CLE/DEN/CHA

[toooskies]

Cavs out: Schroder, Merrill
Cavs in: Cam Johnson
Cleveland turn a perimeter shooter into a wing shooter to balance the roster. They're losing value and will have point of attack issues, but they have discounted/ignored those issues for years.

Nuggets out: Cam Johnson
Nuggets in: Merrill, DFS (waived & stretched, $2m/year for 7 years)
Denver cuts salary while not losing a rotation player so they can re-sign Watson.

Hornets out: DFS
Hornets in: Schroder
Charlotte turns dead salary into a decent backup PG.

Cleveland and Denver are happy to not pay any draft compensation to transform their rosters a bit. Charlotte gets a playable backup PG without having to touch their trade exception.

[ReggiesKnicks]

Cav's target should be defense at the Wing, but I don't mind Cam as a consolation prize.

[jbk1234]

I don't think the Cavs should be committing that type of cap space to wings who can't defend. If Cam can't be on the floor with Mitchell and Harden, then just stick with the cheaper Merrill.

[Texas Chuck]

I don't see how the Cavs are losing value. Merrill plus Schroder is a negative value package and Cam is probably only a small negative at worse. Charlotte is the team most on the losing end of value here.

[jbk1234]

I don't see how the Cavs are losing value. Merrill plus Schroder is a negative value package and Cam is probably only a small negative at worse. Charlotte is the team most on the losing end of value here.

The Hornets are in desperate need of a backup PG after the Melo trade and are reportedly interested in Schroder.

I don't mind adding value to get back a guy who can actually defend, or can even theoretically defend, but the Cavs should not be committing that much cap space to another player who is a poor defender given their starting backcourt.

[Texas Chuck]

I asked nobody to do anything. I simply disagree with the OP that Cleveland is sacrificing value. Also disagree a team as bad as Charlotte is with moves made not to improve but collect assets is desperate for a bad PG. Maybe they have interest in him, but they are losing in value taking on the contract.

Doesn't mean they aren't willing to do so, but on theoretical value that's how I see it.

[bgrep14]

Works for me as a Cleveland fan

[mcfly1204]

From Cleveland's perspective, I would hope there's a follow-up deal in place. Cam doesn't fix anything, but this exposes Cleveland's perimeter defense more, while also leaving them without a competent backup PG.

[jbk1234]

From Cleveland's perspective, I would hope there's a follow-up deal in place. Cam doesn't fix anything, but this exposes Cleveland's perimeter defense more, while also leaving them without a competent backup PG.

I'm throwing Proctor into the deep end this season if I'm the Cavs. If Harden can start next to Mitchell over the next two playoff runs, I'll be surprised.

As far as the original deal, the wing/guard distinction isn't all that relevant if the player can't defend. Just keep Merrill at a fraction of the cost.

[toooskies]

From Cleveland's perspective, I would hope there's a follow-up deal in place. Cam doesn't fix anything, but this exposes Cleveland's perimeter defense more, while also leaving them without a competent backup PG.

I'm throwing Proctor into the deep end this season if I'm the Cavs. If Harden can start next to Mitchell over the next two playoff runs, I'll be surprised.

As far as the original deal, the wing/guard distinction isn't all that relevant if the player can't defend. Just keep Merrill at a fraction of the cost.

We’re going to be playing Strus at PF every night and that leads to bigger defensive breakdowns.

[jbk1234]

From Cleveland's perspective, I would hope there's a follow-up deal in place. Cam doesn't fix anything, but this exposes Cleveland's perimeter defense more, while also leaving them without a competent backup PG.

I'm throwing Proctor into the deep end this season if I'm the Cavs. If Harden can start next to Mitchell over the next two playoff runs, I'll be surprised.

As far as the original deal, the wing/guard distinction isn't all that relevant if the player can't defend. Just keep Merrill at a fraction of the cost.

We’re going to be playing Strus at PF every night and that leads to bigger defensive breakdowns.

