TDL Archived: The 2nd Rnd Pick Yankee Swap

[DanSchwartzgan]

You could theoretically re-route Levert and his 18 million expiring for something you do want long term. This is a scenario where in theory Cleveland wants THJ for his skillset and has limited matching options for a trade. Levert and his expiring contract is a much better trade piece to be working with league wide.

I’ve been trying to figure out the public nature of this and how strongly Fedor has worded things.  Makes me think this is an advertisement to other teams who might want to give something for LeVert.

If we think of this from the POV of LeVert’s agency (CAA), their job is to get players to places where they can get paid.  They can’t pull the trigger, but they can exert influence.  Cleveland probably won’t retain LeVert, so move him somewhere that will.  They have influence there because of Mitchell’s presence.  CAA has similar issues with Kuzma, Myles Turner, Russell and Poeltl.  They also represent Josh Green who is extension eligible this summer.  Best way to get Josh a bigger number is to get him a clean path to a bigger role (THJ out of the way).  

Point being, CAA has several guys who are extension trapped and in places that aren’t advantageous to them getting big money this summer.  Seems there might be room for adding some teams to this.