After hearing the rumored interest between Minnesota and Phoenix, I figured that Cleveland could jump in and sweeten it a little bit. Something along the lines of:
Cleveland trades: J.J. Hickson, #32, and Traded Player Exception ($6.5M)
Cleveland obtains: Josh Childress and #2
Minnesota trades: Nikola Pekovic* and #2
Minnesota obtains: Marcin Gortat and #13
Phoenix trades: Marcin Gortat, Josh Childress, and #13
Phoenix obtains: J.J. Hickson, Nikola Pekovic*, #32, and Traded Player Exception ($6.5M - CLE)
*Could put Milicic in here as well. Depends on who Phoenix would want more.
This trade works as two separate transactions where Childress for the TPE would occur.
I think this makes sense for all three teams involved. Minnesota picks up a defensive center who had a nice end of the regular season that's on a reasonable contract. They also are essentially only giving up the #2 pick. They're keeping the rest of their young players intact. They would then have the #13 and #20 selections meaning that they could still draft Biyombo and Brooks if they wanted to go that route. Phoenix is getting a little bit of everything. They are dumping Childress and removing a little bit of the logjam at the wing they have. I know that Sarver is a bit of a penny pincher so any sort of salary relief for a player who had an underwhelming season seems like it would make sense. Hickson and #32 for Gortat and #13 also seems fair, especially since Cleveland is taking on Childress' salary with no sweetener from Phoenix directly. Phoenix has also shown interest in Hickson in the past. From Cleveland's perspective, they use some of their resources to pull together a deal for the #2. Hickson and #32 seems reasonable for the #2 in this draft. Taking on the remaining four years and $27M owed to Josh Childress is also part of the deal. I like Childress. We could use a veteran wing that plays smart, defensive basketball, and excels by moving without the ball. More importantly, it would give Cleveland the #1, #2, and #4 selections. I'm not sure if this would get it done, but something to think about.