The Whiteboard: 5 big questions for the Cavs, 76ers and the NBA Trade Deadline

The Whiteboard is FanSided's daily NBA email newsletter with each daily edition written by a different member of our team — Matt Moore, Wes Goldberg, Chris Kline, Lior Lampert, Quinn Everts and Ian Levy. On Saturday, we all get together for one big roundtable to answer the biggest questions of the week.

Here's what we're talking about today:

Pretend salaries were all a one-to-one match and you should reshuffle Jimmy Butler, Brandon Ingram, Jonathan Kuminga, Michael Porter Jr. and Jerami Grant among the Heat, Pelicans, Warriors, Nuggets and Blazers. Who would fit best where?

Ian Levy: Jerami Grant to the Nuggets, Brandon Ingram to the Heat, Kuminga to the Blazers, Porter Jr. to the Warriors and Butler to the Pelicans. Every player gets a fresh start with a team that would really want them and offers something slightly different from a skill or upside perspective than the player they’re replacing. Except for Jimmy Butler — he gets to explore ideal beignet–coffee pairings and rediscover his love of jazz.

Lior Lampert: Talk about a fully loaded, thought-provoking question. Brandon Ingram heading to the Warriors seems like the easiest starting point. Golden State desperately needs secondary shot creation and playmaking behind Stephen Curry. Jonathan Kuminga being part of the youth movement in Portland feels right. To me, Michael Porter Jr. profiles as someone who could take another step forward in the right situation, à la Heat Culture. The hypothetical spacing issues make Jimmy Butler an odd fit in Denver, so let’s send him to the Pelicans and Jerami Grant to the Nuggets.

Quinn Everts: This question almost killed me. I’m sending Jimmy Butler to Denver in hopes that the team will decide to guard somebody this year. Jonathan Kuminga is heading to Portland, where he’ll create a promising wing duo with Shaedon Sharpe. Just get the Blazers one player who can pass the ball and we could be cooking. Brandon Ingram is a Heat where he creates a pretty nice trio with Herro and Bam, and MPJ is going to shoot 16 3-pointers a game in NOLA. 

Christopher Kline: Wowza. Okay, let’s start with Jimmy Butler going to Denver. The Nuggets need to start acting like a real contender and giving Nikola Jokic a bit of help. Michael Porter Jr. feels like a natural Klay Thompson facsimile in Golden State. Jonathan Kuminga to Miami feels like a no-brainer. What better organization to maximize his development? That leaves Brandon Ingram floating on a bit of an island, though. So, let’s instead put Kuminga in Portland, which opens the door for Brandon Ingram to Miami (another great situation) and Jerami Grant in New Orleans, where he’s a cleaner on-paper fit next to Zion.  

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What is higher at the end of the year — the Cavs’ loss total or the Wizards' win total?

Ian Levy: I may be riding a tidal wave of recent bias but I say it’s the Wizards win total. I think they finish with fewer than 20 wins and the Cavs still make sure this isn’t particularly close.

Lior Lampert: I’ll echo Ian’s thoughts. Winners of 32 of their first 36 games, the Cavs are pacing for 70-plus wins this season. Meanwhile, Basketball Reference's playoff probabilities report projects the Wizards to finish with fewer than 20 victories. Given how bad things are in Washington (plus, assuming they trade Kyle Kuzma, Jonas Valanciunas or other veterans) it’s hard to question the analytics here.

Quinn Everts: I don’t think Cleveland is ever going to lose again and I am the founding member of the Bilal Coulibaly Fan Club so give me the Wizards win total.

Christopher Kline: The Cavs aren’t going to lose more than 15 or so games. Washington is almost halfway there in the win column. The Wizards are bad, but a fun sort of bad, so let’s ride with the DC crew. 

Same question but for the Thunder and Pelicans in the West?

Ian Levy: The answer above is more about the Cavs, here I think it’s more about the Pelicans. Zion is back but it seems more and more likely the Pelicans lean into the skid and trade off some of their vets for at least a soft reset. New Orleans is on track for about 18 wins but I think they’ll get worse as the season goes on and the Thunder should be able to clear that.

Lior Lampert: The Pelicans. New Orleans has been ravaged by injuries this season. Improving even a little in the health department should make them a scrappy cellar dweller as we approach the midway point of the 2024-25 campaign. Moreover, the prospective addition of Jimmy Butler could change the entire calculus.

