NBA Trade Rumors: Acquiring Kemba Walker Could Be Essential to the Cleveland Cavaliers Having a Successful Offseason
The Cleveland Cavaliers' top priority for this offseason is to re-sign LeBron James, but if they want to do that, they may first need to make a different move.
After the way the Cavaliers barely got by the Indiana Pacers and the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference and were decimated by the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals, it's obvious that they need to make changes to the roster this summer, and there may be one move in particular that they have to complete.
According to a source spoken to recently by Bleacher Report's Ken Berger, the only way for the Cavaliers to convince James to remain with the team is if they go out and acquire Kemba Walker from the Charlotte Hornets.
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For the Cavaliers, acquiring Walker is easier said than done.
Over the past three seasons, Walker has turned himself into one of the NBA's most underrated stars, and adding on top of the fact that he's only set to make $12 million next year, the Hornets would likely only trade him if they were blown away by a proposal.
So, do the Cavaliers have enough to present to the Hornets?
Any offer would have to include the Cavaliers' most recent draft pick — the highly talented and always-competing Alabama guard Collin Sexton. Sexton alone won't be enough, however, so the Cavaliers may need to include a future first-round pick in the offer.
Per Real GM, the Cavaliers still owe a pick to the Atlanta Hawks, so trading their 2019 and 2020 first rounders may not be possible. What they could do instead is offer their 2022 first-rounder, although that would be risky given how far into the future that pick is.
If that's still not enough to get the deal done, then the Cavaliers could offer to take back Walker and Nicolas Batum, a player who's still set to make a ton of money through the 2020-21 season, as part of a deal wherein they would send the Hornets Sexton, a future first-round pick and perhaps George Hill, Jordan Clarkson and Cedi Osman to make the salaries match.
Taking on Clarkson and Hill's contracts may not be ideal for the Hornets, but at least those deals will expire at the end of the 2020 season.
Acquiring Walker is a tough ask for the Cavaliers, but there are ways to get that done.