We've been hiding Harden at PF in the playoffs when we can. Tomlin can eat some regular season minutes at least. We just signed Hezonja. We're in the mix for Kuminga.

I don't see how commiting all that money to a worse defender than Hunter works out. Maybe on the Pistons roster. Not on ours.

[toooskies]

I'm throwing Proctor into the deep end this season if I'm the Cavs. If Harden can start next to Mitchell over the next two playoff runs, I'll be surprised.

As far as the original deal, the wing/guard distinction isn't all that relevant if the player can't defend. Just keep Merrill at a fraction of the cost.

We’re going to be playing Strus at PF every night and that leads to bigger defensive breakdowns.

We've been hiding Harden at PF in the playoffs when we can. Tomlin can eat some regular season minutes at least. We just signed Hezonja. We're in the mix for Kuminga.

I don't see how commiting all that money to a worse defender than Hunter works out. Maybe on the Pistons roster. Not on ours.

None of those are even somewhat reliable options.

[jbk1234]

We’re going to be playing Strus at PF every night and that leads to bigger defensive breakdowns.

We've been hiding Harden at PF in the playoffs when we can. Tomlin can eat some regular season minutes at least. We just signed Hezonja. We're in the mix for Kuminga.

I don't see how commiting all that money to a worse defender than Hunter works out. Maybe on the Pistons roster. Not on ours.

None of those are even somewhat reliable options.

Perhaps. Perhaps not, but Cam is an expensive, poor fit on the Cavs roster and we're an apron team. We spent all of last season correcting for the taller is better moves we made the prior summer. Also, if Harden is going to play in the playoffs, there will be times where he's going to have to defend the 4 because you can't have him on the perimeter.

[toooskies]

We've been hiding Harden at PF in the playoffs when we can. Tomlin can eat some regular season minutes at least. We just signed Hezonja. We're in the mix for Kuminga.

I don't see how commiting all that money to a worse defender than Hunter works out. Maybe on the Pistons roster. Not on ours.

None of those are even somewhat reliable options.

Perhaps. Perhaps not, but Cam is an expensive, poor fit on the Cavs roster and we're an apron team. We spent all of last season correcting for the taller is better moves we made the prior summer. Also, if Harden is going to play in the playoffs, there will be times where he's going to have to defend the 4 because you can't have him on the perimeter.

We also learned you can’t “traits not position” your way out of being short. Tyson and CPJ were good rebounders for their position but the lineups didn’t work when playing up a position or two. Strus had one of the worst on/offs in the playoffs for the Cavs because he wasn’t capable of playing up while not keeping up enough at the point of attack.

[jbk1234]

None of those are even somewhat reliable options.

Perhaps. Perhaps not, but Cam is an expensive, poor fit on the Cavs roster and we're an apron team. We spent all of last season correcting for the taller is better moves we made the prior summer. Also, if Harden is going to play in the playoffs, there will be times where he's going to have to defend the 4 because you can't have him on the perimeter.

We also learned you can’t “traits not position” your way out of being short. Tyson and CPJ were good rebounders for their position but the lineups didn’t work when playing up a position or two. Strus had one of the worst on/offs in the playoffs for the Cavs because he wasn’t capable of playing up while not keeping up enough at the point of attack.

Do you want me to say the Strus plus three guards lineups, or before Strus came back 4-guard lineups, were dumb? I think we're in agreement. I'd rather take multiple low risk swings than commit that cap to player who I know won't fit.

[toooskies]

Perhaps. Perhaps not, but Cam is an expensive, poor fit on the Cavs roster and we're an apron team. We spent all of last season correcting for the taller is better moves we made the prior summer. Also, if Harden is going to play in the playoffs, there will be times where he's going to have to defend the 4 because you can't have him on the perimeter.

We also learned you can’t “traits not position” your way out of being short. Tyson and CPJ were good rebounders for their position but the lineups didn’t work when playing up a position or two. Strus had one of the worst on/offs in the playoffs for the Cavs because he wasn’t capable of playing up while not keeping up enough at the point of attack.

