Should the Cleveland Cavaliers TRADE For LeBron James?! | How Lonzo Ball Makes the Cavs DIFFERENT!

Should the Cleveland Cavaliers TRADE For LeBron James?! | How Lonzo Ball Makes the Cavs DIFFERENT!

on today’s show LeBron James in Cleveland part three thoughts on that plus we’ll talk a little bit more about a very eventful weekend for the Wine and Gold that’s all straight ahead in today’s edition of Locked on Cavs you are Locked on Cavs your daily Cleveland Cavaliers podcast part of the Locked On podcast network your team every day what’s up everybody my name is Danny Cunningham you might know me from my time covering the Cleveland Cavaliers places like my Substack The Inside Shot Cleveland Magazine 923 The Fan and a number of other stops along the way i want to say thank you to you for making Locked on Cavs your first listen today and every day you can find the show anywhere you get your podcasts Apple Spotify anywhere else make sure you drop us a fivestar rating leave us a nice review and of course be a friend tell a friend about Locked on Calves make sure you’re subscribed make sure a friend is subscribed as well and if you’re watching on YouTube as we get started here do me a favor hit that thumbs up button for me click subscribe and hit that notification bell so you don’t miss the latest lockdown on Cavs content a proud part of the Lockdown Podcast Network your team every day today’s episode of course brought to you by FanDuel right now new FanDuel customers can get $150 in bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins that is $150 in bonus bets when that first $5 bet wins the Cavs had a very very eventful weekend we will talk about that coming up a little bit later but we have to begin today’s show by talking about LeBron James because of course we have to talk about LeBron James it was reported by ESPN’s Shams Chirania that LeBron James is opting in to his player option for the 2025 2026 season his contract is $52.6 million and he does have a no trade clause now a no trade clause does not mean you cannot be traded what a no trade clause as we have seen in Phoenix with Bradley Beal a no trade clause actually means I get to decide where I get traded to that is a it should not be called a no trade clause it should be called a I hold the power type of thing which is admittedly not a good name but speculation that LeBron would potentially want to be traded really really took off like wildfire on Sunday because of some quotes that his agent Rich Paul the CEO of Clutch Sports gave to ESPN paul told ESPN “LeBron wants to compete compete for a championship he knows the Lakers are building for the future he understands that but he values a realistic chance of winning it all we are very appreciative of the partnership that we’ve had for eight years with Jeannie Bus and Rob Pelinka and consider the Lakers as a critical part of his career paul continues “We understand the difficulty in winning now while preparing for the future we do want to evaluate what’s best for LeBron at this stage in his life and career he wants to make every season he has left count and the Lakers understand that are supportive and want what’s best for him.” There are a couple of different ways to interpret this and this all of course does relate to the Cavs at a certain point because when these quotes are out there immediately people and I am guilty of this too people start putting together the fake trades for LeBron James to bring him back to Cleveland i think that this is a much different situation than the Kevin Durant stuff with the Phoenix Suns a couple of weeks ago was for a number of different reasons obviously LeBron’s history with Northeast Ohio and this organization specifically are among them so that is certainly that part of this discussion is that but with this those quotes to me from Rich Paul to a ESPN do not sound entirely like someone that’s all in with the Lakers i think that’s a very fair thing to say i think that’s probably a conservative thing to say um that sounds to me like somebody who wants to be somewhere else that sounds to me like somebody who recognizes who the Los Angeles Lakers are right now the Lakers as currently constructed even with LeBron James and Luca Donic and Austin Reeves who’s a good player too are not a championship caliber team they’re a good team but they are not a team that should have realistic expectations of winning the championship in 2026 that’s just not what that roster is at the current time so this leads us to well it sounds as if at the very least LeBron is open to being traded for the first time technically the second time in his career was signed and traded from the Cavs to Miami when that happened um back in 2010 but this is this sounds to me like LeBron is open to being traded and that’s where the Cavs come into play because anytime there is movement with LeBron the Cavs are going to be brought up because of the history because he was drafted here he spent 11 seasons wearing wine and gold he