{"id":511002,"date":"2026-01-02T03:04:40","date_gmt":"2026-01-02T03:04:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/511002\/"},"modified":"2026-01-02T03:04:40","modified_gmt":"2026-01-02T03:04:40","slug":"nba-rumors-cavs-very-likely-trade-candidate-who-could-be-nuggets-injury-fix-for-nikola-jokic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/511002\/","title":{"rendered":"NBA rumors: Cavs \u2018very likely\u2019 trade candidate who could be Nuggets injury fix for Nikola Jokic"},"content":{"rendered":"

NBA rumors: Cavs \u2018very likely\u2019 trade candidate who could be Nuggets injury fix for Nikola Jokic<\/a> appeared first on ClutchPoints<\/a>. Add ClutchPoints as a Preferred Source by clicking here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

ClutchPoints NBA insider Brett Siegel fueled the trade rumor mill<\/a> across the NBA this week by labeling the Cleveland Cavaliers<\/a> as a dealer ahead of the trade deadline and identifying Cavs forward Dean Wade as a potential target for the injury-riddled Denver Nuggets<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI\u2019ve been told that Dean Wade on the Cleveland Cavaliers is very likely to be moved, and he\u2019s kind of preparing to be moved before the trade deadline,\u201d Siegel said on Clutch Scoops. \u201cThere was interest in him during the free agency period, and the Cavaliers were taking trade calls then. \u2026 Maybe even the Denver Nuggets, given all their problems right now. Maybe they can flip Zeke Nnaji and a future draft pick for Dean Wade.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wade, who is making $6.6 million in the final year of his contract, fits the profile of a plug-and-play stretch forward. A career 36.2 percent three-point shooter, he provides size and positional versatility at a manageable cap number. Around the league, Wade is viewed as one of Cleveland\u2019s more realistic trade chips<\/a> as the organization explores marginal roster adjustments.<\/p>\n

The Nuggets have been battered by injuries<\/a>, most notably Nikola Jokic<\/a>\u2019s recent knee issue. Other Nuggets players have also missed time. That\u2019s left the front office with limited opportunities to evaluate the roster before the deadline.<\/p>\n

Should the Nuggets make a move for Cavs forward Dean Wade?\"Ken<\/p>\n

Ken Blaze-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Denver\u2019s trade flexibility is minimal. Siegel noted that Nnaji\u2019s contract represents the Nuggets\u2019 primary salary-matching mechanism, but moving it would likely require attaching a future asset. As a result, a low-cost, short-term addition such as Wade appears far more realistic than any blockbuster move.<\/p>\n

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\u201cYou [have to] look at what\u2019s the path forward,\u201d Siegel noted. \u201cThere really is none because they don\u2019t have trade assets. It\u2019s not like they\u2019re going to go out and make a drastic move because Jokic is hurt.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cleveland, meanwhile, has fallen short of internal expectations after entering the season viewed as a clear Eastern Conference contender. While a full teardown is unlikely, a Wade trade appears increasingly plausible for the Cavs as the deadline approaches.<\/p>\n

Related: NBA rumors: Hawks hit with \u2018extremely difficult\u2019 Trae Young reality as trade buzz reaches fever pitch<\/a><\/p>\n

Related: Why Rich Paul has never been a fan of Big 3 superteams<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NBA rumors: Cavs \u2018very likely\u2019 trade candidate who could be Nuggets injury fix for Nikola Jokic appeared first…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":511003,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3772],"tags":[7,7485,306,305,193,3846,5759,187,6,253,4908,4714],"class_list":{"0":"post-511002","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cleveland-cavaliers","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-brett-siegel","10":"tag-cavaliers","11":"tag-cleveland","12":"tag-cleveland-cavaliers","13":"tag-clevelandcavaliers","14":"tag-dean-wade","15":"tag-denver-nuggets","16":"tag-nba","17":"tag-nikola-jokic","18":"tag-trade-deadline","19":"tag-zeke-nnaji"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/115823291405566313","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/511002","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=511002"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/511002\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/511003"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=511002"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=511002"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=511002"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}