NBA trades we want to see: Major moves in Cleveland and New York

Cavaliers land another All-Star
Cleveland Cavaliers get:
Brandon Ingram
Dyson Daniels

New Orleans Pelicans get:
Jarrett Allen
Max Strus

As much as this is a talent swap, this potential deal also comes down to dollars and sense for both teams.

Ingram, 26, is entering the final year of his contract with the Pelicans and is poised to sign an extension for up to $208 million over four years. If Ingram and his camp balk at taking anything less than $50 million per season, New Orleans could look into a trade.

Ingram is one of 10 players to average at least 20 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists in each of the past three seasons. He went to his only All-Star game while a member of the Pelicans, earning the nod in 2020 when he was also named the league's Most Improved Player. But after five years of trying to pair Ingram and Zion Williamson together, it might be time for New Orleans to move on. Ingram would provide the Cavaliers with an option along the wing with Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley in this scenario.

For Cleveland, this breaks up the Mobley-Allen pairing in the frontcourt and slides Mobley over to full-time center. It also could spell the end of Darius Garland's time in Cleveland if the Cavaliers were going to opt to pay Ingram, Mitchell (presumably with a lucrative extension) and the extension-eligible Mobley.

Daniels, a 6-foot-8 defensive-minded guard who turned 21 in March, gives the Cavaliers a ball handler in the deal who could play alongside Mitchell at times or run the second unit. Daniels has struggled to find his shot from deep in two seasons — 31.2% on 1.8 3-pointers per game — but brings more value on the other end.

Dealing both Ingram and Daniels saves the Pelicans room under the luxury tax and could give them a better shot at re-signing forward Naji Marshall in free agency.

Allen, an All-Star in 2022, becomes the defensive anchor for coach Willie Green's defense that finished sixth in defensive rating (111.9) this season but could use a more versatile defender than Jonas Valanciunas. Strus, who is in the second of a four-year, $63 million deal, started every game he played this season, but could become a sixth-man in New Orleans.

The Pelicans would have Williamson, Allen, Herb Jones, CJ McCollum in the starting group, and it would allow Trey Murphy III to take Ingram's place while Strus could strengthen the Pelicans' bench.

Ingram becomes a player the Cavaliers could turn to down the stretch to create his own shot and even spell Mitchell at times as the team's lead ball handler.

— Andrew Lopez

Brooklyn lands its point guard of the future
Brooklyn Nets get:
Darius Garland
Georges Niang

Cleveland Cavaliers get:
Cameron Johnson
Dennis Schroder
2025 first-round pick (via lesser of Brooklyn/Houston swap or Phoenix)
2029 first-round pick (via lesser of Dallas/Phoenix)

If Donovan Mitchell signs an extension this summer, a Garland trade feels inevitable. Cleveland needs to put more shooting and defense around Mitchell and big men Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley. Enter Johnson, a 39% career 3-point shooter who would also give the Cavaliers more size on the perimeter in their starting five.

Instead of starting the 6-1 Garland with 6-3 Mitchell and 6-5 Max Strus, Mitchell would become Cleveland's smallest starter with the 6-8 Johnson better equipped to defend bigger wings than Strus.

Johnson is signed to a favorable contract that pays him an average of less than $22 million over the next three seasons, while Garland's contract ramps up to $45 million by 2027-28. Swapping Niang, who fell to the fringes of the Cavaliers' playoff rotation, for Schroder as a backup point guard in the final season of his contract also saves enough that Cleveland could gain access to their non-taxpayer midlevel exception.

Although the 2025 first-round pick would have limited upside because of Brooklyn's swap with the Houston Rockets, adding a first-rounder would replace the one the Cavaliers sent to the Jazz for Mitchell and give them more flexibility in trading a pick down the road.

The Nets are betting here that Garland will look like the All-Star he was in 2021-22 before Cleveland brought in Mitchell as another backcourt star. Still just 24 years old, Garland would be a dramatic upgrade on one of the weakest point guard rotations in the NBA last season, with Schroder replacing Spencer Dinwiddie in a deadline trade.

Given Brooklyn doesn't own its first-round pick outright until 2028, staying in the lottery does the Nets little good. Garland's playmaking, in conjunction with Mikal Bridges shifting to a secondary role on offense, could lift them back into the East playoff picture.

— Kevin Pelton