Glenn Kaplan
The Cleveland Cavaliers are looking to make moves to improve the roster for the 2026-2027 NBA season. For quite some time, they have been linked to the Giannis Antetokounmpo trade rumors. It still remains to be seen where the Milwaukee Bucks will be trading him too. It appears as if Cleveland will not be on Giannis’s radar for the 2026-2027 NBA season.
The Boston Celtics or the Miami Heat appear to be the frontrunners to land him. If Boston were to acquire him, they would be trading away Jaylen Brown and other players for Antetokounmpo. This would mean that the Cavaliers would not trade Evan Mobley for him and they would have to upgrade the roster elsewhere. Not only would this trade affect Cleveland, but it would affect the rest of the NBA landscape as well.
Nick Wilson gives his thoughts about the Cleveland Cavaliers not pursuing Giannis Antetokounmpo
Nick Wilson was on 92.3 The Fan in Cleveland, Ohio on Monday afternoon with Nick Pedone. Wilson talked about what it will mean for the Cavaliers moving forward if they don’t wind up trading for Antetokounmpo. Wilson said, “If the Cavs are truly out on Giannis, maybe that’s for the better because as great of a player Giannis is, I’ve already got enough guys that say the right thing…I need somebody with that dawg in them.”
Adding Giannis to the team would be an upgrade. Even though he is 31 years old and has had injury issues, Antetokounmpo is a top five player in the NBA when healthy. In only 36 games last season with Milwaukee, he averaged 27.6 PPG, 9.8 RPG, 5.4 APG, 0.7 BPG, and 0.9 SPG. A pairing of Antetokounmpo and Donovan Mitchell would be a very dangerous one for the Cavaliers. However, the Cavaliers fanbase and Cleveland media will soon be able to end this Giannis trade talks saga.
It would be a shock at this point if he was traded to Cleveland for Mobley, other players, and draft picks. If they somehow traded for him, they would be one of the favorites to win the 2026-2027 NBA Championship. The Cavaliers are going to have to figure out avenues how to upgrade the roster for next season.
Other options
Since the Cavaliers are not going to wind up getting Antetokounmpo, there are going to be other players out there in either free agency or the trade market. Cleveland will have the 29th overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft. They should use that pick to select a player that will help them win now.
After that, then they should see if can find a way to trade Jarrett Allen to the New Orleans Pelicans for Trey Murphy. If the Cavaliers cannot trade Allen or any of the other core players, then they are going to have to find players in free agency. Rui Hachimura could be one of the players on Cleveland’s radar for Koby Altman to sign.
There is a chance that the Cavaliers could be trading Dennis Schroder to another team for another player. Cleveland may also decide to not bring back Dean Wade. Once an Antetokounmpo trade gets finalized, there will be more clearance about what this franchise will do next. The first thing they should do is see if LeBron James would come home for one more season.