won the city’s only championship since 1964 he won the franchise’s only championship he is not only the greatest player in Cavaliers history but he’s the greatest player in NBA history and that is always going to be something that matters in this discussion and I think that there are a number of different ways to look at it and this is an argument where I was not somebody I did not think trading for Kevin Durant made sense that is not something that I thought was a good idea for the Cavs i understand why they explored it but I didn’t think that Kevin Durant was necessarily the right fit here and that is also something that is there’s a lot less to consider when you’re talking about Kevin Durant because of the lack of history with the Cavs um which of course that doesn’t actually matter to winning basketball games next year and the year after that but this is something that because it’s LeBron and listen the other part of it too at this point why I think that this is something I would be more open to not saying I and I at this point I’m talking through this i don’t even necessarily have a take as to whether or not the Cavs should or shouldn’t do it i’m still sort of as of Sunday afternoon here trying to figure out what I think about it i’m trying to talk through it on this podcast with you guys because I don’t entirely know if I would do this or not do this for the Cavs obviously part of it depends on what the trade would look like but I also think too despite the fact LeBron is older he’s going to if he stays healthy this year he’s going to become the NBA’s all-time leader in games played i think he has to play like 55 games this year to have played the most regular season games in NBA history and then when you add on the number of playoff games that he’s played he it’s really like you know he’s played four additional seasons of basketball just in the playoffs which is a wild thing to consider but it is the truth but I think at this point what makes this different other than the history of LeBron what makes this different is I think LeBron James is a better basketball player right now than Kevin Rant now I don’t know how long that’s going to last for but LeBron finished sixth in MVP voting he was a second team allNBA guy and what we are seeing from him is obviously unprecedented because nobody at his age has done that like nobody at his age has been this good with that many miles and tires it just has not happened in NBA history and it really does speak to his greatness but I do think that that makes this a tougher conversation um because he is I think better than Kevin Durant is right now and it gets me to wondering so what would a trade have to look like between the Cavs and the Los Angeles Lakers and to be clear here as I record this I have zero idea if the Cavs are interested in this deal but I do know that at any time LeBron James’ name pops up it’s going to be something worth talking about for the Cleveland Cavaliers so before we even talk about what the Cavs would have to send out because it would have to be similar to what they would have had to send out for Kevin Durant because LeBron and KD financially are in very similar ballparks where LeBron I think is 52.6 if I’m not mistaken that option he picked up and Kevin Durant I actually think might have been a little bit more he might have been at like 54 million dollars for this upcoming season so it is something that like they’re in similar ballparks in terms of what the Cavs have to send out to make this work and the Cavs right now are a second apron team in order for them to make a trade work they would have to send out enough money to one match the LeBron salary of $52.6 million which they do not have a player on the roster making that so there is not a situation in which the Cavs could just send one player to the Lakers and get LeBron back that is not a possible thing for the Cleveland Cavaliers with where they are at financially so they would need to then aggregate player salaries to make this work now as a second apron team that is not something they are allowed to do what they can do is they can aggregate salaries in a trade however the result of that trade has to be the Cavs getting out of the second apron and then they are hardcapped at that second apron line they’re not allowed to make a trade where just like financially because this would work Darius Garland and Max Shrews like numbers wise that would work in terms of getting to LeBron salary like they could make that trade that would not get them out of the second apron would have to send out um a lot roughly $20 million more in order to get out of the second apron but then they have to stay out of it they can’t just jump out of it real quick to make a trade work and then get back into it that’s not how that can work for the Cavaliers so that is something that you do have to keep in mind and the other thing too before again we talk about what a package could look like and and I think you know it’ be kind of similar