Cavaliers wings De’Andre Hunter and Dean Wade have generated some interest on the trade market, and opposing teams continue to check in with Cleveland to see whether the club would be open to breaking up its “core four” of Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Allen, writes Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com.
However, according to Fedor, the Cavs’ front office has consistently conveyed that it’s not interest in a significant shake-up and that it believes a healthy version of the current roster is capable of contending in the Eastern Conference.
As a result, Fedor believes any major roster changes are more likely to happen in the offseason, though he can envision Cleveland making a smaller deadline deal, perhaps involving Lonzo Ball. The veteran point guard hasn’t been the impact reserve the Cavs hoped he would be, and his contract – which includes a $10MM team option for 2026/27 – could appeal to a team seeking more cap flexibility this offseason.
One possible target for the Cavs is Naji Marshall, according to Fedor, who says Cleveland is among the teams to express interest in the Mavericks forward. While a deal centered around Ball and Marshall may intrigue the Cavs, Dallas is reportedly seeking at least a first-round pick for the veteran wing, and it’s unclear if Cleveland wants to give up its lone movable first-rounder (either 2031 or 2032) at this time, given the club’s up-and-down performance this season.
We have more from around the Central:
- Describing Dean Wade as “unheralded and overlooked” in a separate story for Cleveland.com (subscription required), Fedor says the veteran forward is one of the Cavaliers‘ best defenders and is a critical connector in some of their most effective lineups. “He’s the ultimate glue guy,” head coach Kenny Atkinson said. “That’s the cliche everyone uses but it’s true.” Wade is extension-eligible through June 30 and will reach unrestricted free agency if he doesn’t sign a new deal by then.
- Bulls center Nikola Vucevic recognizes that it could be an active trade deadline in Chicago, given that more than half the roster is on expiring contracts. Still, as Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times relays, Vucevic referred to his teammates as a “great group” and said he’d welcome the opportunity to finish the season with them. “There are a lot of guys that have a chip on their shoulders and want to prove people wrong because we’ve been doubted,” the big man said. “I would like to see what we can do and where we can go this year, but the front office has to make decisions and we all understand that.”
- A big offseason is on tap for Pacers forward Jarace Walker, who will be extension-eligible beginning in July. With that context in mind, it bodes well for the 22-year-old that he’s playing some of the best basketball of his NBA career this January, including setting a new personal high with 26 points in Oklahoma City against the league’s best defense last Friday. “This is an enormous moment for him in his young career,” head coach Rick Carlisle said after the game, per Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star (subscription required). “He just showed all the things that he can do out there. From the shooting to the driving to the defense to the rebounding to passing. It was great to see that.”
Miles Bridges & Treshaun Mann to Detroit
Caris LeVert, Jaden Ivey & Paul Reed to Charlotte…
Miles goes home to Michigan & finally plays for a contender. His toughness/athleticism/versatility would fit rly well with JB, Cade & co. Tre Mann & Sasser could give them what Mike James & Arroyo gave the Pistons off the bench in 04.
Charlotte gets a dynamic young guard in Ivey while making way for Tidjuane & their other youngsters.
Watching the Lakers/Bulls last night and Lakers made sure that Vu was isolated on EVERY pick and roll. What makes it worse was that Lakers were switching EVERYTHING on defense, and they had either Gabe Vincent or Rui on him and they didn’t give him the rock in the post. Unacceptable. I’m so annoyed that Buzelis was attempting only 3’s yesterday. He needs to get back to attacking the basket and use his athleticism and agility. Giddey needs to get off the minutes restriction as well, but they are being cautious with him. Coby had another solid game but nobody on that team could guard Luka last night. He had them dancing all night long.
Bottom line: They really missed the 2nd unit leadership and high IQ with Tre Jones (they had so many turnovers in the 2nd quarter, and forgot how to run their sets). It was a winnable game, especially when they cut it down to 1 point with 5 minutes left in the 3rd. Defensively they need to get better against premier superstars if this team is really going to evolve into a solid defensive unit. I get Vu has his defensive issues, but there’s some athleticism on that team, and they just aren’t maximizing it on the defensive end. FWIW Jalen Smith has been awesome this year, if they decide to trade him, I would hope they get a low 1st for him. He’s been shooting, defending, rebounding at a much higher clip than last year, and he’s really been showing out.
