The Cleveland Cavaliers made an early exit from this year's playoffs, downed in the second round despite a dominant regular season.
After claiming the top seed in the East with a 64-18 record, they swept the Miami Heat, before lining up against the Indiana Pacers in the second round.
But their dominant season came to an abrupt halt in a five-game defeat, one proposed trade sees a star point-guard swap for the Eastern Conference heavyweights.
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Proposed blockbuster trade sees star point-guard swap following Cavaliers' early exit
Many people are asking 'what's next' for the Cleveland Cavaliers, after a 64-win season ended in the Eastern Conference semi-finals.
One proposed trade from Bleacher Report's Rob Perez - a.k.a World Wide Wob - would see Cleveland break up their All-Star backcourt of Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell, in exchange for an NBA champion guard as well as a future asset.
During his NBA Daily show, Perez pitched the idea of Cleveland trading Darius Garland to the Washington Wizards in exchange for Jordan Poole and an unprotected first round pick.
Not only does this trade change up the Cavaliers offensive outlook, with Poole providing slightly more of a scoring punch while reducing facilitation, but it also brings the team closer to moving under the luxury tax, and brings in an asset to sure up their future somewhat.
Perez also pitched a separate Garland trade to the Portland Trail Blazers, with the Cavaliers receiving wing Jerami Grant, Portland's #11 pick in the 2025 Draft, and an additional future first rounder.
Garland is coming off an injury-hampered postseason campaign, with the All Star deal with a toe issue that saw him miss multiple games.
"I definitely wasn’t myself out there," Garland said after the series.
"It was pretty uncomfortable. But like I said, trying to do anything to win the game.
"I’m just happy I just got out there because I didn’t want to leave them out, I want us to be fully healthy, of course, but we had all our guys out there though. Even if we weren’t all 100%, we were all out there."
But with Cleveland's 'Core Four' of Garland, Mitchell, Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley failing to reach the Conference Finals once more, let alone contend for a spot in the NBA Finals, it could be time for Dan Gilbert to make some uncomfortable moves.