The Cleveland Cavaliers (30-21) could part with Brooklyn Nets' 2018 first round pick ahead of Thursday's NBA Trade Deadline, contrary to earlier reports. The Cavs had acquired the prized draft asset as part of the blockbuster Kyrie Irving trade in the lead-up to the 2017-18 NBA season.

For several months, it was reported that the Cavs front office is banking on the Nets pick to land them their next franchise star, especially in the wake of LeBron James' potential exit in July. However, the Nets pick is no longer projected to be a top-5 selection in a top-heavy 2018 NBA Draft class, giving the Cavs reason to explore trade options.

According to ESPN's Zach Lowe, the Cavs would part with point guard Isiah Thomas the Brooklyn draft pick in exchange for the Charlotte Hornets pair of Kemba Walker and Nicolas Batum, provided they can dump the contracts of Tristan Thompson and JR Smith. Both Thompson and Smith are signed through the 2019-20 NBA season.

NBA Trade News: Cavs eager to get rid of bad contracts

"You can build Charlotte-Cleveland deals in which the Cavs get Kemba Walker and Nicolas Batum for Isaiah Thomas, the Brooklyn pick and about $25 million more in outgoing salary. The two sides have talked at least vaguely, league sources say.

"But even those are tough to construct. If the Hornets have to take both Thompson and J.R. Smith, they might view the return -- even with the Nets pick -- as selling too low on Walker. Including Cleveland's pick instead is probably a nonstarter for Charlotte," Lowe wrote in a report published Monday (Tuesday AEDT).

The report adds that the Hornets front office would be reluctant to take on the contracts of Thompson and Smith, especially when Isiah Thomas, the other part of the potential trade, is a free agent in July.

"The Cavs are already paying a ghastly repeater tax bill. Batum and Walker make $34.4 million combined this season. Send out any less than that -- Thompson, Thomas, and Iman Shumpert make $32.9 million combined, for instance -- and Dan Gilbert pays several multiples of the difference. You might not care about Gilbert's money. LeBron definitely doesn't. But Gilbert does," Lowe added.

The Cleveland Cavaliers front office is expected to step on the gas ahead of the NBA Trade Deadline on Thursday (Friday AEDT). Besides Walker and Batum, the likes of DeAndre Jordan, Lou Williams, Derrick Favors and Los Angeles Lakers guard Jordan Clarkson are reportedly available in trade talks. Will the Cavs make a significant change to their roster? Stay tuned for the latest NBA Trade News.