to Kitty with LeBron’s age with the fact that he’s going to turn 41 in December before I think that the Cavs would even have to like consider whether or not they would want to to put framework of a deal together i do think this would have to be a thing where they get a two-year commitment from LeBron James because I do not think for as great as LeBron still is for everything that he’s done for Cleveland for Northeast Ohio for this organization for the NBA i don’t think the Cavs can break up this core which they would have to do for one year of LeBron James i don’t think that they can do that this is a team that won 64 games they’re very They failed in the playoffs yes and we’ve talked about that a ton on this show but they cannot break up this group for one year of LeBron James that is too much of a risk if you get a two or threeyear commit commitment from LeBron and of course that is a giant risk too because we have no idea what LeBron is going to look like this upcoming season recovering from an MCL injury that he had in the playoffs let alone what he’s going to look like in the 26 27 season or the 2728 season if he’s still playing in the NBA we don’t know what that version of LeBron is going to be like but I do think that there’s enough reason to bet on LeBron the way he has taken care of his body and everything he’s done and just how good he’s been to level that you know he’s not best player in the world caliber LeBron anymore but he’s still a top 10 player top 15 at worst player in the NBA right now so that is worth it from that sense but it’s not worth it for one year of that is it two years is it three years i think probably too if you could get three great but we have no idea what he’s going to look like in his age 43 season but I do think that if the Cavs were to consider this it would have to be a deal where and listen they’re going to talk to LeBron before they would do it because he has a new trade clause he’s going to want to have input on the trade but it would have to be a situation where it’s understood that yeah he’s going to be a free agent next summer but he will be back for at least one if not two more seasons after this upcoming one um any deal that would happen would have to include Darius Garland probably would have to include Jared Allen uh Max Truce DeAndre Hunter like those are the guys that you are looking at as as guys that would have to be sent out in order to make a LeBron trade happen um I’ve not found the deal yet that works in the trade machine it’s very complicated with where the Cavs are at financially and if I’m the Cavs I don’t even know if I do it but I do know anytime LeBron James as potentially changing teams is brought up the Cavs are going to be involved at least in the conversation whether or not they’re interested I do not know i don’t have that information as of Sunday afternoon but I do know they’re going to be brought up by fans by everybody anytime LeBron James might change teams and that I think is warranted so I thought this discussion was warranted now the Cavs did actually do stuff this weekend they signed Sam Merrill they traded for Lonzo Ball means some stuff for some other guys we are going to talk about the Sam Merrill contract next right here on Locked on Cast today’s show is brought to you by FanDuel summer sports are in full swing and whether you’re all about baseball which oh man is not having a good time right now guys you are however having a good time on FanDuel if you’re betting their team unders because my goodness can they not score it is a tough watch it’s bad offense very bad offense so I hope on FanDuel you’re taking the under hope you’re not taking the over on the local nine uh because that lineup is brutal right now just brutal so maybe you’re about baseball maybe you’re about golf which excellent tournament wrap up on Sunday afternoon or some highstakes soccer action i have no idea what’s going on um but FanDuel the best way to make every game no matter the sport even more exciting you’re already following the action so why not make it a little bit more thrilling because with FanDuel you can get in on the game while your friends are getting sunburned on the beach i’ll tell you what watching our baseball team try fry and hit kind of feels like getting sunburned on the beach right now not a good time so if you’re new to FanDuel new customers right now can bet just $5 and get $150 in bonus bets if your first bet wins again bet $5 get $150 in bonus bets if that first $5 bet wins open the FanDuel app today or visit FanDuel.com that is fanduel.com to get started today thank you again for making lockdown cavs your first listen today and every day you can find the show anywhere you get your podcast Apple Spotify or anywhere else and over the weekend of course the Cavs made a trade they also hours after making a trade and I did cover my initial thoughts on the Lonzo Ball for Isaac Aoro swap earlier this weekend I put an episode up on Saturday afternoon and then a