The Cavaliers Need To Trade The Brooklyn Pick To Keep LeBron, According To An ESPN Reporter


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Now that the Cleveland Cavaliers have sent Kyrie Irving to the Boston Celtics, they can move on to their next major piece of roster-related business: Figuring out how to make sure LeBron James stays in Cleveland. LeBron is a free agent next offseason, and there’s plenty of smoke indicating that he is strongly considering leaving town.

So basically, this all comes down to the fact that the Cavs need to figure if it’s worth doing whatever they need to do to make LeBron happy. If the answer is no, there’s no need to worry about LeBron being part of the team’s future. If the answer is yes, every asset the team possesses has to be on the table.

The most intriguing asset they possess is Brooklyn’s first round pick in the 2018 NBA Draft. According to Chris Haynes of ESPN, turning that pick into something right now is the key to making sure LeBron doesn’t go anywhere next summer.

“If they want any chance of retaining LeBron, they have to trade that pick to get somebody in return who is gonna be a core piece right now,” Haynes said. “I think if they’re settled on making sure that they have youth and assets and a promising future years down the road, I think you’re gonna cost yourself LeBron James, I really do think it’s that serious.”

It was reported a few days ago that Cleveland was getting calls about the pick, ostensibly because other teams agree with what Haynes is reporting. You can make a very strong case that keeping the pick and building around whomever they get with it is a really smart move, but if the options are “do that” or “keep LeBron James,” Cleveland essentially has to choose that second one.

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