After being rewarded the 3rd pick in the 2021 NBA Draft during the lottery, the Cleveland Cavaliers definitely has a chance to add another high-level player, but they could also be open to trading this pick.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski stated after the NBA Draft Lottery that the Cavaliers are excited that they have the 3rd overall pick, but they will be open for business and could look to add an experienced, veteran talent to their roster via trade in order to escalate their rebuild.
2016 was a great year for the Cleveland Cavaliers, as they won their first championship in franchise history, but since then, this organization has not been anything special.
LeBron James left for Los Angeles during the 2018 offseason, Kevin Love signed a mega contract extension ahead of the 2019-20 season that Cleveland now regrets offering, and while they have a bunch of young talents, this team is still far off from being a true playoff threat.
After posting 50 wins during the 2017-18 season, the Cavaliers have only managed to win 60 total games over the last three seasons, including this year when they went 22-50. The rebuild process has been going on for a while now in Cleveland and they do actually have a bunch of high-level, young talents that they plan on building with.
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Collin Sexton and Darius Garland make up an impressive, young backcourt tandem, but their futures are definitely up-in-the-air right now. The Cavs love what both of these guys bring to the table, but money could end up being a problem for this organization in terms of signing both of them to long-term deals.
Sexton is up for a contract-extension this offseason so it should be interesting to see whether or not he and the Cavaliers make a long-term deal. Another key piece on the Cavaliers’ roster that is set to be a free agent this offseason is Jarrett Allen.
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Cleveland would like to bring back Allen, but again, money is a problem for this organization right now with Kevin Love making $31.2M next season. With cap space being a problem and them not having a highly talented roster, the Cavaliers will view the 2021 NBA Draft as a very important means for them to get more talent.
Could the Cavaliers actually look to trade this 3rd pick in order to get that key veteran player that can help them improve overall? Let’s take a look at four players that the Cavs could look to target in a trade using this No. 3 pick as leverage.
