Cavaliers Land Major Praise for Lonzo Ball Trade

Throughout the course of this NBA offseason, the Cleveland Cavaliers have remained relatively conservative in their moves around the roster heading into the 2025-26 campaign.

Outside of a few moves around the edges, this Cavaliers' group remains the same as they sat last year–– centered around their core of Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley, Darius Garland, and Jarrett Allen–– even after a rough previous playoff result in the books, Cleveland has themselves prepared again for a potentially potent run on their hands.

However, in the mix of Cleveland's offseason moves, there was one made in the mix that could inevitably pay some major dividends for the Cavaliers once next campaign gets rolling, and may even be one of the most under-the-radar moves around the entire NBA: acquiring Lonzo Ball from the Chicago Bulls.

NBA.com's Brian Martin recently broke down the five biggest under-the-radar moves across the NBA this offseason, where the Cavaliers' move to land Ball among the list, both due to his role as a replacement for Ty Jerome, and also a low-risk gamble that could pan out into a super solid backcourt acquisition.

"When Cleveland lost Ty Jerome in free agency, the Cavs had a hole in their backcourt bench and acquired Ball from Chicago in exchange for Isaac Okoro. Ball returned to the court last season after missing the previous two seasons with a left knee injury that required multiple surgeries to repair. In 35 games, Ball showed flashes of the playmaking, shooting and defense while averaging 7.6 points, 3.4 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 1.9 3-pointers made and 1.3 steals in 22.2 minutes per game before missing the season’s final two months with a sprained wrist. Ball’s return to the court after missing over 1,000 days was a triumph in and of itself. Now, he has an opportunity to continue working his way back to his full potential on a title contender."