Ranking Cavaliers' Top Trade Targets After 2024 NBA Playoff Loss
The Cleveland Cavaliers had hoped to use the 2024 NBA playoffs as a recruiting tool to convince Donovan Mitchell to stick around.
That didn't happen.
While the Cavaliers at least made it out of the first round, their second-round journey was little more than a cameo. They just didn't have enough to seriously challenge the top-seeded Boston Celtics, who ousted them in five games.
Mitchell, who can opt for free agency next summer, reportedly needed an NBA Finals run to commit to a contract extension, per B/R's Eric Pincus. Without one, Pincus added, Mitchell plans to "look elsewhere" making the Cavaliers "more likely than not" to trade him before he potentially leaves on his own.
Trade watch for this team, in other words, is as much about whether its main star gets subtracted as it is which players could be added around him. We'll try considering both scenarios while mapping out and ranking potential targets.
3. Draft Picks
Cavaliers fans won't want to start thinking about a Mitchell trade just yet, but it has to be on the minds of their decision-makers. And if they decide he is too much of a flight risk to keep around, then they have to try rebuilding the draft pick collection they tore down to get him in Sept. 2022.
They lost three unprotected firsts (2025, 2027 and 2029) plus a pair of pick swaps (2026 and 2028) in that exchange.
While they can't expect to land that type of haul, they clearly need to replace as many of those picks as possible.
Even if they don't plan on drafting and developing players with those picks—a Darius Garland-Evan Mobley-Jarrett Allen core could still be really good with the right players around it—they still need the draft assets for trade purposes. At some point sooner than later, they'd have to fill the Mitchell-sized hole on their roster, and they'll need draft picks to do that.
2. Tyler Herro, Miami Heat
If the Cavaliers trade Mitchell this summer, they won't do it for draft picks alone. They'd need incoming salaries to make the money work, for starters, plus they'd want to find plug-and-play talent to allow for a return to competitiveness as quickly as possible.
Tyler Herro would be right near the top of ideal Mitchell replacements in that scenario.
The 24-year-old, who just averaged 20-plus points and four-plus assists for the third consecutive season, offers the right blend of established ability and growth potential. He could help this roster compete right now and hopefully reach his peak the same time it does.
If Cleveland plans to keep building around the Allen-Mobley frontcourt, it will need all of the scoring and spacing it can get on the perimeter. Herro offers both in spades, having just averaged 20.8 points and 3.1 three-pointers on 44.1/39.6/85.6 shooting.
1. Dorian Finney-Smith, Brooklyn Nets
While trade winds are sure to swirl around Mitchell, that doesn't mean Cleveland will definitely deal him. If he isn't looking to leave, the Cavaliers will be looking to give him reasons to stay and further fortifying the forward rotation might be their best bet.
Cleveland still doesn't have a great two-way option at the 3 spot. Getting Dorian Finney-Smith admittedly wouldn't change that, but he could be the kind of three-and-D wing who simultaneously protects the backcourt on defense and stretches out the frontcourt on offense.
Defense is his calling card, which is probably what you want from a swingman lining up alongside Garland and Mitchell. The 6'7", 220-pound Finney-Smith has an answer for just about anything an offense can throw at him, as he's quick enough to keep up with guards and strong enough to hold his own in the post.
His swing skill is shooting, as he's had a few really strong campaigns from distance but also a couple abysmal ones. Lately, he's been pretty mediocre from range (34.3 percent the past two seasons), though Brooklyn's largely punch-less offense hasn't exactly created a ton of great looks for him. The hope would be Cleveland's superior shot-creators would better set the table for Finney-Smith and turn him back into the three-point threat he was alongside Luka Dončić in Dallas (38.9 percent between 2019-20 and 2021-22).