The Cleveland Cavaliers continue to make headlines this offseason. Perhaps the biggest story and the most talked about topic this summer finally ended last week, as it was officially announced that the Cavaliers traded Kyrie Irving to the Celtics. It feels like the Cavs are going to make a few more moves before the start of the season, especially with all the pieces they received in the Kyrie Irving trade. They have Brooklyn's 2018 first-round draft pick and several good, young players that could be interesting assets for other teams. One of the players the Cavaliers would love to have on the roster is DeMarcus Cousins.
Here are some of the moves Cleveland could make to land the All-Star center:
Send Shumpert and the first-round pick to New Orleans
Earlier this summer there were reports and rumors around the league that the Cavaliers were looking to trade Iman Shumpert. New Orleans Pelicans were mentioned as the possible landing spot for Shumpert, especially after their starting small forward Solomon Hill suffered an injury a couple of weeks ago. No deal involving Shumpert has been made yet, but the Cavs could use Shumpert and the 2018 first-round draft pick and offer that package to the Pelicans for DeMarcus Cousins. Cleveland would probably have to include one other player to make things work financially since Cousins is owed $18 million for the upcoming season while Shumpert's projected salary is $10 million for the 2017/2018 season.
Thompson - Cousins swap
The Pelicans and the Cavs could simply make a simple, two-way swap and make this deal done. Cousins has one year remaining on his contract with New Orleans and it is unclear at this point if he will decide to re-sign with the Pelicans. Tristan Thompson, on the other hand, has three years remaining on his contract with the Cavs and, if traded, New Orleans would have him until the end of the 2019/2020 season.
Thompson averaged 8.1 points and 9.2 rebounds per game for the Cleveland Cavaliers last season. The Pelicans would probably ask for a first-round draft pick to be included in this deal, and the Cavs have several of those at their disposal.
Kevin Love for DeMarcus Cousins?
And probably the last realistic option for the Cavaliers in order to get Cousins is trading Kevin Love to the Pelicans.
Love has three more years remaining on his current contract with the Cavaliers and his projected salary for the 2017/2018 season is $22.6 million. Since Cousins is owed around $18 million for the next season, the Pelicans would have to include one other player in the deal to make this deal possible. Love averaged 19.0 points and 11.1 rebounds per game last season with the Cavs and surely he would be a great addition for New Orleans, even if they lose DeMarcus Cousins.