few hours later Sam Merrill agreed to a new contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers a four-year $ 38 million deal sam is making roughly nine and a half million dollars per year um and I do want to say really before we get into this this discussion and what it means for the Cavs and all that Sam Merrill I saw this somewhere i don’t know where I saw it and I wish I could give credit and I just I’m going to believe that that it’s accurate i didn’t fact check this maybe I should have i don’t know um but with this contract Sam Merrill becomes the highest paid last pick in the NBA draft ever that’s a really really cool thing i think that you know regardless of your opinion on Sam and I think if you listen to this show you know that I’m probably a little bit higher on Sam as a basketball player than the consensus i just think he brings a lot to the floor on both sides so I I understand that I’m just a little bit higher on Sam as a player than the consensus is so I get that but regardless of the opinion of Sam a BA as a basketball player I think it’s a really cool success story to go from the 60th pick in the NBA draft to kind of being out of the league and then being the first overall pick in the GLeague draft by the Cleveland Charge a couple of years ago to now signing a $38 million contract like that’s a really really cool success story that is something that doesn’t happen all that often um so that is a I think a really cool thing for Sam it’s a really cool thing for the NBA and just like the in general I think it’s a really cool story but in getting into this I did not think Sam would get $9.5 million per year i and I know I talked about this a little bit on Saturday before he signed that deal i thought that the Lonzo Bald trade made it less likely Ty Drrome would return not you know impossible but I I did think the Cavs were going to have to pick between Sam and Tai and part of the reason why I explained on Saturday that I thought it would be Sam was because I thought Tai was going to be making a lot more money than Sam Merrill and I still believe that i think Tai is going to probably be making the full mid-level exception roughly $14 million next year and I don’t think the Cavs wanted to pay him that much money i I’m not so sure that that he is worth $14 million i think he should go get paid whatever he can especially as somebody that would be another very good success story much like Sam even though he was drafted in the first round but his career really didn’t get started until this past season but I’m not sure that the Cavs were comfortable with that number i thought Sam would get around like six five six seven million dollars annually somewhere in that ballpark i didn’t think he would get nine and a half but what I do think too matters here and this is not a discussion for right now this is a discussion we will probably not revisit until a year from now maybe even longer but I do look at this and say okay this is a trade or this is a deal sorry this is a contract that could be tradable in the future so that is something that is worth thinking about now I obviously as I just explained I think Sam is a very good piece of this basketball team i don’t think he’s an essential piece but I think he’s somebody that does make this team better on the surface I like this move for the Cavs um I personally would have prioritized bringing Sam back over bringing Tai back especially when you consider how much money both guys are going to be making i think that this is a better I I this is the direction I would have gone if I were Kobe Alman because of the way that Sam stretches the defense and I will get to something with the Lonzo Wall trade coming up in a second that I do think that this that this series of moves does um but now with Sam being back one that is somebody that Kenny Atinson loves like I really think Kenny loves having Sam on this roster i think he views Sam as somebody that’s incredibly flexible i would like to see Sam play more shooting guard than small forward but Kenny plays him at small forward a lot and I know that he kind of speaks because it is something I’ve asked him about he does kind of speak about it being well you know they’re not really necessarily playing certain positions out there but the the core principle of it for me is I would like to see him defend fewer small forwards than he defended during last season i’d like to see him defend more guards because that’s just like not a size mismatch the way defending small forwards is for him very often um so I do think that Kenny likes what Sam brings on both ends of the floor obviously that’s a good thing the other thing this means I really don’t see a way unless the market drastically changes which of course free agency begins today if this is Monday I’m recording this on Sunday but when I say today I mean Monday obviously unless the market drastically changes I really don’t see a way that the Cavs bring back Tyron i think he’s going to get a a