Incorporating Buddy Hield into the Scottie Barnes hypothetical

     I've already gone over the possibility of Scottie Barnes being drafted by the Cavaliers and what I think about it. The verdict is that I think he would be a good fit. If we were to fall out of the top 4 in the lottery, Barnes would be the guy I want us to go after. However, the Love trade I proposed is something I wanted to revisit.

    In the trade from the last Scottie Barnes article, I had the Cavs getting Goran Dragic's expiring contract in return for Kevin Love. Given Miami's acquisition of Victor Oladipo and the report about them targeting Kyle Lowry in free agency, I'm not confident they pick up Goran's $19 million team option, which would be the traded contract. Plus, we can do better than just expiring money. That being said, here's the updated trade:

    

    Cavs get Buddy Hield and Hood's expiring contract (Gill gets waived immediately) in exchange for Kevin Love and Cedi Osman. Wizards get Love and a protected 2022 first for Bertans and Thomas Bryant, Kings get Bertans and Osman for Hield, and Raptors get Thomas Bryant for Hood and their protected 2022 first.

    The biggest holdup is whether or not Toronto is comfortable giving up a first for Bryant. On one hand, he could be the center of their future, and if they turn it around that pick won't be all that valuable. On the other hand, he could possibly be their center of the future, and Hood isn't going to be producing anything for $10 million anyways. If they don't give up a first, they could possibly give up a combination of 2nds and a pick swap, and maybe Cleveland could send one of their 2nds, but then I'm not sure Washington would be comfortable with that. It could be done without Toronto giving up a first, but it's just so much easier if they do.

    Now that that's done, it's time to look and how Buddy would fit on this Cavs team. Given the personnel, Cleveland could actually run an 8 man rotation and make it work. Those 8 would be Garland, Sexton, Okoro, Nance, Allen, Hield, Barnes, and Wade. The remaining depth pieces would be Hood, Windler, Hartenstein, and some combination of Delly, Brodric Thomas, Lamar Stevens or whoever else Koby Altman brings in.

Rotation Players/minutes:

-Sexton 34

-Garland 32

-Allen 32

-Nance 32

-Barnes 30

-Okoro 28

-Hield 28

-Wade 24

Minutes by Position/Depth Chart

PG: Garland 32, Sexton 16

SG: Sexton 18, Hield 24, Okoro 6

SF: Okoro 22, Barnes 22, Hield 4

PF: Nance 16, Wade 24, Barnes 8

C: Allen 32, Nance 16

Base Lineup 1 (Garland/Sexton/Allen) with minutes

PG: Garland 18

SG: Sexton 18

SF: Okoro 14, Hield 4

PF: Nance 16, Wade 2

C: Allen 18

Base Lineup 2 (Garland/Barnes/Allen) with minutes

PG: Garland 14

SG: Hield 14

SF: Barnes 6, Okoro 8

PF: Wade 6, Barnes 8

C: Allen 14

Base Lineup 3 (Sexton/Barnes/5-out) with minutes

PG: Sexton 16

SG: Okoro 6, Hield 10

SF: Barnes 16

PF: Wade 16

C: Nance 16

    The reasoning for these lineups remains mostly the same as what was stated in the last article, so I'm not going to go too far in depth. Put simply, Base Lineup 1 is the starting lineup that the Cavs have already been running with, accounting for some short subs. Base Lineup 2 uses Garland and Barnes as the creators, with Allen as the ball screener. Base Lineup 3 uses Sexton and Barnes as the creators, with Nance being the ball screener. The reason Hield fits in so well with this team is that he doesn't need to be a playmaker assuming they draft Barnes. Between Sexland and Barnes, that should be enough ball handling and creation to run a good offense, with the right coaching of course. That means Hield can be utilized for what he's best at, which is 3pt shooting. It really is a perfect fit. If the Cavs strike out in the lottery and have to take Barnes, swapping Love and Cedi for Hield, along with finding the right coach to maximize the talent on the roster, could really turn this team around.