With the Cleveland Cavaliers finding themselves in the middle of a mid-season crisis, it appears they may be looking to all corners for help.
Those corners reportedly include the Lakers.
According to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst on The Jump, the Cavs and Lakers have “talked” as Cleveland looks to find a way out of the current mess they find themselves in.
“I was told today that they’ve been talking to the Lakers, which is stunning because why they would do a deal with the Lakers that could potentially recruit LeBron, but that just shows you they are going all over the league trying to figure this out. I think they’re going to make, at this point I would say, likely multiple moves to try to shake this up.”
Whom the Cavaliers may be looking at on the Lakers is a mystery. The most-mentioned names in Lakers trade rumors have been Jordan Clarkson, Julius Randle and Larry Nance. Clarkson or Randle could potentially make sense for Cleveland, but the other hurdle is what the Lakers would take back. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope could be another option if the Cavaliers are looking for a short-term fix.
With an eye on maintaining flexibility heading into the summer, only a couple deals would make sense for Los Angeles. Both Channing Frye and Derrick Rose are on expiring deals and the Lakers had plenty of interest in the latter. The former is a friend of Luke Walton’s and could make sense as a veteran presence.
There’s also the possibility of a Kevin Love trade. The Lakers and Love have long been linked and with Love coming under fire in Cleveland, the end could be near for his time with the Cavaliers.
The Cavaliers also hold a pair of first-round picks. While no player the Lakers would be willing to trade would net them the Brooklyn pick, the Cavs pick, which will fall in the late 20s, is much more likely to be in play.
There’s also the scenario that they could bring another team into the deal to eat the long-term money. The Cavs have been linked with the Clippers and Kings with other trades and either of those teams could be more willing to take on multi-year deals in return.
With the deadline two-and-a-half weeks away, though, be prepared for things to heat up.
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