The Cleveland Cavaliers could trade for Los Angeles Lakers shooting guard Nick Young if JR Smith decides to join another team this summer.
The Cavs will need all the help they can get to form a competitive roster for their back-to-back title campaign next season, but the odds of compiling reliable key players are against Cleveland, with the team already well over the cap limit and only having $3.5 million mid-level exception to sign a free agent.
After losing key players like Matthew Dellavedova and Timofey Mozgov to free agency, there is a growing sense the Cavs could also fail to retain unrestricted free agent JR Smith, considering the big deals Delly and Mozgov received from the Bucks and Lakers, respectively. And while LeBron James is still expected to return in Cleveland, the Cavs could be in trouble of surrounding the King with effective supporting casts.
"Now the fear is Smith, who took a pay cut last season when he ultimately signed for less than the option year he declined, will likewise price himself out of the Cavs' market," Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal reported.
Smith has yet to ponder options in free agency, but if the Cavs are not able to keep the 30-year-old shooting guard, the team could look at other options to fill in the SG spot. One possible alternative for the Cavs is trading for Nick Young, who is reportedly expected to get traded or waived by the Lakers, according to Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times.
"Veteran Nick Young has two more years on his contract totaling $11 million, but it will be a surprise if he's not traded or waived before training camp," Bresnahan wrote.
It is unknown whether the Cavs really have a genuine interest in trading for Young, but it seems a plausible option the franchise could consider if all do not go well in free agency.
Young had a poor stint with the Lakers last season, averaging a career-low 7.3 points on 33.9 percent shooting from the field. But part of Young's struggles is the lack of playing time under sacked head coach Byron Scott and the former's unfitting role in the Lakers' system.
The Cavs could use Young as a threat from the outside to help space the floor and would surely become a key cog under Tyronn Lue's tutelage. He could nicely slide in and take Smith's role of shooting 3s and providing an offensive threat off the bench.
However, the Cavs do not have much pieces to make a trade for Young, which the Lakers could probably not move without other players involved.
Nevertheless, Young seems a player who could fit as a perfect backup to LeBron James if Smith opts to go elsewhere.