De'Andre Hunter's move to the Sacramento Kings on Saturday night has signalled the Cleveland Cavaliers' ambition to start reducing their payroll, while simultaneously gifting the Golden State Warriors an opportunity to revisit a long-rumored trade target.
With the Cavaliers still not yet under the second apron and having acquired a backup point guard in former Warrior Dennis Schroder, all signs point to Lonzo Ball being on the move next before the imminent February 5 deadline.
Warriors gifted opportunity to trade for Lonzo Ball
Ball has had an underwhelming first season with the Cavaliers, but he has been a target for Golden State previously, including just this past offseason before the Chicago Bulls dealt him to Cleveland.
According to NBA insider Jake Fischer in July, the Warriors would have been more open to a Jonathan Kuminga sign-and-trade had Ball still been a member of the Bulls and therefore available in a deal.
"I think that's something that would have been more likely if the Bulls waited and had Lonzo Ball to send back to Golden State instead of that deal that they already made with Cleveland," Fischer said."I think that's something Golden State would have liked."
Ball is on a $10 million deal and has a $10 million team option for next season, meaning any team that trades for the 28-year-old will have some flexibility moving forward. The 6'5 point guard is averaging only 4.6 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.3 steals this season, shooting a paltry 29.9% from the floor and 26.2% from 3-point range.
Even despite those lowly numbers, Ball's versatile skillset would be attractive to Golden State in their system, and would likely make him a rotation upgrade over someone like Buddy Hield. Could the Warriors flip Hield and another minimum salary -- say Gary Payton II or Trayce Jackson-Davis -- for Ball in a multi-team trade that aids Cleveland's payroll ambitions?
Doing so would almost certainly require a couple of second-round picks at a minimum, something the Warriors may need to acquire from elsewhere given the cupboard is bare (especially in comparison to their first-round picks).
Trading for Ball also doesn't make much sense in isolation. He's not going to make Golden State a far superior team on his own, or make them more of a threat should they make the playoffs. It might makes some sense though if they do something bigger first, with all eyes centered on Giannis Antetokounmpo as the deadline approaches.
If the Warriors can acquire the Milwaukee Bucks superstar, Ball might make some sense to help replace what Brandin Podziemski has provided in the second-unit -- assuming the young guard is part of an Antetokounmpo trade.
It's certainly a supplementary trade target that's worth monitoring ahead of the deadline, with the Cavaliers firmly placing Ball on the market thanks to their acquisition of Schroder and Keon Ellis.