What a win Luc Mbah a Moute would be for the Cleveland Cavaliers. They’ve listened to people speculate that LeBron James could join the Houston Rockets all year (more on this later). How sweet would it be for them to not only keep James but also steal one of the Rockets’ most important defenders in the process?custom nfl jerseys

As you may have guessed, Cleveland’s ideal free agency is being framed as if James will return. That might not happen. But this exercise lacks any meaning whatsoever when presuming his departure. The Cavaliers wouldn’t be looking to spend any money. Their attentions shift to burning what’s left of this year’s core to the ground.

Things get interesting if James stays put. The Cavaliers won’t have anything more than the taxpayer’s mid-level exception to peddle, but that $5.3 million life raft will go a long customized nfl jerseys way this summer. Owner Dan Gilbert will have no choice other than to use it.

James is smart enough to make that a condition of his return. He doesn’t, and shouldn’t, care that Cleveland’s payroll will blitz past $150 million, before taxes, if he comes back.

Mbah a Moute is a no-brainer target even if he costs the Cavaliers their entire MLE. They don’t have a defender who can almost seamlessly shift between defending power forwards nfl custom jerseys cheap  and point guards. He guarded more pick-and-roll ball-handlers per game than Andre Roberson and placed in the 99th percentile of isolation defense.

Playing Mbah a Moute at the 4 unlocked some of the Rockets’ best lineups. They outscored opponents by 12.9 points per 100 possessions in those situations, per Cleaning the Glass. cheap custom nfl jerseys His offense is touch-and-go, but he hits enough of his threes in the regular season—37.5 percent since 2016-17—and cheap customized nfl jerseys is a viable open-lane driver and finisher when he’s not coping with a shoulder injury.

Sticking him on the Cavs would make it easier to play Kevin Love at the 5 and save James from having to defend too many top off-the-bounce scorers. Getting the Rockets to let him go cheap nfl custom jerseys could be tough, but they’ll only have the mini MLE themselves. And with Trevor Ariza, Clint Capela (restricted) and Chris Paul all set to hit the open market, they may be reluctant to finance Mbah a Moute’s long-overdue raise.