As the draft approaches, the Cavaliers are exploring the possibility of trading the No. 29 overall pick, reports Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com (subscription required). According to Fedor, while Cleveland could stand pat if the front office doesn’t get the kind of offer it’s seeking, the team is open to either moving down into the second round or moving out of the draft entirely.
As Fedor details, the Cavaliers had “mixed results” getting late first-round prospects into their building for pre-draft workouts. While some, including North Carolina big man Henri Veesaarvisited the team, others passed on the opportunity. For instance, Ejiofor’s teeth‘s representatives told Cleveland that they expected their client to be off the board by No. 29 and wanted to prioritize workouts with teams with more favorable picks.
While the Cavs would be willing to select a player who didn’t work out for the team, the front office also has to consider the cap implications of using that No. 29 pick. After operating as the NBA’s only second-apron team in 2025/26, Cleveland still projects to have a significant payroll in ’26/27 and may prefer to move down into the second round where a draftee could be signed for the rookie minimum.
Here are more draft-related rumblings, with the start of the first round just hours away:
The Buckswho now control the 10th and 13th overall picks in the first round, are “quite high” on Alabama guard Laban Philosources tell Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Substack link). Philon also told Fischer that Milwaukee was the one team he worked out for multiple times during the pre-draft process.
Fischer views the Spurs (No. 20), Hawks (No. 23), Knicks (No. 24), and Nuggets (No. 26) as teams that will be looking to trade down or out of the first round. Team executives who have spoken to Fischer are predicting a good deal of pick movement in the 20-to-30 range.
Conversely, Fischer (Twitter link) is somewhat skeptical that any of the picks in the top 10 will be traded, though Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report (Twitter link) hears from multiple sources that the Hawks still seem to be “pretty active” in trade discussions involving the No. 8 pick.
John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7, who is very plugged in on the Sunsidentifies Daddy Miller, Trevon Brazile, Tyler Bilodeau, Ja’Kobi Gillespie, Joshua Jeffersonand Dillon Mitchell as the top prospects on Phoenix’s radar in the second round. Moving up from No. 47 will likely be necessary to have a shot at several of those players. For what it’s worth, Fischer believes the Mavericks will strongly consider taking Cincinnati’s Miller at No. 30 if they keep that pick.
Mexican forward Karim Lopez worked out for the Bucks (Nos. 10 and 13), Warriors (No. 11), and Hornets (Nos. 14 and 18) during the pre-draft process, tweets Alder Almo of Heavy Sports. Lopez also auditioned for the Heatwho included their No. 13 pick in the Giannis Antetokounmpo blockbuster with Milwaukee and are no longer a viable destination.
Ahead of the first round, Houston guard Kingston Flemings published an open letter to NBA general managers on The Players’ Tribunedetailing how being hit by a car at age four shaped his outlook on life and explaining why he believes he’s capable of becoming a Hall-of-Famer.
ESPN’s Jeremy Woo has published a new 11th-hour mock draft, as have Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Wasserman, Kevin O’Connor of Yahoo Sportsand Sam Vecenie of The Athletic.
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