{"id":440743,"date":"2026-01-31T11:36:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-31T11:36:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/440743\/"},"modified":"2026-01-31T11:36:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-31T11:36:09","slug":"cavs-rumors-giannis-hunter-ball-lakers-ellis-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/440743\/","title":{"rendered":"Cavs Rumors: Giannis, Hunter, Ball, Lakers, Ellis, More"},"content":{"rendered":"

While there have been no indications to this point that the Cavaliers are considering making an offer for Giannis Antetokounmpo<\/a>, the possibility can\u2019t be ruled out, according to Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com<\/a> (subscriber link).<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s Giannis,\u201d a rival NBA executive told Fedor. \u201cNothing more needs to be said.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Fedor writes, the Cleveland\u2019s pathway to a potential deal for the Bucks superstar would be very complicated and would require a significant reduction in payroll \u2014 as a second-apron team, the Cavaliers can\u2019t currently<\/a> aggregate salaries for matching purposes and can\u2019t take in more money than they send out. So in that sense, a Giannis trade is a long shot.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, sources tell Fedor that the Cavs have been aggressively looking for roster upgrades ahead of the deadline, and they also have one of the top players who could theoretically be dangled in talks for Antetokounmpo \u2014 Evan Mobley<\/a>, last year\u2019s Defensive Player of the Year. On the Hoop Collective podcast (YouTube link<\/a>), ESPN\u2019s Brian Windhorst also pointed to Mobley as a centerpiece to a potential Cavs offer.<\/p>\n

The Cavaliers, who have dealt with several injuries in 2025\/26, have underachieved this season and are facing pressure to contend for championships. No individual player they could theoretically acquire would be remotely as impactful as Antetokounmpo, who has finished top four in MVP voting each of the past seven years.<\/p>\n

Still, Cleveland is on the upswing, Fedor notes, winning five straight games and seven of the past eight. The front office has also yet to show any desire to make that sort of drastic mid-season overhaul, with blockbuster moves viewed as more likely to occur in the offseason, depending on what happens in the playoffs.<\/p>\n

Here are a few more highlights from Fedor\u2019s report:<\/p>\n

Fedor continues to hear De\u2019Andre Hunter<\/a> and Lonzo Ball<\/a> are the most likely Cavs to be headed out of Cleveland in the coming days. Confirming reporting from Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints<\/a>, Fedor says the Cavaliers have discussed a trade framework with the Lakers that would send Hunter to Los Angeles in exchange for Rui Hachimura<\/a> and Dalton Knecht<\/a>. Sources tell Fedor the Lakers have also countered by offering the expiring contracts of Gabe Vincent<\/a> and Maxi Kleber<\/a>. Those talks have involved a third team as well \u2014 Fedor doesn\u2019t specify which club it is, but Siegel said it was the Nets.
\nBefore they reportedly started listening to offers for Giannis, the Bucks explored the possibility of acquiring Hunter using a package built around Bobby Portis<\/a>. The Cavs declined that proposal, sources tell Fedor.
\nFedor confirms the Cavs are one of many suitors for Kings guard Keon Ellis<\/a>, noting that Malik Monk<\/a> could be included as well if Hunter is sent to Sacramento.
\nReiterating a point he previously made<\/a>, Fedor says the Cavs are eyeing Mavericks forward Naji Marshall<\/a>. The framework would involve Ball and unspecified draft assets being sent to Dallas, though Fedor points out that Marshall has drawn interest from multiple teams. It\u2019s also unclear if the Cavs would be willing to part with their lone tradable first-round pick (either 2031 or 2032) for a role player, even a quality one like Marshall.
\nBulls guard Ayo Dosunmu<\/a>, Pelicans forward Saddiq Bey<\/a> and Wizards forward Justin Champagnie<\/a> are among the other players who might interest the Cavs, Fedor writes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"While there have been no indications to this point that the Cavaliers are considering making an offer for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":440744,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[19804,72270,6935,89123,51299,27128,359,207757,27127,19803,82594,31764,59056,33866,162352,99],"class_list":["post-440743","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-ayo-dosunmu","tag-bobby-portis","tag-dalton-knecht","tag-deandre-hunter","tag-evan-mobley","tag-gabe-vincent","tag-giannis-antetokounmpo","tag-justin-champagnie","tag-keon-ellis","tag-lonzo-ball","tag-malik-monk","tag-maxi-kleber","tag-naji-marshall","tag-rui-hachimura","tag-saddiq-bey","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/440743","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=440743"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/440743\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/440744"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=440743"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=440743"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=440743"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}