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Analyst Makes Case for Cavaliers To Trade Former First Round Pick
Sep 14, 2022; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers president of basketball operations Koby Altman speaks to the media during an introductory press conference at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-Imagn Images David Richard-Imagn Images

The Cleveland Cavaliers have an interesting offseason ahead.

The front office doesn't have to break up its roster to be a championship contender next season, but it could make a couple of moves to give itself flexibility moving forward.

As it stands, the Cavaliers will have a payroll that qualifies them as a second-apron team heading into next season.

Sam Quinn of CBS Sports believes the Cavaliers could trade Isaac Okoro to give themselves a better chance of re-signing one or both of their key free agents this summer.

"Cleveland is already far beyond next year's projected second apron, and that's before potentially re-signing Ty Jerome and/or Sam Merrill," wrote Quinn.

"The Cavaliers will look to save money somewhere, and Okoro's playoff disappointments make him an obvious dump candidate."

Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images

Cleveland drafted Okoro with the fifth overall pick in the 2020 draft. He had high potential as a 3-and-D type player, and he has largely developed into that player.

Ice shot a career-high 37.5 percent from behind the arc and recorded a defensive rating of 115 last season.

However, the Cavaliers already have players ahead of him on the depth chart, and his streaky shooting could be seen as a liability, too.

If Cleveland is motivated to bring back Jerome or Merrill and give themselves a chance to stay out of the second apron, then it would make sense for the front office to trade Okoro for a future draft pick to shed some payroll.

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This article first appeared on Cleveland Cavaliers on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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