Cavs rumored to ‘emerge as a team on the hunt for wing help’ at deadline
The Cavaliers could be looking to making a move before the deadline.
The Cleveland Cavaliers have the best record in the league through a quarter of the season. They’ve done that by being a great offense, which has historically been a cause for concern with this core. That said, there’s always room to improve, especially on the wing.
According to Mark Stein and Jake Fischer, the Cavs are one of the teams rumored to be looking for an upgrade.
Pro scouts have been sharing that the Cavaliers are likely to emerge as a team on the hunt for wing help as the season progresses.
Sources stress that Cleveland isn’t aggressively pursuing upgrades yet, but the Cavs know — even amid a 21-4 start — that they will need all the perimeter defense they can muster to deal with Boston, New York and Orlando (if the Magic can get themselves healthy) to get out of the East.
The Cavaliers have long wanted additional help on the wing. Figuring out a way to go about doing that has been the hold-up.
The Cavs are in a difficult spot financially as they’re just into the luxury tax. They need to be cautious about who they add to their cap sheet going forward. Koby Altman, president of basketball operations, spoke at media day as to how the tax implications loom over the decisions they make.
“It becomes a discussion of how much Dan [Gilbert] wants to go into the tax,” Altman said in September. “But we’ve never been afraid of that. It’s more strategic of when do you do it, when do you become a repeater? We’re fortunate to have an ownership group that’s not scared of the number.”
Additionally, they don’t have many draft picks to put into a deal. The only first-round pick they can currently trade is in 2031. They do have five second-round picks spread over the next three seasons that can be used to sweeten a deal.
There’s also the fact that the Cavs have been winning with depth and their chemistry has been phenomenal. Both are things that you don’t want to lose in any deal you make.
It isn’t surprising that the Cavs are looking for an upgrade considering their lack of depth on the wing. Whether or not they’re able to do so in a way that makes them a better team both now and in the future given their cap situation and their limited future assets is a different question.
The NBA trade deadline is Feb. 6 at 3 PM.