Should the Cleveland Cavaliers trade for DeAndre Jordan?

DeAndre Jordan is one of the biggest names on the trading block with the Cleveland Cavaliers being a sensible location. But should the Cavs trade for him?

The rumor mill is beginning to turn as the NBA season wades through winter. Unlike years past, the Cleveland Cavaliers are a prime candidate to land this year’s coveted prize.

There are few players like DeAndre Jordan in the NBA. The big man is one of the NBA’s best athletes, incredibly fleet of foot for 6’11”. Rarely do lengthy giants posses Jordan’s vertical or speed.

Carmelo Anthony even called him the league’s best athlete in 2016. It’s high praise for anyone, let alone a center selected in the second the round of the NBA Draft.

Incredibly efficient, Jordan has led the NBA in field goal percentage each of the last there years. A consistent finisher close to the cup, he shot better than 70 percent each season. Rarely does he turn the ball over, or make silly defensive mistakes. Maybe most impressive, he played 81-plus games in four of his last five seasons.

If you look up the word “consistent” in the dictionary, you’ll see Jordan’s face.

With the Los Angeles Clippers floundering, and Jordan averaging 11.6 points and a league-leading 15.1 rebounds per game,  he may opt out of his contract following this season. As talks about his future swirl, owner Steve Ballmer may be forced to get something back for the big man.

The Cavaliers appear to be a solid fit. With the possibility of LeBron James opting for free agency and Isaiah Thomas’s future in question, Cleveland may push all its chips in this season. If they do so, Jordan appears to be the perfect fit.

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It’s commonly known that James likes to play with a “big n’ ugly.” In other words, a lumbering center that can rim protect and occupy space, a bruiser that battles down low. But play with finesse he cannot.

There’s the anecdote of the moment Timofey Mozgov entered the Cavaliers locker room for the first time. After weeks of slumping, a somber LeBron perked up, marveling at the size of his new teammate. Even with his incoordination, Mozgov was a valuable addition to the Cavs simply because of his brute strength and figure.

An added center frees up LeBron, allowing him to play wing and avoid the physical abuse of bodying a big man. And with Jordan guarding the paint, he could match up on a player like Kevin Durant or DeMar DeRozan.

Cleveland lacks an athletic center. Ante Zizic and Tristan Thompson are scrappy rebounders that occupy space, but neither provides a significant offensive threat. The two are so useless, Kevin Love is often asked to play center with James and Jae Crowder switching off as the post forwards.

Jordan is a 21st century big man; wide, athletic and excellent in the pick-and-roll. As you can see in this clip, he uses his speed off the pick to blitz the basket, resulting in a crisp alley-oop.

Few players in the league make the alley-oop look so effortless. With the passing ability of LeBron and Love, this play could work on command.

A closing lineup of Jordan, James, Love, Isaiah Thomas and Jae Crowder or J.R. Smith clearly gives Cleveland the ammunition to beat the Golden State Warriors.

But at what cost? Multiple reports indicate Cleveland isn’t hooking Jordan without baiting Los Angeles with Brooklyn’s potential top-five pick. In a top-heavy 2018 NBA Draft class, that piece might be too precious to give for a rental. According to ESPN‘s Adrian Wojnarowski, the pursuit of Jordan around the league has been “sluggish” to this point.

The Cavaliers must also deal Thompson and Channing Frye in order to match salaries. The former’s value has dipped mightily this year as Thompson is averaging 5.1 points, 5.4 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game, all career lows. Frye is a throw in.

Giving up Thompson and Frye isn’t problematic. But the pick, that’s a different story. That Brooklyn pick is the Cavaliers’ only pillow to fall back on if LeBron and Thomas leave in free agency. It’s their potential rebuilding block. Their safety net.

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If the Cavaliers deal the pick for Jordan, fine. But they need to have a heart-to-heat conversation with James to see if he plans to come back, because if he decides to test free agency, that pick becomes vital to the next chapter.