The Cleveland Cavaliers received (albeit an injured) Isaiah Thomas, Ante Zizic and Jae Crowder in exchange for Kyrie Irving. The centerpiece of that deal for Cleveland, though, was the 2018 Brooklyn Nets’ unprotected first-round pick. That’s a good asset. Now, the Cavs are taking calls about it. From Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com:
As owners of Brooklyn’s No. 1 pick, which could be a top-five pick in next year’s draft, Cleveland has fielded numerous calls already about a potential trade. It could be a part of a major trade package for the Cavs later this year, or, conceivably, the Cavs could make that pick next June.
Trading the Nets pick would presumably be to gain a win-now player (DeMarcus Cousins?). But, like, the Cavs had a win-now player. And they traded him for the Nets pick, to prepare for the future. Smart move, considering that LeBron James hasn’t denied rumors about him leaving next summer. So, why shop around the Nets pick? The easy answer – they aren’t “shopping” the pick. “Fielding calls” means that they’re listening. There’s no reason to believe that Cleveland is in any rush to get rid of that Brooklyn pick. Why shouldn’t they listen to offers? There’s zero harm in doing so.
