Cavs might want to trade down from No. 5; could Celtics be an option?

The Cleveland Cavaliers reportedly might be looking to trade back from No. 5 in the 2020 NBA Draft — is Boston an ideal trade partner?

Could the Cleveland Cavaliers be an option for the Boston Celtics to trade up in the 2020 NBA Draft?

The Celtics could really use one more top-tier talent to lock in their future rotation once their current veteran stars Gordon Hayward and Kemba Walker age out of their current roles.

With a superabundance of first-round picks and an already-existing glut of young talent, Boston might be an ideal trading partner with a Cleveland franchise that needs talent for the future at nearly every position.

Of course, it’s nice to project what other teams could be interested in doing, but when there’s some pre-existing smoke to suggest a “fire” of interest in trading down also exists, it’s worth looking into to see if both teams might be into making a deal.

According to Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor, that smoke may be present.

In a recent mailbag article, Fedor related the following:

“The Cavs will be active this offseason. They will explore trade opportunities, using the No. 5 pick as bait. Sources say owner Dan Gilbert will allow the front office to take on future salary — if the move makes sense and the piece coming back significantly improves their chances either in the short or long term.”

This could make the Celtics an intriguing trade partner for that No. 5 pick, as well as possibly for consolidating some of the talent the Celtics won’t have the time or minutes to develop as they shift into a contention period for (hopefully) many seasons to come going forward.

And while there are plenty of players with high floors that make this draft an excellent one for a team like the Cavs to restock their roster with solid prospects for the future, the Celtics would probably like a stab at the much smaller group of prospects in this draft that have genuine star potential.

While there have been some suggestions Boston might be interested in potential top overall pick Lamelo Ball, his fit isn’t an ideal one and he would be unlikely to be available by the time that fifth pick is on the clock.

But prospects like guard Killian Hayes (our favorite at the Celtics Wire), center Onyeka Okongwu, forward Obi Toppin and forward Aaron Nesmith are some of the players who might be available and of interest to the Celtics.

With the regular season slated to end in the middle of October at latest, we may soon hear more rumbles of such possibilities emerging on the horizon.

But expect the unexpected in this most atypical of off-seasons — and expect Boston to be an aggressive player in it as it prepares to assemble a contender for 2020-21.

[lawrence-related id=42070,42079,42052,41890,41802]