The Cavs’ next trade deadline comes after dealing De’Andre Hunter and Keon Ellis

The Cleveland Cavaliers and the Sacramento Kings tipped off NBA trade deadline a week a few days before. on saturday night Cleveland traded Keon Ellis and Dennis Schroeder, sending De’Andre Hunter to the Kings in a three-team deal with the Chicago Bulls. ClutchPoints has already graded this move, but what are the next steps for the Cavs in the coming days?

First, with a crowded guard room, they will have to maneuver. Cleveland is looking for a suitor to take over for Lonzo Ball and his $10 million contract with a team option for next season. Because of the club’s control, Ball’s salary can be treated as expired.

Despite being consistently available after four injury-riddled years, the 28-year-old hasn’t panned out as well as the team originally expected. Add to that the fact that the organization is working with the limitations of the second apron, and the weight feels strong.

Despite having one of the highest assist percentages in the league, his offensive shortcomings as a scorer are too hard to justify. Ball has the worst field goal percentage in the NBA at 29.9% and the third worst three-point percentage in the league with at least 4 attempts per game. He has good size at guard, looks to the floor, defends multiple positions and jumps; however, when you’re under 30% as a shooter and insist on taking so many threes a night, it’s expensive.

The good news for the Cavs is that Ball has a team contract, and apparently the Washington Wizards are open to listening. According to HoopsHipe reporter Mike Scott, the Wizards are the push to acquire draft capital and use their exceptions for traded players. Washington has close to $30 million in tax space.

What’s next for the Cavs?

Cleveland’s next job will be figuring out how to convert Nae’Quan Tomlin’s two-way contract to a standard deal. Given the current setup, this is not possible because the list is full. Time is ticking, as the lively, energetic forward has just five games left before reaching the 50-game mark as a two-way player.

Tomlin cemented the spot in head coach Kenny Atkinson’s rotation, averaging just under 24 minutes over the past seven games. His defensive intensity, rebounding ability and game-changing ruthlessness on each end made Cleveland’s second unit a bear to handle.

If the Cavs are able to move Ball and take his salary off the books in the process without bringing back a player, they could sign Tomlin to the big club and open up another two-way cap. A trade for Ball would also put Cleveland much, much closer to the luxury tax line than it started a week ago.

This is where the intrigue begins as the wine and gold would have more flexibility to turn around and do business if the franchise wanted. Provided they’re below another platform after a specific trade proposal, the Cavs could technically aggregate salary, which would make negotiations much easier than their current, limiting predicament; currently, Cleveland can only trade one player at a time and can’t take back more salary than what they trade.

It all starts with sending Ball’s contract.

There is one more detail from the trade itself that the team will have to decide at some point.

Ellis becomes eligible for an extension on February 9. The Cavs can offer a deal up to three years for $52 million, per Spotrac’s Keith Smith. Since they have his Bird rights, they can go over the salary cap to do it. We’ll see if and when they make that decision, but it’s safe to assume that trading Hunter means Cleveland thinks highly of Ellis’ skills and viability in the short and long term.

Whether it’s a “big swing,” addressing needs on the margins, or shedding bad money, Kobe Altman is always active this time of year, but this season is especially critical. The trade season is in full swing, and the Cavs likely have more up their sleeve.