Cleveland Cavaliers: 5 dream targets during 2018 NBA free agency

DeAndre Jordan, C, Los Angeles Clippers

For the last couple of months, it seemed like everything the rumor mill churned out regarding the Cavaliers was related to their interest in Jordan. Although a trade never came to fruition, Cleveland now has the opportunity to woo him during 2018 NBA free agency.

Adding him to the mix would be a huge step forward for the Cavaliers. Not only would it give them a monstrous upgrade at center, but it would improve their defense 10-fold. They’ve got decent rebounding already between Kevin Love and Thompson, but Jordan can give Cleveland more of what they need from their starting center.

Obviously a trade would have been the ideal. Although they would have had to give up assets to make it happen, they also could have parted ways with an ugly contract like Thompson’s or J.R. Smith‘s. Signing Jordan outright would kill any cap space they manage to muster, but that’s not important as it relates to this exercise.

Either way, Jordan donning the wine and gold would be a dream come true for Tyronn Lue and co. It may even be enough to convince James to re-sign with the Cavaliers.

Cleveland needs another superstar to help them compete with some of the rising teams in the Eastern Conference. Jordan may not be enough to get them past the Warriors, but he’d certainly help them topple teams like the Boston Celtics and Toronto Raptors.