The Cleveland Cavaliers have the ability to make a bigger move now than they did at this time a week ago. Trading De’Andre Hunter to the Sacramento Kings opened up avenues for them to get under the second apron more easily, which makes substantial moves easier to get done.
Cavs’ president of basketball operations, Koby Altman, admitted that was part of the motivation for Saturday’s trade. After the deal was finalized, Altman said that the move “positions us better to keep building a championship caliber
team now and into the future.”
One of the things that the team seemingly hasn’t been willing to do in the past is give up one of their core four players: Darius Garland, Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Allen. That group — based on what was said publicly — was considered mostly untouchable. That might be changing.
ESPN insider, Brian Windhorst, said Monday during a radio hit for ESPN Cleveland that he’s “not as convinced” that keeping that group together is their focus.
“For a while now, it was very clear that they did not want to touch the core four. I think it’s probable that the core four will still be on the team on Thursday afternoon, but I think the fact that I have heard some more willingness to expand beyond that indicates that the Cavs feel a level of pressure with this roster in this season.
“I just want to be careful how I word it, because I think what’s most likely to happen is that the roster, the core, stays intact. But I’m not as convinced that that is 100% their focus as it has been in the last year and a half or so.”
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While it’s likely that the core will stay together, it’s notable that there is noise around it breaking up, even if it’s unlikely at this time. Presumably, any move that would shake up the core would have to put them in a better position to compete now, which is difficult to do given how little time is left in the season.
At the same time, there is pressure within the organization to succeed at all levels. This is the most expensive team in the league, and they’re expected to compete at a championship level. Despite their recent strong play, they frankly aren’t near the same level as the other top contenders in the league, and they’re running out of time to prove that they can get there.
The Cavs’ recent success is almost more damning than anything. For example, Allen has consistently played his best basketball in Cleveland when Mobley isn’t available. That showed again on Sunday when he dropped 40 points in a win over the Portland Trail Blazers. You don’t want to make too much from one game, but outside of stretches last regular season, their core group specifically has been less than the sum of their parts — especially in previous playoff runs.
There’s also the tacit admission that the team’s two biggest trades in the last year were misses. The Cavs didn’t win the initial Hunter trade with the Atlanta Hawks, and were wrong to choose Lonzo Ball over either/both Isaac Okoro and Ty Jerome — even though Jerome has only played two games this season. They already moved Hunter and are looking to move Ball as well.
We’ll see if the Cavs make any moves before Thursday’s deadline. They likely won’t make a trade just for the sake of doing so. That’s not how this front office has operated. But it’s worth noticing that they could be open to making a bigger move and finally have the ability to do so.
Altman has often talked about how his team has a long runway to compete. This season, they’re starting to run out of that runway. The plane needs to start flying.
