The Cleveland Cavaliers are near the top of the Eastern Conference, but that doesn’t mean they won’t look for upgrades this season. Team insider Evan Dammarell recently linked Kenyon Martin Jr. of the Houston Rockets and Joe Harris of the Brooklyn Nets to the organization.
“There are plenty of other names worth watching sources tell Right Down Euclid, including Houston’s Kenyon Martin Jr. and Brooklyn’s Joe Harris, as things start to open up on the trade market,” Dammarell wrote.
Harris, a former Cavs player, has been linked to the team for some time now. There were rumors of the team being interested in him last season before it acquired Caris LeVert from the Indiana Pacers.
Cleveland continues to try to find the right player to start at small forward alongside Darius Garland, Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen.
LeVert, Dean Wade, Isaac Okoro and Lamar Stevens have all seen minutes at small forward this season, but no one seems to have a strong grip on the starting job.
What does Harris bring to the table?
Harris is a nine-year veteran whose main skill is arguably his shooting. Over the course of his career, he’s shot 43.5 percent from beyond the arc.
He isn’t the best defender out there, but the Cavs could hide him a bit on defense by starting him alongside players like Mobley and Allen. Mitchell has also improved greatly on defense this season.
The former second-round pick has been splitting time between a starting and bench role this season for the Nets, faring way better as a starter than as a reserve.
Cleveland isn’t struggling shooting the ball from deep this season, but a team can never have too many sharpshooters on the roster.
What does Martin bring to the table?
Martin is an insanely athletic players that thrives at cutting and finishing near the rim. Those abilities are easily seen in the incredible dunks that he’s pulled off in his career.
While he’s struggled a bit from beyond the arc this season (31.9 percent shooting), he can definitely be a threat from downtown. Having a highflier like Martin in the starting lineup might be a good thing for Cleveland.
Some of his deficiencies are similar to those of Harris. He isn’t the best defender out there, but with his size and athleticism, he could end up becoming a force on that end.
He also doesn’t create for himself that much, as only 18.2 percent of his made shots are unassisted. However, he likely wouldn’t need to create for himself all that much if he were to join the Cavs.
It’ll be interesting to see if the Cavs make a deal for either Harris or Martin. Both would likely have a significant role for the team.
After beating the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday, Cleveland is set to start a nice six-game home stand on Friday against the Pacers.