Tre Jones, Patrick Williams, Zach Collins, Por’s 2026 1st (lotto protected) & Chi’s 2028 1st (top5 protected) to Charlotte
LaMelo Ball & Mason Plumlee to Chicago…
Hornets turn the page from Melo/BMiller/Miles to Kon/BMiller/Ivey with a few extra 1st rd picks to play with. They also bring home a couple of quality role players in Tre & Pat.
Melo gets a fresh start in Chicago with a team that sorely needs an infusion of top tier talent. Melo is an all-star level guard, specifically offensively & he’s still pretty young. This is a small price to pay for that type of player.
Time for your meds and bedtime.
LaMelo and Josh Giddey do the same thing. Get off the drugs
Giddey & Melo arent a perfect fit but they obv have very different games & they can definitely play together. Playing with Giddey would allow Melo to play off the ball more & be even more dangerous as a scorer.
Tre Jones has another year left and he’s been BALLING. They should not attach him in ANY deal if they are looking to deal him. I’m all in favor of launching Patrick Williams to the moon and never look back. Collins is a steady big man on a rebuilding team, problem is he’s always hurt. How do the Hornets get Ivey?
Melo would bring star power to our team, but is he a superstar or just a guy who loves producing stats with terrible roster surrounding him? Plus Giddey and Melo wouldn’t work together. I don’t see them wanting to trade Giddey away especially with the agenda they want justify the Caruso deal and then double down on his extension. I was okay with the Caruso deal though FWIW.
What worries me the most is they have a lot of cap space projected next year in an average free agency class, which means AKME will likely hand out generational wealth deals to random players and try to convince the fanbase that this team is a player or two away from competing in the Eastern Conference. If no moves are to be made by the TD, I would fire EVERYONE, similar to what Jerry did in 2023 when he let Hahn go AFTER the deadline for the White Sox.
Im sure Charlotte would be cool enuf with getting Ayo instead of Tre in this deal… I outlined how Hornets get Ivey in the 1st comment on this article.
Melo is a bonafide elite guard offensively. He’s the type of alpha big time player who you can lean on late in games. Matas may eventually become that guy but Giddey really isn’t him, def not the way Melo is. Tbh Melo’s def not the perfect guy for the Bulls rn bc him & Giddey aren’t a perfect fit. But that’s mainly defensively where they’re an awkward fit on the court tg. Offensively those guys would be extremely hard to guard & would complement each other really well, especially in transition. Acquiring Melo for a reduced price like this where you also get off PWill’s contract is something the Bulls should def consider.
I feel like that cap space should definitely go towards a starting big man if at all possible. Walker Kessler prob the goal but a guy like Rob Williams might make sense around $20-25M/yr
We’re not in the position to give up meaningful picks for guys who don’t play at least 70 games a year. I personally would be fine with Zion over Melo if this is the asking price for Zion. Zion is what we need, an athletic PF who can get his own shot and still is young to be on the same time line as Giddey and Buzelis. If they can steal Kessler (whom they should have drafted in the first place over Dalon BUM ASS Terry) then we might be cooking.
And nobody is paying Rob Williams 20-25M a year. Good lord that would cripple some rebuilds. He hasn’t been healthy in three years. 58 games in 3 years. He is lucky if he gets even $8M-10M this summer.
Hey. I thought Lonzo was gonna be the final piece like Caruso was for OKC?
No one believed Lonzo would be the final piece
EVERYONE did.
Seems like I’ve seen this story before. Like every day this month. Do they just run it on a loop or something? Just make the deals already. If you want Vujevic and White and Ayo back go get them again next year and bank what you can add for them. This a a no brainer but nobody in that FO has any brains. But so was drafting Queen but we all saw what happened there.