Projected Blockbuster NBA Trade Sends Kevin Durant & Jalen Duren to Cavaliers

Outside of trading Dennis Schroder, which somehow proved difficult despite being anything but a blockbuster, the Cleveland Cavaliers haven’t had much movement. 

Traditionally, teams coming off a conference finals appearance don’t find the need to change much if anything. But with the Eastern Conference landscape changing this offseason, Cleveland knows it needs to make some moves that will help the team keep pace with the New York Knicks and Philadelphia 76ers, two teams that are deservedly earning recognition as the two juggernauts of the conference. 

Will the Cavs make a major move? They have been linked to free agent stars Peyton Watson and Jonathan Kuminga, but will either move the needle enough for the Cavs? 

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This Wild Kevin Durant Trade Idea Makes the Cavaliers the New Beast in the East

If the Cavs want to hit the East with a little “anything you can do, we can do better” energy, there’s a way to achieve that. 

In a hypothetical scenario, the Cavs call up the Houston Rockets, Detroit Pistons and Los Angeles Clippers to hammer out a mega deal that sends All-NBA performers Kevin Durant and Jalen Duren to Cleveland to play alongside franchise cornerstones Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley. Here’s a proposed framework that makes this happen.

Cavs receive: Kevin Durant and Jalen Duren (via sign-and-trade; four-year, $176.2 million contract)

Pistons receive: Jarrett Allen, Max Strus, a 2028 first round pick (via CLE), and three second round picks (via CLE, LAC)

Rockets receive: James Harden, Sam Merrill and a 2031 first round pick

Clippers receive: Duncan Robinson

This loaded trade is hypothetical and intended to completely shake up the East, with the Cavs becoming the new team to beat in the conference. The Pistons end their long summer stalemate with Duren, sending him to Cleveland and replacing him with Allen, the 28-year-old former All-Star, while adding a sharpshooter in Strus to replace Robinson. The Rockets reunite with Harden, pick up a 3-point sniper in Merrill and a valuable draft pick, while the Clippers add to their impressive collection of sharpshooting wings. 

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Why Cleveland, Detroit Make the Major Pivot

This deal revolves around Detroit and Cleveland. For the Pistons, seeing no end in sight in the Duren saga, move the 22-year-old rising star and take back a star center in his prime, eliminating the risk of losing Duren for no return next summer. With Allen, the Cade Cunningham-led Pistons maintain pace in the East. Let’s not fail to mention the first round pick the Pistons could use in two years to draft a potential star.

For the Cavs, this trade brings a lot of talent … and a bunch of pressure. 

With Mitchell, Durant, Mobley and Duren, the Cavs have a strong argument for possessing the best starting lineup in the league. Durant is the elite wing scorer who plays off of Mitchell, who now plays a more loose halfcourt game not having to share the basketball with a ball-dominant star. 

Cleveland replaces Allen with a young, budding superstar in Duren, a long-term building block to put around the 29-year-old Mitchell. 

This trade is unlikely, of course, but completely legal. Just imagine next season’s East playoff race with Cleveland, New York and Philadelphia all throwing haymakers at each other for the top spot.

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