NBA Trade Rumors: Cavaliers linked to Golden State efforts to get Dwight Howard

Golden State has a bright future with Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and Harrison Barnes. They might even have a shot of Dwight Howard. The problem? They owe a ton of money this season to Richard Jefferson, Andris Biedrins, and Andrew Bogut. In order to get Howard from the Lakers either through an outright signing or via sign and trade, the Warriors are attempting to unload some of these bad contracts. To do so, they might have to give up some of their young talent.

This is where the Cleveland Cavaliers come in. Even with the Earl Clark signing, Cleveland still has at least $19 million worth of cap space that they could swallow up a bad contract. According, to Ken Berg of CBS sports:

League sources tell CBSSports.com that Golden State has offered the likes of Andrew Bogut, Andris Biedrins and Richard Jefferson to the Hawks, Cavaliers and Jazz. The Warriors would have to unload two of the three in order to clear enough space to land Howard in a straight free-agent signing, and Atlanta, Cleveland and Utah essentially are the only teams with that kind of room.

There is no real indication that these talks are very serious, but with Howard apparently wanting to make his decision today, things could move pretty quickly. The Cavaliers have maintained their flexibility in part to be able to facilitate this sort of deal for teams that need to get under the cap. Grant pulled off the Jon Leuer trade, and maybe he can fleece an asset here as well.

So here is a completely made up trade that I think could be possible that Grant is hopefully exploring: Golden State would send Richard Jefferson or Andris Biedrins and Harrison Barnes to Cleveland for a 2014 top 10 protected 1st round draft choice.

Ken Berger also reports that the Warriors are not simply wanting to move the contracts for Howard, though he is the first choice. They may also have their eyes on Andre Iquodala. Perhaps the impending addition of Iguodala would make it easier for the Warriors to surrender Barnes. Again, speculation. What we know now is that the Warriors are trying to clear space, have reached out to the Cavaliers, and the Cavaliers would have the ability to absorb a bad deal. We will keep you updated as more information comes out.