substantial pay raise i think he’s probably going to be around that $14 million a year now if that falls through and I believe Mark Stein and Jake Fischer have said that the Clippers are potentially a team for Tai memphis is potentially a team for Tai charlotte although they traded for Colin Ston today they could have been a team for Tai so maybe his market disappears i don’t know i wouldn’t expect that to happen um if it does disappear and he is making fin significantly less than anticipated then maybe this conversation gets revisited but as of right now I find it very very very difficult to see how how Tai Jerome could be back on the Cavs um I would bet that he’s expecting to get close if not all of the mid-level exception from somebody and I just don’t think that’s a number the Cavs are comfortable with so the series of moves that the Cavs have made trading for Lonzo Ball drafting Tyrese Proctor resigning Sam Merrill all of those things I think points to to Ty being elsewhere i really think that Sam Merrill being back drafting Proctor trading for Lonzo Ball I think all that points to somebody somebody else is going to have Ty Drrome on the roster next year now the Lonzo Ball for Isaac Aoro trade I’ve been letting it marinate for the last 24 um plus hours so I’ve got a few more thoughts that I want to dive into so we’re going to do that next right here on Locked on Cavs thank you again for making Lock on Cavs your first listen today and every day like I said earlier if you’re watching on YouTube hit that thumbs up button as we continue on here on Locked on Cavs so on Saturday the Cavs traded Lonzo for Isaac Aoro or traded Isaac Aoro in exchange for Lonzo excuse me of course then signed Sam Merrill to his new deal which means Tyro is going to be somewhere else and I have I don’t know that the Cavs are that much better if at all i think the Cavs are now different and different doesn’t always mean better but different doesn’t always mean worse either the trade for Lonzo Ball is a obviously a really big bet that he is going to be healthy because if he is healthy I think that he could be exactly what the Cavs need but that’s a a pretty big if that is the biggest gamble I think the Cavs are taking this year is on Lonzo Ball’s health because if he’s healthy I think that he can transform the bench into being something better than it was i don’t think that he’s going to give the scoring puncher exactly the same shooting punch that Ty Derome was able to um he will be much better defensively than Tai was like I think part of the reason why Tai was unplayable against the the Pacers wasn’t because he was missing shots it was because he couldn’t stay on the floor defensively um and on the flip side with that what I do like about this series of moves is the Cavs took two guys who were one-way players because Ty Jerome was was not a good defender at all he was a very good offensive player but not a good defender isaac Aoro a very good defensive player but somebody that opposing teams when it mattered were not going to defend he was just not going to be paid any attention to and they have replaced those two guys with somebody who again the gigantic if of the health question for Lonzo Ball here but they have replaced those two guys with somebody that is a two-way player and I don’t think that is insignificant when having this discussion when thinking about this series of moves because I don’t think that you can just necess like if you look at the the Lonzo for Isaac Aoro trade in a vacuum it’s a great deal for the Cavs it’s it’s a bet on Lonzo’s health of course but like it is something that that’s the Cavs can’t say no to that deal but of course we can’t look at team building in a vacuum because that’s not how you build a team so I think it becomes a little bit less appealing when it’s not in a vacuum because it does mean you lose Tai Jerome but I do think that it’s going to matter it matters more in the postseason having two-way guys and not everybody’s going to be a two-way guy like Darius Garland is not a two-way guy i think he fights like crazy defensively when it matters but he’s just because of his size he’s never going to be a plus defender i think Donovan Mitchell is an okay defender but other than that I think the Cavs mostly have two-way guys and that is something if you look at Oklahoma City part of the reason why they were so good is how many guys do they have that are either targets defensively or don’t get guarded offensively it’s not it’s not a long list right like not everybody is MVP caliber offense but they don’t exactly have guys that you can just leave to double SGA when the Thunder offense and times it felt like they had five alldefense players on the floor where the Cavs aren’t going to be able to get to that level of two-way playability because of Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell like the fact that Shig Gil just Alexander is 6’5 gives him an advantage even if he’s not one of in my opinion not one of the