Cleveland Cavaliers
As a Bulls fan with transient interest in other worthy teams, I hate to see Cleveland rebuilding as well as they have thus far. Darius Garland and Collin Sexton both have potentially to be very good players, but the White Elephant in the room over there is Kevin Love (sorry, had to do it).
The metaphor fits, as the mystery team that ends up trading for him will ideally be a fringe contender looking to make the leap. Love, like CP3, can obviously be moved before the December 15th hold, but the options that Cleveland would have in returns for the NBA Champ big man could be much, much tastier if they show just a little more patience and wait for the full menu.
Before the Whiteside trade I would’ve shouted Portland at the top of my lungs, though I’m not sure if that still makes sense. What about a team like Sacramento though, who are historically dumb with trading draft picks for mid-level stars that can help them nab that 8-seed? Livin’ the dream, baebee!
Let’s just throw Miami in the conversation for good measure since obviously Jimmy Butler needs some help down there and Riley is a warlock, Boston might mess around and look for some frontcourt help/avoid paying both Brown and Tatum when the bill comes due, and to satisfy the Rule of Threes let’s go way out there and say Dallas, though given the context of that team, you’d absolutely hate to see it.