There are more trade rumors as we approach Thursday's draft, with the latest reportedly being the No. 1 overall pick from Cleveland for Orlando Magic guard Arron Afflalo and the Nos. 4 and 12 picks, according to ESPN.
Cavaliers mulling Magic offer for No. 1 pick
Orlando has reportedly offered a starting guard and a top-five pick in exchange for the right to draft first in 2014.
Christian Petersen
Why this makes sense
This is probably the best rumored trade we've heard for the No. 1 pick to date. Other reported offers include Derrick Favors and the No. 5 from Utah and Thaddeus Young with the No. 3 from Philadelphia.
Cleveland was ranked 22nd in offensive efficiency last season and 19th on defense according to Basketball-Reference.com. Even further, the Cavs ranked 18th in three-point percentage and 20th in shots taken from behind the line. Adding Afflalo would prevent defenses from collapsing on Kyrie Irving, opening up the offense. On the defensive side of the ball, Afflalo is a lockdown defender that plays slightly bigger than his position.
Bluntly, if GM David Griffin isn’t sold on either Andrew Wiggins or Jabari Parker, the reported frontrunners for the top pick, taking Afflalo and the No. 4 could result in a complimentary wing and a franchise-changing player all the same.
Why this doesn’t make sense
Cleveland’s problems likely go deeper than patching them up with Afflalo. The hinge point of any trade for the Cavaliers is still going to be on who they take with whatever pick they get back.
In the proposed trade with Orlando, they still end up with the No. 4 pick. That means they will likely have their choice between Dante Exum, Joel Embiid, Julius Randle, Marcus Smart and the rest of the top flight talent outside the Parker/Wiggins debacle they would appear to be trying to escape from.
Immense pressure would still be on Griffin to take a player that would make an immediate impact. After Anthony Bennett’s dud of a rookie season, Cleveland has to draft correctly in basically any scenario that doesn’t involve them landing a major superstar instead of trading down.
Likelihood
As an organization, it feels like Cleveland is walking on eggshells. Bennett could definitely pay off, but fans around the league are wary. If we are to believe that the Cavaliers can’t make up their mind between the two, it seems the most likely scenario is that they will trade away the pick for the right haul. Is this enough? I’m not so sure. I’ll give it a 4/10 chance of happening.
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