best defenders in basketball i know what some uh some awards voting might say but I don’t necessarily view him as a great defender he’s fine so with that this is something that these moves while probably take away a little bit I don’t know that it makes the Cavs better again losing Tyrone hurts i don’t know that they’re in a better position i don’t think they’re in a worse position now obviously the bet on Ball’s health is the big one but I think they’re different i can’t say they’re better i can’t say they’re worse but I know for sure they’re different i know that the Cavs are going to look much different when Lonzo Ball is running the second unit than they looked with Ty Jerome running the second unit i know that now they’re not going to have guys that opponents can just leave alone when the Cavs are on on offense right like if you go through the projected rotation for the Cavs at this point now and this you know I know Lonzo is not he’s not tied from a shooting perspective but I do think he is a big improvement over Tai from a ball handling and passing perspective at that position so Lonzo despite the fact that maybe he’s not a great shooter he’s a fine shooter i think he’s probably a little bit better than Isaac but he’s a fine shooter but the fact that he’s going to have the ball in his hands so much and is such a good playmaker he’s not somebody you can ignore offensively and he is certainly a pluslevel defender at that position and brings some good size to the back court which is something the Cavs do need because I and I was having this discussion with somebody the other day that Tai is not a small guard he’s 6’5 he’s a goodsized guard but he is somebody with his shot selection primarily the number of contested floaters that he takes and and made pretty frequently until it mattered against the Pacers and he just could not figure out how to make them because of that I think he kind of plays smaller than he is because he’s not some because of the shots that he takes and because he’s a minus defender he doesn’t play like a 6’5 guard where for instance Donovan Mitchell is 6’2 6’3 because of his wingspan and his athleticism I think he actually plays a little bit bigger than he is where Tai is the opposite well Lonzo plays at his size like he plays as a 6’6 maybe even 6’7 guard because of the way that he defends and I think that is something that is a risk I do think is worth taking but I don’t know it’s one you can say yeah the Cavs for sure got better with this series of moves i don’t think you can say they for sure got worse either but I think you can for sure say that the Cavs got different and different could be the best thing for them in the playoffs we’re not going to know until May because again as I’ve said a number of times the first round for this team is just going to be a formality they’re going to be really good again when they get to the second round they’re going to look different next spring than they did this past spring and maybe it’ll work out because of it i don’t know time will tell but overall I I do like I like the risk because there is risk in the moves that they’ve made overall I like the risk that the Cavs and Kobe Alman have made here i think that in the long run and it might not bear fruit right away and again it is a big bet on Lonzo Bell’s health in the long run i think that this series of moves will be a good thing for the Cavs but they’re going to be a little bit different for a little while and they’re betting on Lonzo Ball to be healthy but thank you again for making Lock on Cavs your first listen today and every day you can find the show anywhere you get your podcast Apple Spotify or anywhere else make sure you drop us a fivestar rating leave us a nice review and of course be a friend tell a friend about Lock on Cavs make sure you’re subscribed make sure a friend is subscribed as well and as we get out of here hit that thumbs up button on YouTube click subscribe and hit that notification bell i will be back tomorrow talking more about the Cleveland Cavaliers

On this episode of Locked On Cavs, Danny Cunningham (The Inside Shot, 92.3 The Fan, Cleveland Magazine) explores recent Cleveland Cavaliers news and roster changes. He analyzes LeBron James’ contract situation with the Lakers and speculates on a potential return to Cleveland. Cunningham discusses the Cavs’ trade for Lonzo Ball, highlighting the risk and potential reward of acquiring the injury-prone player. He examines Sam Merrill’s new contract, noting its historic significance for a last draft pick. The podcast evaluates how these moves impact the Cavs’ roster composition, particularly the balance between offense and defense. Cunningham concludes by assessing Koby Altman’s risk-taking approach and its potential long-term benefits for the team’s playoff performance.
Check out Danny’s Substack, The Inside Shot: https://theinsideshot.substack.com/
Email the show: LOCavsmailbag@gmail.com
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