The OKC Thunder have found themselves linked to the likes of Cameron Johnson for quite some time now.
Viewed by many as the ideal get for Oklahoma City during this year's trade season, the Brooklyn Nets forward is believed to have the build, floor-spacing abilities, and overall two-way play that Mark Daigneault's rotation desperately needs to make a legitimate title run this season.
The only problem is, that mindset is also shared by a slew of other organizations who feel they're on the verge of a championship bid themselves.
Because of this, with the February 6 trade deadline rapidly approaching it's becoming more and more apparent that the competition the Thunder will face in any pursuit of Johnson will be tough and hotly contested.
Unfortunately for them, based on recent rumblings the room of interested clubs for the Nets stud's services may start to get even more crowded as Joe Vardon of The Athletic recently revealed that the Cleveland Cavaliers may now be open to adding Johnson themselves.
Cavaliers may be interested in snatching up Thunder's top trade target
According to Vardon, multiple executives across the league informed him Cleveland "has expressed interest in acquiring 6-foot-8 forward Cam Johnson" with the deadline now less than a month away.
Though the report did note that sources have revealed the Cavs' front office has merely "done its due diligence" in inquiring about the forward's availability, he acknowledged that rival team officials believe their interest is "more serious than that."
While they may be the top seed in the Eastern Conference standings, sport the second-best net rating at 9.7, and are currently tied with the Thunder for the best record in the entire league at 34-6, the Cavaliers still have some areas within their game that could use for some fine-tuning.
As pointed out by Vardon in his piece, one of these areas was highlighted during their Thursday night drubbing against Oklahoma City, as their lack of length on the perimeter seemed to trump in comparison to the West's best.
"The Cavs started Dean Wade on the wing against the Thunder, who is 6-9 and is shooting 36 percent from 3-point range, but he is perhaps more suited coming off the bench as a stretch four. Isaac Okoro is 6-5 and has been in and out as a starter on the wing for the last few seasons. Wade contributed six points Thursday and Okoro shot 2 of 9 for seven points off the bench," Vardon wrote.
At 6-foot-8 with a 6-foot-10 wingspan, Cam Johnson seems to sport the kind of build that Cleveland lacked in their bout against the Thunder (as well as a few other longer teams, per Vardon), while his 19.6 points and 42.8 percent shooting clip from distance this season would rank third and second, respectively, on the team if acquired.
Fortunately, what bodes well for Oklahoma City is the fact that regardless of the Cavs' or any other team's interest in the Brooklyn sniper, they are simply unmatched when it comes to the type of package they could theoretically piece together in a hypothetical exchange.
With their enviable collection of promising young prospects and high-end future draft capital, Sam Presti and company could easily outbid anyone for the likes of Cam Johnson if they needed to.
However, now with a top threat to an NBA Championship like Cleveland reportedly being interested in adding his skills, this Thunder front office may now be somewhat forced into overpaying just to prevent his contributions from aiding in someone else's title push.