Cleveland Cavaliers Receive: G Theo Maldeon, NYK 2022 1st Round Pick (Unprotected), NYK 2023 1st Round Pick (Swap, More Favorable to CLE)
New York Knicks Receive: G Collin Sexton, OKC 2022 2nd Round Pick
Oklahoma City Thunder Receive: F Davis Bertans, F Kevin Knox II, WAS 2024 1st Round Pick (Top-5 Protected)
Washington Wizards Receive: F Obi Toppin
Let’s go ahead and get crazy for a second as we dissect a four-team trade involving the likes of Collin Sexton, Theo Maledon, Obi Toppin, Kevin Knox, and Davis Bertans! Now, this would surely stir some things up in both the Eastern and Western Conference moving forward, especially since the Knicks would add another talented guard to their backcourt.
New York has been very busy this offseason in terms of adding more offensive weapons to their team, as Kemba Walker and Evan Fournier joined the team this summer, along with Derrick Rose and Alec Burks signing new contracts with the Knicks.
This Knicks team has the potential to be really solid on both ends of the court, but adding Collin Sexton to the mix would give them the extra little bit of firepower on offense they would need to go from a playoff threat to a real contending team in the Eastern Conference.
They should be more than willing to part ways with Obi Toppin, Kevin Knox, and two first-round picks for a talented player like Sexton. Speaking of Toppin, he is a talented young player who will get buried in New York’s depth chart, which is why Washington would be interested in him.
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The Wizards made many moves this offseason to improve their overall depth around Bradley Beal, but they still have some holes to fill in their frontcourt. Rui Hachimura is a solid power-forward, but outside of him, the rest of this Wizards’ frontcourt has question marks surrounding them.
Bringing in Obi Toppin would be a smart move at a low price, especially since he is athletic enough to help push the pace in transition.
If Cleveland is going to trade Collin Sexton, they better be getting good value for him, which is where the fourth team of this trade in Oklahoma City gets involved. The Cavaliers would already get some draft compensation from New York, but they would also get a young replacement guard in Theo Maledon from the Oklahoma City Thunder.
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Maledon was drafted 34th overall last year by the Thunder and put together a really solid rookie season, averaging 10.1 points, 3.2 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and shooting 33.5% while starting in 75% of the games he played in.
The reason Oklahoma City may be willing to part ways with him so soon is that they just drafted Josh Giddey and Tre Mann in the first round of this year’s draft, two guys who will immediately get playing time in their backcourt.
The Thunder would only be adding Kevin Knox and Davis Bertans, two names that do not really bring a “wow-factor” back to Oklahoma City on the receiving end of things. Still, they would wind up getting another first-round pick to add to their stash via Washington, plus they would be taking on salaries, which is something they need to do this year.
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Most teams look to cut salary space, but for the Thunder, they actually need to add contracts because their payroll is only about $79M right now, which is below the $102M salary cap floor in the league for this year. This trade allows the Thunder to bring in an extra $19.8M in salaries, which is why this could make sense for them.
Many things would need to happen for all four of these teams to get involved in a deal of this magnitude. Still, the Cleveland Cavaliers could actually be interested in hearing offers for Sexton around midseason, especially if they do not look like a playoff team. What happens in Cleveland cap-wise over the next few seasons is definitely going to be interesting, and it seems all roads lead back to Kevin Love and his $60.2M contract over the next two years.
