Brian Windhorst Names 3 Things Cavs Can Offer At Trade Deadline

It seems odd to think that an NBA team that has a 28-4 record has a big need, but that is where the Cleveland Cavaliers find themselves.

They’re likely basketball’s biggest offensive juggernaut right now and remain a solid defensive team, but if they are to seriously contend for the world championship this spring and summer, they could use a small forward who is a legitimate 3-and-D wing.

ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said that in terms of looking to trade for such a player, the Cavs have three assets they can offer: their 2031 first-round draft pick, guard Jaylon Tyson and wing Caris LeVert.

.@WindhorstESPN mentions three things the Cavs could potentially offer in a trade to get a wing upgrade at the trade deadline:

– 2031 1st round pick
– Jaylon Tyson
– Caris LeVert

Would you be upset if the Cavs traded any of them? pic.twitter.com/yiFmkmDMXM

— ESPN Cleveland (@ESPNCleveland) December 31, 2024

It is impossible to project where that 2031 pick will end up on the draft board that year, but there is always a chance it will be a fairly high pick, and therefore they may be at least one team that will see it as valuable.

Tyson, a 6-foot-6, 215-pound guard whom the Cavs took with the No. 20 pick in June’s draft, is averaging just 2.2 points in 7.6 minutes a game this season.

As Windhorst noted, he isn’t playing well, but another team could see him as having solid potential down the road.

LeVert, a 6-foot-6 veteran small forward, is putting up 11.9 points a game while shooting 51.2 percent from the field and 47.5 percent from 3-point range, making this by far his most efficient season ever.

Cleveland has gotten by with men such as Isaac Okoro and Dean Wade starting at the 3, but Okoro is just 6-foot-5 and Wade hasn’t quite measured up.

To go all the way, it would help them if they added a player who could contain stars such as Jayson Tatum, Mikal Bridges, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on the defensive end.