Cleveland Cavaliers: Expectations for 2019 NBA Trade Deadline

The 2019 NBA Trade Deadline on Feb. 7 is approaching, but what expectations should Cleveland Cavaliers fans even have?

The Cleveland Cavaliers‘ original intention to straddle the line between playoff contender and rebuilder was a lofty one. Few teams consistently replenish the roster while qualifying for basketball in May. The best example might be the Indiana Pacers, a team stuck in NBA purgatory since the Reggie Miller days.

It’s been a failure of a season, sort of. At 11-41, the Cavs hold the third-worst record in the NBA. Yet with a top-heavy 2019 NBA Draft class, that might not actually be a bad thing.

Because of this, you get a pass if the upcoming 2019 NBA Trade Deadline isn’t on your radar. What day is it, you might ask? While it’s Feb. 7, the next date you, the dedicated Cavs fan, probably has circled on your calendar is the day of the NBA Draft Lottery.

Maybe Cleveland will be a player in the upcoming trade deadline? Any deal not involving picks, Collin Sexton or Kevin Love is essentially inconsequential. Jordan Clarkson leads the team in scoring among active players with 16.8 points per game, and he hasn’t started once in his Cavs career. There’s been zero progression from Rodney Hood. Larry Nance Jr. is out injured. Cedi Osman is having a good month. Maybe he’s useful.

So yeah, the return haul for almost anyone on the team won’t be notable. Love signed a four-year, $120 million extension before the season started. The contract is less team-friendly over the next few years, making him more movable way down the road. Plus there’s the toe injury, an added question mark for teams looking to compete this season.

Cleveland appears less than excited to deal the former All-Star, which you can’t blame them for. The East is thin at the bottom, and the Cavaliers front office might feel they can make a playoff push sometime in the near future with a healthy Love.

So fans shouldn’t expect their lovable (excuse the pun) post player to be shifted off. Yet, his six-month trade restriction expired. Could anyone be a match, let alone interested? Maybe the Portland Trail Blazers, thinking Love could be the perfect pick-and-pop duo with their elite backcourt. Love could also bring mentorship for the vastly improved Jusuf Nurkic, providing a foursome deadly enough to maybe hang with the Golden State Warriors.

However, Portland is strapped for cash, with one of the highest team salaries each of the next two years. It’s not impossible to maneuver a trade, just unlikely. In fact, most competitive teams possess little room on the books for Love. Maybe the Philadelphia 76ers could incorporate Markelle Fultz to acquire Love? Cleveland probably isn’t interested. How about this possibility?

We might as well do the Cavs the kindness by not considering them a potential player in the Anthony Davis sweepstakes. Chances are slim, if not nonexistent, per Odds Shark.

It’s reasonable general manager Koby Altman could inquire about being the third team in any Davis deal. Unfortunately, that’d be like you or me being the third wheel on date night with Beyonce and Jay-Z.

Let’s have some fun with with this.  It wouldn’t raise eyebrows if the Boston Celtics threw themselves at the feet of New Orleans to acquire “The Brow.” The team possesses potentially four first round picks in the 2019 NBA Draft and plenty of young assets to work the deal.

Because of the Derrick Rose Rule, however, the Celtics can’t roster both Davis and Kyrie Irving until July. Hear me out here. Boston sits just outside of the top four in the Eastern Conference. Kyrie Irving is consistently hobbled by injuries. So the Celtics trade, say, two or three potential first round picks to New Orleans in exchange for Davis and Jrue Holiday.  That’s not enough for New Orleans, so the Cavaliers deal Sexton and maybe Clarkson to the Pelicans. In return, Irving comes back to Cleveland. Eh? Eh!? Kyrie back to Cleveland, anyone?

OK, so maybe that wouldn’t make any sense, maybe it couldn’t happen until July, and maybe that trade failed when tested on the ESPN Trade Machine. Maybe it’s better if Cavs fans approach the 2019 NBA Trade Deadline with tepid expectations outside of moving an expiring contract like Rodney Hood. The team is destined for a high draft pick. That is probably good enough.