Quinn Everts: I’ll take New Orleans here. A few real NBA players can change everything; Zion, CJ and Trey Murphy are a good enough trio alone to grind out 24-ish wins. I don’t see Oklahoma City losing that many times… or half that many times.

Christopher Kline: I am among the most ardent believers in this OKC team, but the Pelicans recently got Zion Williamson back and feel like a candidate to surge ever-so-slightly, should he remain somewhat healthy. New Orleans still has a lot of talent on the roster and it can’t possibly stay this bad all season … right? 

More appropriate level of recognition for the Cavs’ success — Donovan Mitchell in the MVP inner circle or the Cavs getting four All-Star nods?

Ian Levy: Both? Donovan Mitchell should be getting more MVP buzz but it’s admittedly hard to separate his contributions from that of Darius Garland, who is posting similar numbers and scoring incredibly efficiently. But those two should absolutely be joined on the All-Star team by both Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley. The bigger question is whether they can run the table for the rest of the month, keep getting solid numbers from Dean Wade (9.0 points, 3.3 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 96.4 true shooting in January) and land the coveted “all five starters chosen for NBA Player of the Month collectively.”

Lior Lampert: I’ll go with neither. Undeniably, the Cavs deserve recognition for their efforts, but this may be overkill. Despite being the best player on the best team, Donovan Mitchell lacks the raw counting stats to merit legitimate MVP consideration. Meanwhile, we’ve only seen four players from one team earn All-Star honors in the same season nine times. The most recent occurrence was when Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green did it in 2018 as Warriors. This Cleveland foursome doesn’t have that same type of clout. If anything, Kenny Atkinson receiving the Coach of the Year Award feels like the most fitting way to commemorate this group.

Quinn Everts: THE GHOST OF 2015 KYLE KORVER SMILES UPON THE CLEVELAND CAVALIERS. Give me four All-Stars from the Cavs this year — they’re all vital to Cleveland’s success and leaving any of them out will be tough. I will defend the honor of Donovan Mitchell at every turn, but the OKC game showed how dominant this team can still be, even when Spida has an off night. 

Christopher Kline: Donovan Mitchell is great, but Cleveland’s success feels like such a collective effort to me. Legitimately, all four members of the Cavs core should be All-Star locks. Not a single if, and, or but to be found. Jarrett Allen is the “weakest” link, but he’s been on another planet defensively. Evan Mobley is finally tapping into his two-way ceiling, Darius Garland is operating at full health again, and Mitchell is a bonafide top-20 player in the NBA, at worst. Four All-Stars, easy. 

Better outcome for the 76ers this season — landing in the top-6 in the NBA Draft so they keep their pick, or fighting through the Play-In Tournament to make the postseason as a No. 7 or No. 8 seed?

Ian Levy: I have no emotional investment in the 76ers so it’s easy for me to say burn it down. Play for the pick and try something new with Tyrese Maxey, Jared McCain and Cooper Flagg or Ace Bailey. On paper this roster has enough talent to compete for a title but if they haven’t caught the right breaks yet, it’s hard to imagine them catching them over the next 3-4 years while they’re still tied to Paul George and Joel Embiid.

Lior Lampert: For many other teams, tanking is the appropriate approach for a team in Philadelphia’s position. However, time is of the essence for the 76ers. Joel Embiid and Paul George aren’t getting any younger (or healthier). While they’re signed for the foreseeable future, tomorrow isn’t guaranteed for either of them, given their extensive injury histories. Daryl Morey constructed this roster to give them a short, immediate window of contention and they shouldn’t let it go to waste.

Quinn Everts: I just had a disturbing vision of Philadelphia trying to tank, but not being quite bad enough to keep its pick, and this franchise coming out of a nightmare season with nothing. That made me shiver. Earlier in the season, I was all for the Sixers bottoming out. But they’ve scraped their way to 15-20, which is four games out of the five-seed. Now I’m leaning toward trying. Why not? Weird stuff happens! That’s the motto in 2025 – reluctantly try.

Christopher Kline: This question brings me great personal strife. Philadelphia is too good to tank when Joel Embiid is “healthy.” So long as the former MVP is semi-regularly in the lineup, there’s no option but to stack wins and try to get into the thick of the playoffs. This is absolutely a team that can knock off third-seed New York or fourth-seed Orlando at full strength. Even the Celtics feel a tad more beatable this season. The most likely outcome is a Play-In bid and a first-round loss, to be clear, but the Sixers are too committed to this core to effectively waste a season. Embiid doesn’t have too many bites left at the proverbial apple. So, win as much as you can and see where the cards fall.