To Trade or Not to Trade?
After the atomic bomb smoke cleared from the Luka Doncic trade over the weekend, the NBA world and the Cavs are days away from the trade deadline. With the 3pm Thursday deadline looming, the team with the NBA's best record has many things to consider, including the future ramifications that come with it. It's an opportunity to either go all in and enter the first apron or duck the tax while getting rid of redundancies on the roster in the process. There are many nuances to sift through with the CBA's new apron system that might make your head spin, but I'll at least present the reasons for why and why not a trade could make sense for the Cavs.
Why they SHOULDN'T make a trade
I have to build some suspense at least until we get to the juicy part, right? Anyway, there are some legitimate reasons why the 40-9 Cavaliers might not want to shake things up. When this team has been coached and constructed to have an "all for one and one for all" approach on the court, and it's worked swimmingly, why would you want to change that? The chemistry, camaraderie, and togetherness built over time is a rare thing in the modern NBA, and it's a big reason why Cavalanches have been a daily occurrence from this squad since October. They've been one of the most effective offenses not just this year but in NBA history, with a 121.6 offensive rating and the 6th-best scoring bench in the league to boot. It's hard to want to subtract from it to save a few dollars to duck the tax, especially when the buyout market might be pretty robust due to the difficulty of making trades with the current apron system. You can still accomplish the goal of fortifying the roster without having to make a trade. Some fans might be annoyed by not making any moves, but seriously, not making a move does make sense on the surface. Making a potential lateral move just for the sake of saving some money, which could come at the expense of team chemistry, doesn't sound like something that could be that beneficial. Better to go into any postseason scenario with the same deep roster that got you there in the first place.
Why they SHOULD make a trade
Now, to the fun part. As many sports fans know, championship windows are finite. You can convince yourself that the window is 5+ years and will always have multiple bites at the apple, but let's be real: that thing can slam shut just as fast as it's opened. Especially with the first and second aprons looming, it's a starker reality than you think. With all the money committed into the future with the Core Four, it might make some sense to find a trade partner to either make a trade to duct the tax and kick the can down the road or make the splashier trade to make their big push right now. These are the two avenues that the Cavs need to accomplish because you'll be entering the first apron in the very least eventually. I'll at least give you the proposition that the team is dealing with right now:
A: Make a trade that gets the team under the repeat offender tax, getting rid of contracts that we might not afford anyway while protecting our future ability to extend Donavan Mitchell in 2027.
Or
B: Go for the whole damn thing while we have the chance and deal with the consequences later since banners live forever.
The Cavs are just over the tax by 2 million; it might not sound like much, but if it means not having an opportunity to keep Mitchell, it at least gives you some pause. On the other hand, the reality is that this might be one of your best shots or the only shots to win a title with this much talent, so why not just jump in the deep-end cannonball style? The Celtics did it, and The Nuggets did it, so why not take that risk if it means another Larry O'Brien Trophy? All I'm saying is that you either have to commit to being a tax repeater team or not; you'll be hitting that wall eventually, so you better do something while you still have the flexibility now before you're more restricted with the aprons in the future. This year is the only opportunity to either extend the window or accelerate the timeline and live with its repercussions. Choose wisely.