson. Trading Thompson would facilitate moving Nance into the starting lineup, and give Zizic more consistent back-up minutes. It all seems to fit pretty well.

1
suphater•

But we also have the best owner in the NBA, and f anyone in the Cleveland media who is too stupid to understand that.

-1
tapk69Cavaliers•

I want the Cavs to just take a solid defender and build from there. Hunter looks good and will be available at the 5.

3
Rkenne16Cavaliers•

Yeah, I’m fine with Hunter and Culver.

5
suphater•

Dude... I don't know if you've been watching the NBA, but almost all the superstars, especially ones drafted outside of top 3, are shooters. It's a shooter's league. We can't afford to miss out on best shooter available one year after drafting Sexton.

Defense is simply easier to play than offense. Defense is more team based. A defender who isn't a good scorer means your offense is playing 4 on 5.

2
tapk69Cavaliers•

Who is the best shooter? Hunter looks decent

2
Thenicebrobot[CLE] Dwyane Wade•

It'd be nice but I doubt NOLA is really in the need of shedding salary to the point of trading down from 3 to 5. I do think that we'll move our Houston pick up though, only question is who would be interested in dumping salary in exchange for their pick.

2
PrlnceOfDarkness•

Not sure why you think the Pelicans value/need salary relief enough to trade down from 3 to 5. Just doesn’t make sense. They’re in a prime position to select both Zion and RJ.

2
kondokiteKnicks•

If its a knicks package the only salary they take on will be rookie contracts so I dont think there is much incentive there to clear books.

The Knicks dont want to take any additional contracts though, because they want to remain in pursuit of KD and Kyrie. If the Pels were adamant about dumping like Solomon Hill as part of the deal a 3rd team could absorb him and a pick in exchange for a contract with a low guarantee I guess. If I were the pels though Id probably want that pick for myself, because I dont think they have big free agency aspirations.

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[deleted]•

[deleted]

-3
in_sinus•

damn reading that hard?

2
lil-sadCavaliers•

Lol, he's talking about the Knicks and Pels using Cleveland as a salary dump, obviously AD not going to Cleveland.

1