Cleveland Cavaliers Could Ultimately Trade Key Rotation Player

The Cavaliers may need to trade a key piece in order to truly improve their roster.

Apr 25, 2024; Orlando, Florida, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward Isaac Okoro (35) warms up before game three of the first round for the 2024 NBA playoffs at Kia Center. Mandatory Credit: Mike Watters-USA TODAY Sports / Mike Watters-USA TODAY Sports

The Cleveland Cavaliers don't exactly have a lot of wiggle room to make moves this offseason. The new CBA hasn't exactly made it easy, but even under the old rules, the Cavaliers would be pretty maxed out financially.

The Cavaliers also just handed Donovan Mitchell a three-year, $150 million contract extension, further muddying their monetary situation for the next several seasons.

As a result of Cleveland's rather unenviable salary cap circumstances (join the club), the Cavs are going to have to get awfully innovative to markedly improve their roster this offseason.

The Cavaliers have already missed out on most of the top free agents, which doesn't come as much of a surprise given the team's limited amount of financial resources. That means the only real avenue for Cleveland to improve is via trades.

We have already heard that the Cavs may be interested in Brooklyn Nets forwards Cam Johnson and Dorian Finney-Smith, but how the Cavaliers would go about acquiring either player (or any impact player from any team, for that matter) may be complicated.

One potential solution for Cleveland would be concocting a sign-and-trade with Isaac Okoro.

Okoro is a restricted free agent for the Cavs, meaning they can match any offer he receives. However, it may be more preferable for the Cavaliers to trade him in a package that would land them someone like Johnson.

ESPN's Bobby Marks has already stated that Okoro is a sign-and-trade candidate for Cleveland, and while he doesn't mention any potential deals specifically, he does say that the Cavs could possibly include him in a trade to land a bigger wing.

Marks adds that the Cavaliers are about $9.5 million below the luxury tax, so they would have to be mindful of that when taking back salary.

Cleveland extended an $11.8 million qualifying offer to Okoro.

Okoro is coming off of a 2023-24 campaign in which he played 69 games and made 42 starts. During that time, he averaged 9.4 points and three rebounds over 27.3 minutes per game while shooting 49 percent from the floor, 39.1 percent from three-point range and 67.9 percent from the free-throw line.

The 23-year-old is a terrific perimeter defender, but his offensive production has been a bit underwhelming for someone who was taken with the fifth overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft.

Okoro is yet to average double figures, topping out at 9.6 points a night during his rookie season.

We'll see if the Cavs attempt to move Okoro, who hasn't exactly generated a ton of interest on the free-agent market.