Michael Porter Jr is an absolute scoring machine. At 6'10 with a handle, elite jumpshot, and good athleticism, he really has no weaknesses when it comes to putting the ball in the basket. So far he's averaging 15 and 7 on 63% TS% in Denver, but they haven't given him as much offensive freedom to hunt his own shots. He's third on the team in FGA, but there's a big drop off from Jamal Murray at 2nd to MPJ at 3rd.
MPJ has one year left on his rookie deal after this season before entering Restricted Free Agency. He's been reported by Zach Lowe to be looking for a max and nothing less, but there's no news on how willing Denver is to pay that. However, after losing Jerami Grant to Detroit, holding onto MPJ became even more important for the Nuggets.
The Cavaliers' salaries in the 2022 offseason look like this: Love at $28.9 million, Nance at $9.7 million, Garland at $8.9 million, Osman at $7.3 million, Okoro at $7 million, Windler at $4 million, and Wade at $1.9 million. However, that doesn't include Jarrett Allen and Collin Sexton, who will both be due for extensions; Jarrett after this year and Collin after next year. Assuming Sexton gets $28 million in the first year of his new deal and Jarrett gets $20 million in the second year of his, that would put the Cavs at $115.7 million, not including salaries for rookies and reserves. That should be near the salary cap, or at least my guess of where it'll be. That obviously doesn't leave enough room to max MPJ. To be able to throw all the money you can at him, getting rid of Love's money would be essential, and maybe more would be necessary. Finding contracts that will expire after the 2022 season will be the only way to get off of Love's money. Cedi's $7.3 million would also have to go. Finding a trade partner for him should be easier, and he's already drawn interest from Golden State. Larry Nance could also be on the way out if it gets MPJ. I really don't want to trade Nance, but it would have to be done if it gets MPJ. considering both of them are power forwards, it would make finding minutes for Nance hard anyways, unless you put him at center. Sending one or both of Cedi and Nance to the Nuggets in a sign and trade could also be an option; Nance really makes a lot of sense in Denver.
MPJ would be a great backup plan if the Cavs fail to get a franchise guy in the draft this offseason, but he would still fit in if the Cavs were to get a guy like Cade Cunningham. Getting Cade makes going after MPJ no longer necessary, but rather a luxury. if the Cavs were to draft Cade, trade both Love and Cedi, and sign MPJ, the team could look something like this:
A Nance trade might also be necessary to get the deal done, which in that case Dean Wade would take his minutes at the backup 4. There is also a hole at backup center, which could be filled with a cheap veteran or even a rookie from the 2022 draft. That core would be absolutely incredible, and could probably win a championship, or at least come close. The fit between Cade and Sexton would be incredible, as well as the fit with MPJ and Allen. Cade's size would also allow for him to guard small forwards, which means you can put Okoro on a shooting guard and have Sexton on point guards. Cade really just makes perfect sense on both sides of the floor for this Cavs team, but going in depth on that will probably be saved for a later article.
Putting MPJ on the Cavs drastically improves the ceiling on this core, which is something I have some concerns about. It's one of the reasons I'm more than okay with losing as much as we have this season. I still don't think we have a franchise player, and I'm scared of locking ourselves into this core before that happens. MPJ could be that guy, and he would be my #1 target if we can't land Cade, Green, or Suggs in the draft.
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