Cleveland Cavaliers Strongly Criticized for Missing Out on Offseason Trade

The Cleveland Cavaliers are being strongly criticized for missing out on one big offseason trade.

May 7, 2024; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward Isaac Okoro (35) grimaces after missing a shot against the Boston Celtics during the second quarter of game one of the second round of the 2024 NBA playoffs at TD Garden. / Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports

The Cleveland Cavaliers are heading into the 2024-25 NBA season with a goal of being top-notch contenders in the Eastern Conference. While they have a lot of talent on their roster, they did not bring in any key outside pieces to improve from last year.

While they haven't made any key additions, they had an opportunity to do so.

There were rumblings about a potential deal between the Cavaliers and Brooklyn Nets that would have swapped Isaac Okoro in a sign-and-trade for Dorian Finney-Smith.

ClutchPoints is now criticizing Cleveland for missing out on that trade, calling it their "biggest mistake" of the NBA offseason.

"Though a deal ultimately didn't come through, and has become harder to pull off with each passing month as money around the NBA dries up, the prospects of sending Okoro to the Nets in a sing-and-trade in a deal featuring Dorian Finney-Smith would have changed the evalaution of the offseason considerably."

Making a move to acquire Finney-Smith would have been helpful, but it would have been difficult to pull off.

Why the Trade Wasn't Made and Why It's Not the Cavaliers' Fault

Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports revealed more details about why the trade did not end up happening. He also made it clear that the deal never got close.

"I know there was some reporting about there being a Nets package idea where [Okoro] would go to Brooklyn and there’ll be something with Dorian Finney-Smith going back. I don’t think those talks got really really substantial to my understanding. I just don’t think it can even happen right now after the salary stuff has all shifted out."

At this point in the offseason, the Nets could not even afford to work out a deal for Okoro.

"I don’t think Brooklyn has the room to make that happen. And bringing back Dorian’s like $14 million would be challenging for that first apron stuff that we’re talking about with Cleveland in general."

Clearly, this wasn't a situation that the Cavaliers just decided to not pursue. To that point, it's hard to label it a "mistake" by Cleveland.

All of that being said, there are legitimate concerns about the lack of additions by the Cavaliers this offseason. Hopefully, that won't come back to bite them.