by Trade speculation has begun to pick apart the Cleveland Cavaliers and their core four All-Stars, who have once again failed to bring home the franchise’s second championship.
It’s important to note that before the circus can begin, the Cavaliers will need to sort out the future of their backcourt, starting with a long-term contract extension for Donovan Mitchell and deciding James Harden’s future in Cleveland. Per ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, Cleveland and Harden will most likely agree to terms on a short, team-friendly deal that gives the front office some wiggle room and escape the Second-Apron.
Simply put, bringing those two back is the best-case scenario for the Cavaliers. Or at least, it could be the beginning of one.
Not only has Windhorst brought forth the details of Harden’s spot in Cleveland, but he’s also thrown around the Cavaliers in the Giannis Antetokounmpo sweepstakes. After all, Cleveland did contact the Milwaukee Bucks in February around the NBA Trade Deadline, back in February, when Giannis’s squad was staring down the barrel of another disappointing season in Wisconsin.
However, a few questions pop up at the thought of bringing the Greek Freak to Cleveland and pairing him up with Jarrett Allen in the frontcourt.
For one, with Antetokounmpo’s contract set to expire a year from now, it’s not out of the realm of imagination that his dream destination isn’t Ohio after playing in the Midwest for the last 13 seasons. He’ll be a completely unrestricted free agent, with all the power in the world to drop himself on the sunny beaches of Miami or the bright lights of Madison Square Garden with the Knicks.
Despite that, a trade would guarantee Giannis’s services with the Cavaliers for at least one year, and the league has seen success stories like this before.
In the summer of 2018, after the Toronto Raptors had just been defeated by LeBron James and the Cavaliers for the third straight postseason, with two years of playoff failure before that. The Raptors made a hard decision and traded fan-favorite DeMar DeRozan to the San Antonio Spurs in exchange for Kawhi Leonard. Toronto knew full well that Leonard had no intentions of signing a long-term deal to stay in Canada, and general manager Masai Ujiri still pulled the trigger on a trade that landed the Raptors a championship.
You’ve probably caught on to the parallel I’m trying to make here.
The Cavaliers, looking to break through years of coming up short, may look the other way towards Antetokounmpo’s intentions and green-light a trade that would make them immediate championship contenders. There’s definite interest on the side of Cleveland, that’s already been reported, but that leaves another question: Who is the fan favorite that gets shipped off to Milwaukee in exchange for Giannis?
Well, with Harden and Mitchell locked up on whatever deals they will presumably be offered this summer, and Allen not moving the needle in a blockbuster trade like this, that leaves Evan Mobley as the obvious odd man out. Not only that, his contract perfectly matches the salaries required to receive the two-time MVP.
That being said, Cleveland would still need to fork up draft capital and an additional player to keep them underneath the Second Apron, even though Mobley and Antetokounmpo’s salaries are nearly an exact match for the 2026-2027 season.
As for who would come with Mobley to Milwaukee, Dennis Schroder, Max Strus, Sam Merrill, and Jaylon Tyson could all help keep the trade in place and hold Cleveland’s financials steady. Merrill was with Antetokounmpo on the Bucks’ 2021 championship squad, and his shooting skills could be enticing to Milwaukee, similarly to Strus. If the Bucks wanted a good piece to start off a youth movement, then Tyson would likely be the route to go for them.
If Cleveland wants one year of Giannis, then a push is certainly possible. The presence of a healthy Antetokounmpo makes the Cavaliers better in a heartbeat and gives them a player who has already shown the potential to lead a team to a championship as the first option. Mitchell certainly wouldn’t object, as the focus of him not being a title-winning leader would move off him and sit on the back of the Greek Freak’s huge shoulders.
Subsequently, if it doesn’t work, then it’s a nightmare for Cavalier president Koby Altman. Giannis gets up and leaves while Cleveland sits and watches Mobley blossom into a first option, MVP-caliber forward that has already shown the ability to be the best defender in the league. All the while, Harden gets older, the team drops, and Mitchell starts asking himself why in the hell he signed that extension.
A trade for Antetokounmpo would be the biggest gamble in the history of the Cavaliers, even bigger than the Harden trade. But Dan Gilbert is desperate to bring a title back to Cleveland- and desperate men lead to desperate decisions.
