Recent rumors have emerged that the Cleveland Cavaliers could send shooting guard Iman Shumpert to the Philadelphia 76ers for young big man Nerlens Noel.
The Cavs are leading the NBA with a 4-0 record and they are the favorites to win back-to-back NBA titles this season. However, the team still has yet to stay up to par with arch-nemesis Golden State Warriors, who has added superstar Kevin Durant in the summer, when it comes to roster upgrade.
Cleveland's significant moves during the offseason were just retaining LeBron James and JR Smith while at the same time losing Matthew Dellavedova and Timofey Mozgov in free-agency. Speculations are out that the team is looking to further improve their lineup in midseason to prepare for another potential rematch with the Warriors in June.
Fansided reported a possible trade with the Sixers which would land them defensive big man Noel in exchange for backup shooting guard Shumpert.
Philly has a surplus of young bigs in their roster with 2014 third overall pick Joel Embiid finally suiting up and the addition of Ben Simmons as this year's no. 1 draft selection. Simmons is currently out with a foot injury and so the team has not yet fully felt the frontcourt predicament that they are in.
The report noted that the Cavs are willing to offer Shumpert plus another shooting guard, Jordan McRae, in a package to acquire Noel, who is also out with a knee injury with no definite timetable yet for a return.
Another version of the rumored trade is a seven-player, three-team deal that would send Noel and Jamal Crawford to Cleveland, Shumpert, Jerami Grant, and a future first-round pick to the Los Angeles Clippers, and McRae, Alan Anderson, Mo Williams, and future first and second-round draft picks to Philadelphia.
However, this second version is no longer in the cards after the Sixers traded Grant to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Ersan Ilyasova and a draft pick on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia indicated that Noel has rejected a contract extension offer by the Sixers also on Tuesday, which means that a trade could be coming soon.
Should the Sixers decide to keep Noel until the end of the season, he would become a restricted free agent next summer and will certainly attract the interest of a lot of teams.
