As soon as news emerged that the Cleveland Cavaliers might trade for James Harden, the entire calculus changed.
The Cavs would no longer be a team with a long competitive runway. They'd be a team taking one or two big swings to win a championship as soon as possible.
And so that got us thinking: Why stop there? Giannis Antetokounmpo is on the trade block. LeBron James is a free agent after the season. Could the Cavs get them all?
And, well, technically there's a way.
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It starts with the Harden trade, which the Cavs could complete by matching salaries with Darius Garland (and maybe Cleveland gets a pick or two for taking on the older Harden).
The Giannis deal is tricky, because Cleveland is over the second apron and so by rule cannot aggregate salaries to match Antetokounmpo's.
But the Cavs could salary dump Lonzo Ball somewhere to sneak under the second apron line, then combine Evan Mobley with a couple lesser players and draft picks to get Giannis.
Then you could convince LeBron to sign for a much-lower-than-market-value contract in the summer to get one more run at it in Cleveland.
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Not everyone would be in their prime, but how about a starting lineup of James Harden, Donovan Mitchell, LeBron James, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jarrett Allen?
Unrealistic? Yes. Impossible? No.
If the Cavs really do trade for Harden, it changes everything about how Cleveland's contention window should be viewed. And that might just open the door to other moves that no one would've seen coming.
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