Do you want me to say the Strus plus three guards lineups, or before Strus came back 4-guard lineups, were dumb? I think we're in agreement. I'd rather take multiple low risk swings than commit that cap to player who I know won't fit.

I just think Johnson’s better than you do, I guess. Would you prefer Christian Braun?

[jbk1234]

We also learned you can’t “traits not position” your way out of being short. Tyson and CPJ were good rebounders for their position but the lineups didn’t work when playing up a position or two. Strus had one of the worst on/offs in the playoffs for the Cavs because he wasn’t capable of playing up while not keeping up enough at the point of attack.

Do you want me to say the Strus plus three guards lineups, or before Strus came back 4-guard lineups, were dumb? I think we're in agreement. I'd rather take multiple low risk swings than commit that cap to player who I know won't fit.

I just think Johnson’s better than you do, I guess. Would you prefer Christian Braun?

I prefer not to commit that much cap to players who aren't an answer. Mitchell's extension kicks in next summer. Tyson has to ger paid the season after that. I'd rather take a series of low risk swings and hope one pans out.

[toooskies]

Do you want me to say the Strus plus three guards lineups, or before Strus came back 4-guard lineups, were dumb? I think we're in agreement. I'd rather take multiple low risk swings than commit that cap to player who I know won't fit.

I just think Johnson’s better than you do, I guess. Would you prefer Christian Braun?

I prefer not to commit that much cap to players who aren't an answer. Mitchell's extension kicks in next summer. Tyson has to ger paid the season after that. I'd rather take a series of low risk swings and hope one pans out.

Tyson isn’t on track to make huge money yet and Harden on a two-year deal would hedge against that best-case scenario for his development.

[jbk1234]

I just think Johnson’s better than you do, I guess. Would you prefer Christian Braun?

I prefer not to commit that much cap to players who aren't an answer. Mitchell's extension kicks in next summer. Tyson has to ger paid the season after that. I'd rather take a series of low risk swings and hope one pans out.

Tyson isn’t on track to make huge money yet and Harden on a two-year deal would hedge against that best-case scenario for his development.

I'm not interested in trading for forwards who are poor defenders as they don't solve for any problem we have. I'm not interested in a guy like Braun who is significantly overpaid for what he brings for a very long time. I'd rather add that Kings second to Strus and see if the Bulls would send out an expiring Jalen Smith.

But really, the Cavs need to roll a hard six with an upside player to take the next step and I'd rather maintain as much roster/payroll flexibility as possible until the chances are spent.

[gflem]

I prefer not to commit that much cap to players who aren't an answer. Mitchell's extension kicks in next summer. Tyson has to ger paid the season after that. I'd rather take a series of low risk swings and hope one pans out.

Tyson isn’t on track to make huge money yet and Harden on a two-year deal would hedge against that best-case scenario for his development.

I'm not interested in trading for forwards who are poor defenders as they don't solve for any problem we have. I'm not interested in a guy like Braun who is significantly overpaid for what he brings for a very long time. I'd rather add that Kings second to Strus and see if the Bulls would send out an expiring Jalen Smith.

But really, the Cavs need to roll a hard six with an upside player to take the next step and I'd rather maintain as much roster/payroll flexibility as possible until the chances are spent.

I wouldn't be upset with op trade. I am a fan of Cam Johnson though. Good points about fit and defense, but the Cavs biggest defensive weakness is at the point of attack, specifically guard, and while Merrill has come a long way defensively he is at best average imo. The team would miss his floor spacing more than his defensive presence. And since he comes off the bench he doesn't impact the Mobley/Allen floor spacing with the starting lineup like a Cam Johnson in the starting lineup would. And imo, the team would get a better roi on Johnson than just stretch waiving Denis.
And for what Johnson brings he is not significantly overpaid. In fact, he is probably a bit underpaid. As mentioned Sochan is still available and would be a good addition but there is no possible way to put him on the floor with Allen/Mobley as a starter. He would be a situational role player along the lines of what Okoro should have been here.