The offseason plan for the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2025 was to shuffle the deck for their role players. The first domino in this action plan was the trade with the Chicago Bulls that sent away Isaac Okoro for Lonzo Ball.

Ball was a highly regarded talent coming out of college in 2017. While he never lived up to the expectations that came with being the number 2 pick in the 2017 NBA Draft, Ball has found his niche as a versatile defender who is a capable orchestrator of an offense. This is a valuable skill set in today’s league and one that typically couldn’t be acquired for a reserve like Okoro. But then again, few players have Ball’s injury history.

Advertisement

Since Ball has entered the league, he has suited up for 287 of the possible 656 contests. Two of those seasons (2022-24) he missed entirely due to knee cartilage issues. Ball returned from that hiatus last year and played 35 games. The stat line doesn’t inspire hope for those expecting massive returns. However, a player coming off a two-year absence from professional basketball is never going to hit the ground running.

I view this move, if it hits for the Cavaliers, as their Alex Caruso type swing. Ball at his best is a force on the defensive end, the Cavaliers have made the most of raising the defensive floor of their guards who aren’t known for their ability on that end (i.e Caris LeVert, Ricky Rubio, Ty Jerome, Darius Garland etc).

The Cavaliers have not had a potential defensive disrupter that could guard multiple positions and contribute on the offensive end. Ball has the versatility that could have him play the one through three. That is a switchability that this team has struggled to find as they are operationally a smaller team in the backcourt and on the wing.

Another factor that would make this swing worth it for the Cavaliers is if Ball can regain his form offensively from 2020-22. Ball’s shooting splits in his final season with the New Orleans Pelicans and first with the Bulls are pretty encouraging. He shot 38% and 41% from three on good volume (8.3 per game in ‘20 and 7.4 per game in ’21). As discussed before, the shot was not there in his return (34% on 5.6 attempts). You’d hope Ball will have some positive regression to the mean after a healthy offseason and ramping back into the swing of things.

Advertisement

With Garland out for the start the season, and Donovan Mitchell slated to start at point guard in the interim, the Cavaliers appear to be allowing Lonzo to play it safe in his debut season for the Wine and Gold. This is the correct approach as they are past being a team aggressively pursuing wins in the regular season. The Cavs need to focus on postseason health and availability, especially from the players who already struggle to make it through a season.

If Ball’s health is not a topic of conversation by the trade deadline, the Cavaliers will look like they pulled off a heist by acquiring Ball for just Okoro. However, the price included the risk baked into getting into the Lonzo business. Schematically and talent-wise, it’s a great move. Now the “if” of it all will determine where this move puts the Cavaliers come postseason time.