RealGM

Cavs get: Isaiah Hartenstein, Cason Wallace, Ousmane Dieng, 3 1sts ('26 Jazz, '27 Nuggets and '28 Mavs swap) and 3 2nds ('28 Jazz, '28 Bucks and '29 Celtics)
Thunder gets: Donovan Mitchell

Why?
Mobley needs to get more touches. We get a great package for Mitchell.
Thunder gets a superstar who fits great next to SGA.

The only reason you trade your best player for bench guys and draft picks when he doesn’t want to leave is if you’re rebuilding.

Hard pass

Neither team does this. OKC just won a chip, why dismantle that? Cle can ill afford to trade their best player, especially when the East is so wide open

I really don’t see why OKC should pay the price necessary to build a SGA, Mitchell, and Williams backcourt. Like, SGA already does what Mitchell does, but better? And Williams isn’t that far off that they need to pay a ton to add Mitchell to them?

The Cavs aren't trading Mitchell or Garland this season. They think they have a real shot at the Finals. If that doesn't happen, and if Mobley shows signs he's ready to step forward as a true No. 1 option, then one of Garland or Mitchell could get traded, but it won't be for a package like this.

Dieng might not even make the Thunder's final roster. He's in Okeke territory.

OKC - why do such a big change when last season shows it works ?
Cavs - how much center minutes do they have ? They already got 2 better players eating all 48 mins .

the Cavs should be very heavy favorites to come out of the East this year, why would they willingly nuke their chances at finally doing something without LeBron James for the first time in forever?

HornetJail wrote:the Cavs should be very heavy favorites to come out of the East this year, why would they willingly nuke their chances at finally doing something without LeBron James for the first time in forever?

The reasoning is that Mitchell may not realize the importance of letting Mobley be the #1 option when necessary. We would have won game 5 against the Pacers if we kept playing through our bigs. Mobley was dominating.

and you don't even make it there if you swapped Donovan Mitchell out for some spare parts

HornetJail wrote:and you don't even make it there if you swapped Donovan Mitchell out for some spare parts

Yeah, there's risk that we don't even make it there. That said, with the right trade, we have the pieces to make a deep run. This team has good depth. Garland, Mobley and Allen made the play-in the year before we traded for Mitchell, and those 3 are much better now than they were during that run.

JJ_PR wrote:

HornetJail wrote:the Cavs should be very heavy favorites to come out of the East this year, why would they willingly nuke their chances at finally doing something without LeBron James for the first time in forever?

The reasoning is that Mitchell may not realize the importance of letting Mobley be the #1 option when necessary. We would have won game 5 against the Pacers if we kept playing through our bigs. Mobley was dominating.

Realistically, Cleveland wouldn’t have gotten to game 5 if you weren’t playing through Mitchell.

Edit:
To be clear, Mitchell was fantastic. In spite of the shooting percentages, he just felt absolutely unstoppable by Indy for most of that series.

JJ_PR wrote:

HornetJail wrote:the Cavs should be very heavy favorites to come out of the East this year, why would they willingly nuke their chances at finally doing something without LeBron James for the first time in forever?

The reasoning is that Mitchell may not realize the importance of letting Mobley be the #1 option when necessary. We would have won game 5 against the Pacers if we kept playing through our bigs. Mobley was dominating.

Mitchell might be one of the most contemplative superstars in the game and I think it will be impossible to find a comparable-level talent who would be more willing to defer to Mobley.

If anyone knows Mobley didn’t get the ball enough it is Mitchell.

toooskies wrote:

JJ_PR wrote:

HornetJail wrote:the Cavs should be very heavy favorites to come out of the East this year, why would they willingly nuke their chances at finally doing something without LeBron James for the first time in forever?

The reasoning is that Mitchell may not realize the importance of letting Mobley be the #1 option when necessary. We would have won game 5 against the Pacers if we kept playing through our bigs. Mobley was dominating.

Mitchell might be one of the most contemplative superstars in the game and I think it will be impossible to find a comparable-level talent who would be more willing to defer to Mobley.

If anyone knows Mobley didn’t get the ball enough it is Mitchell.

Also, the Pacers adjusted their defense as the game went on and dared the Cavs to shoot over a more crowded paint.