The Cleveland Cavaliers are out of the playoffs, and because of that, questions about their roster have gained steam. Chief among them is one surrounding Donovan Mitchell’s future in Cleveland.
The Los Angeles Lakers have recently been linked to the five-time All-Star. There’s a belief he would be the No. 1 choice for the Lakers should they try to bring in another star to flank LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
However, the Cavs probably wouldn’t be that interested in engaging in a trade with Los Angeles unless they were enamored with Austin Reaves, which an Eastern Conference general manager brought up.
“The only way the Lakers could trade for him is if they did an all-or-nothing kind of trade,” the general manager told Heavy Sports. “It’s got to be that. They’d have to put all their chips in. Then it is just a matter of, how much do the Cavaliers like Austin Reaves?”
Cleveland is coming off its best showing in a season since 2018, when James led the team to the NBA Finals. Despite finishing with three fewer wins this season than last, it still managed to reach the conference semifinals in the 2024 NBA Playoffs.
The squad’s hopes of reaching the conference finals were dashed by the Boston Celtics, who eliminated the Cavs in five games.
Mitchell did his best to try to lift Cleveland to a series upset over the team with the best record in the regular season. He averaged a series-best 31.7 points per game and shot 51.5 percent from the field and 53.3 percent from beyond the arc against Boston. Unfortunately, a left calf strain caused the guard to sit out Games 4 and 5.
The disappointment of failing to advance deeper in the postseason has had some people wondering if they have seen the last of Mitchell in a Cavs uniform. A recent report, though, has indicated that he is likelier to remain in Cleveland than not.
In the event that the organization and its star end up parting ways, a straight-up trade with the Lakers would not appear to offer the Cavs a definitive way to remain contenders. Los Angeles’ biggest trade piece is arguably Reaves, who has yet to prove that he is an All-Star caliber player. There would certainly be draft capital included in such a trade.
Interestingly, Mitchell isn’t the only Cavs guard that has been linked to the Lakers.
There is some belief that James may have attended Game 4 of Cleveland’s playoff bout with the Celtics to get a closer look at Darius Garland as a potential trade target. Of course, that is only speculation. But the Cavs’ interest in shipping Garland to Los Angeles might also hinge on how much they like Reaves.
