With the trade deadline four days away, trade talks are heating up around the NBA and we are finally starting to see some movement and not just reported discussions.
The first big deal of the weekend arrived on Friday when the Clippers traded for Norman Powell and Robert Covington, as the Blazers looked to move out of the luxury tax and officially signaled they are moving towards this season being about the future. While the big dominos remain standing, that move seemed to pop the lid off the trade market a bit, as Sunday brought word of another fairly significant deal.
The Cleveland Cavaliers have been wanting to add guard help for months, particularly with the injuries to Collin Sexton and Ricky Rubio, and have found that additional backcourt help for breakout star Darius Garland in Indiana, where the Pacers have been reportedly open for business for more than a month. On Sunday, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Caris LeVert was headed to Cleveland for Rubio’s expiring salary, this year’s first round pick, and a pair of seconds.
The Cavs are sending a package to the Pacers that includes Ricky Rubio’s expiring contract and a lottery-protected 2022 and first-round pick and two second round picks, sources tell ESPN. https://t.co/CxLM9S5wvr
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 6, 2022
Full trade: Indiana sends Caris LeVert and a 2022 second-round pick via Miami to Cleveland for Ricky Rubio, lottery-protected 2022 first-round pick, 2022 second-round pick via Houston and a 2027 second-round pick via Utah, per sources.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 6, 2022
The Cavs are firmly in the playoff hunt this year and needed to make a move to ensure they weren’t just a regular season darling, but had some additional floor balance for the postseason. LeVert can hopefully provide that, offering quality secondary scoring alongside Garland as the Cavs have loaded up with frontcourt talent but found themselves a bit thin at guard.
For the Pacers, it’s the beginning of the expected selling off to kickstart a rebuild, with Domantas Sabonis and/or Myles Turner both potentially on their way out this week as well. They get a first this year and a pair of seconds, along with some future cap flexibility to begin what they hope will be a relatively quick rebuild.