The Milwaukee Bucks shook up the Eastern Conference landscape when they sent two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo to the Miami Heat for an underwhelming trade package centered around Tyler Herro and multiple first-round picks.
The Cleveland Cavaliers weren’t one of the reported teams in the mix for Giannis’s services, even though there were rumblings that the Bucks were eyeing Evan Mobley as the centerpiece for a possible Giannis trade a few months ago. So what does this all mean for the Cavs?
First,
it’s important to acknowledge that there’s another contender in the East.
The bar for entry into the title conversation is lower than it’s been before this era of parity. Teams that have talent, a clear identity, and can enforce that identity on their opponents can have playoff success even if their rosters aren’t perfect. Groups like the Toronto Raptors, Atlanta Hawks, and Detroit Pistons are examples that did that well in the playoffs.
Miami has the tools to do the same.
They have the talent to be a formidable defense with a Bam Adebayo and Giannis-led front court, and perimeter pests like Davion Mitchell and Norman Powell (if they’re able to retain him in free agency). This should be an imposing half-court defense that generates plenty of turnovers with Erik Spoelstra’s patented zone.
Offensively, they will be potent in transition. Miami was already one of the league’s quickest offenses. That trend should continue as they likely won’t have the shooting or guard play to be an elite half-court attack. Antetokounmpo is elite in the open court. You’d expect them to leverage that as much as possible.
It typically takes teams a few years to build around a new star. The Heat won’t be the fully optimized version of a Giannis-led team for likely several years. But that doesn’t mean they won’t be a threat to the Cavs in the interim.
Cleveland has had issues against rangy defensive teams that can push it in transition. Their Donovan Mitchell and James Harden-led backcourt has struggled with turnovers in matchups where they don’t have the size or athletic advantage. And Cleveland’s oversized front court isn’t much use defensively if they aren’t able to get set up in the half-court. This is why the Cavs struggled so much against the Raptors in the first round this past season.
Miami — even in its current, imperfect construction — projects to be a better version of the Raptors. They have better backline defenders and should be much more explosive offensively in the open court with Giannis. They also have the strength up front to bully the Cavs. A more talented version of Toronto isn’t a team the Cavs want to face, at least not with Cleveland’s current roster.
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Second, the Giannis trade should open up the floodgates on other moves around the league.
The Boston Celtics made Jaylen Brown available in their pursuit of Giannis. Now that they didn’t get that deal done, is Brown someone who could be dealt? And if so, is this someone the Cavs could have interest in?
What we do know is that Mitchell and Brown are good friends. We also know that the Cavs have done everything within their power to make moves that Mitchell approves of. Trading for a former Finals MVP and someone who fills a hole in the roster would make sense. Although figuring out a deal that works for both sides would be difficult — especially if Mobley isn’t on the table.
Brown wouldn’t be the only player who could be more available after the Giannis trade has gone through. Would the Bucks entertain moving on from Myles Turner? Is Kawhi Leonard the next star player to change teams? Could Trey Murphy III finally be on the move? Is Tyler Herro destined for a new home? What about Anthony Edwards? Presumably, the Cavs could get involved in any potential deal, even as a third team.
The Cavs typically don’t telegraph their moves. If they were to do something drastic, we likely wouldn’t know about it until the deal is nearly finalized, as we saw with the Harden trade this February.
All we can say for certain right now is that there’s a new contender in the East. We’ll see in the coming months whether the Cavs can remake their roster in a conference that will be much deeper next season.
