The Cleveland Cavaliers didn’t have the start to the season many expected, but they’re starting to head in the right direction. Going into Monday’s game against the Orlando Magic, the Cavs have won three
straight, six of their last eight, and 10 of their last 14. This has landed them just two games out of the second spot in the Eastern Conference.
Despite being 47 games into the season, the Cavs still haven’t gotten a chance to see how this group looks when fully healthy. Max Strus (foot) has yet to play, and Darius Garland (toe) has admitted to not being 100% so far this season, and there’s no guarantee that he will be. Both injuries can make it difficult to evaluate what this team needs.
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According to Chris Fedor of cleveland.com, the Cavs aren’t planning on having a “drastic shake-up” at the deadline. Right now, this includes hanging on to Dean Wade and De’Andre Hunter. Both are players the Cavs have received offers for.
That doesn’t mean that the Cavs couldn’t make a minor move. Fedor pointed to Lonzo Ball as the player “most likely to depart.”
Ball does have value as an expiring contract. He is making $10 million this season and has a team option for next year. That could make him an attractive piece for a team looking to shed money going into next season.
The issue from the Cavs’ perspective is that they can’t take back anyone making more than $10 million in any deal for Ball, and they can’t aggregate contracts. This limits who they could possibly trade Ball for.
Fedor mentioned Jose Alvarado and Naji Marshall as players that the Cavs could target. The issue if you’re trying to trade for Marshall is that the Dallas Mavericks are currently over the first apron. Since Ball makes more than Marshall, the deal wouldn’t be legal from Dallas’s perspective unless a third team were to be involved.
The Cavs’ current cap sheet, combined with the injuries they’ve had to deal with this season, makes it difficult to predict what exactly the Cavs will do. But we’ll find out soon enough.
The NBA trade deadline is Feb. 5 at 3 p.m. ET.
