Cleveland Cavaliers: Should Cavs Acquire Nets G Joe Johnson?

The Cleveland Cavaliers were a mere two wins away from bringing the city its first championship in more than five decades. One of the factors that contributed to the Cavaliers falling to the Golden State Warriors in six games was lack of depth at the guard spot.

And to take a step towards addressing that problem, the Cavaliers have reportedly expressed an interest in trading for Brooklyn Nets guard Joe Johnson. The question is does this trade make sense in the long run?

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Let’s take a quick look to find out.

The Good

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First of all, Cleveland’s improbable run to the Finals was nothing short of remarkable to say the least. With Kevin Love lost for the season in the opening round of the playoffs, and Kyrie Irving succumbing to a knee injury in Game 1 of the Finals, the Cavaliers somehow found ways to defy the odds time and again.

But while the trio of Matthew Dellavedova, J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert did its best, it was simply unable to produce on the league’s biggest stage. In fact, here is a look at their numbers from the six-game set against Golden State.

Dellavedova—7.5 PPG, 28.3% FG, 23.1% 3PT
Smith—11.5PPG, 31.2% FG, 29.4 % 3PT
Shumpert—6.5PPG, 25.6% FG, 32.0% 3PT

Based on those numbers, it is easy to understand why LeBron James was the only reliable scoring option the Cavaliers had during the Finals. And although he put up extraordinary numbers—34.2 points, 14.4 rebounds and 9.4 assists per contest, without any kind of supporting cast to speak of, James’ Herculean effort was not enough.

By adding Joe Johnson to the mix, the Cavaliers would get a player who has a reputation for being both a scorer and a distributor, as his career averages of 17.3 points and 4.2 assists per contest would indicate. Not only that, Johnson shoots the ball at a respectable percentage, converting 44 percent of his attempts overall, including 37 percent from beyond the arc.

Furthermore, Johnson can be utilized at multiple positions, including the 4-spot in a small-ball rotation—something the Cavaliers saw plenty of against the Warriors in Games 4-6. And if the Cavaliers want to show James that they are serious about making another run at an NBA title, they need to add a player to the mix with Johnson’s skill set.

The Bad

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As is the case with any trade, there is a potential downside. While adding Johnson to the mix would be a positive, it would take a couple of different factors in order to make this trade feasible due to the $24.9 million that he is owed next season.

For starters, the Cavs would need to trade Brendan Haywood and his non-guaranteed $10.5 million contract. Along with that, they would also have to consider including Anderson Varejao, who suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon early in the season and is scheduled to make $9.6 million in 2015-16.

The problem here is that Varejao has spent his entire 11-year career as a member of the Cavaliers. In addition to that, Varejao played a role in James coming back to the team that drafted him back in 2003. These factors, along with the praise Varejao received from his teammates during the Cavs postseason run should to be taken into consideration in this scenario.

Final Analysis

Even if the Cavaliers did not make another move in free agency, they would be considered the favorites to come out of the Eastern Conference if they can remain healthy. But in order to push them over the top, they need a player besides James and Irving who is a shot creator that can provide scoring in the late stages of games.

That being said, if the Cavs can make the numbers fit, this is a trade that is definitely worth considering.

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