Will The Cavs Now Pivot To A Jonathan Kuminga Sign-And-Trade With Atlanta After LeBron James' Decision?

LeBron James is not going back to Cleveland, but instead chose the Philadelphia 76ers as his new team. That makes the 76ers one of the most talented teams in the Eastern Conference for the upcoming season, but it now should put in motion the rest of the offseason, which has seemingly been held up by James's decision.

The decision for James to not sign with the Cavaliers, who had been the perceived favorite for most of the time, means that Cleveland is going to have to pivot to help complete their roster and one of the players that they have been rumored to have interest in is Jonathan Kuminga.

Kuminga became an unrestricted free agent after the Atlanta Hawks declined his $24.3 million team option, and while a return to Atlanta has not been ruled out, the Cavaliers, Lakers, Bucks, and Clippers have all been mentioned as teams with interest in Kuminga.

The latest report from NBA insiders Jake Fischer and Marc Stein indicated that Cleveland had real interest from the Cavaliers, but they would of course be waiting on LeBron's decision:

"League sources maintain that the Cavaliers are among the teams that have registered interest in former No. 5 overall pick Mario Hezonja.

The Real Madrid forward has made it clear that he wants to return to the NBA after playing in Europe for the past six seasons and the last four in the Spanish capital. So add Hezonja's name to the list of potential fallback options for Cleveland along with Hawks free agent Jonathan Kuminga.

They also mentioned that the only way for Kuminga to come close to his salary of $22.5 million last season was to be included in a sign-and-trade, but that the Hawks are going to be choosy about the kinds of packages they could take back:

"He'll need help from Atlanta on a sign-and-trade to come anywhere close to last season’s $22.5 million salary, but the latest indications we've received suggest that the Hawks are likely to be pretty choosy when it comes to sign-and-trade scenarios they're willing to accept."

So what happens next?

Unless Kuminga were to take a really drastic pay cut, the Hawks are going to have to agree to a sign-and-trade agreement. Right now, the Cavaliers have 12 players on their roster, not including James Harden, and assuming that Harden does re-sign with the Cavaliers (it appears to be a near lock), they will have two roster spots available.

The key thing is that the Cavaliers will need the Hawks to participate in a sign-and-trade to obtain Kuminga.

Atlanta does not have to agree to do any sign-and-trade unless it benefits them, meaning they hold some leverage in this situation. The Hawks are also currently in a roster crunch, with 17 players on their team and 15 being the regular season roster limits.

Could the Hawks attach one or multiple of Buddy Hield, Corey Kispert, Mouhamed Gueye, Ryan Nembhard, or Devin Carter in a sign-and-trade? Carter cannot be traded until August 30th and Nembhard cannot be traded until Sept. 19th if the Cavaliers are interested in either of them.

If the Cavaliers are not interested in any of those players, can they get a third team involved to take on some of those contracts?

Are there any players on the Cavaliers that the Hawks could have interest in? While the Hawks might love to get Jarrett Allen, I have a feeling that is not going to be possible in a deal. I think the most likely scenario could be that the Hawks take back Max Strus, as he is an expiring contract and an elite shooter when healthy.

The Hawks have been collecting expiring contracts like they are infinity stones this offseason. CJ McCollum, Jock Landale, Lu Dort, Mouhamed Gueye, Ryan Nembhard, and potentially Devin Carter are the expiring deals that the Hawks have on their roster, giving them flexibility to make a big trade during the season or to have lots of flexibility with cap space next summer.

If Atlanta could acquire Strus, while sending out Kuminga and three other contracts, it could be beneficial to them in terms of giving them plenty of flexibility to make bigger moves down the line.

WIth James now making a decision, there could be a lot of transactions coming down the pipe and Kuminga is arguably the most talented free agent available. The Hawks could stand to benefit from a potential sign-and-trade involving Kuminga, or the Cavs might opt against pursuing Kuminga and he returns to Atlanta.

Stay tuned.

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