The Cleveland Cavaliers’ backcourt just keeps taking hits.
First, Matthew Dellavedova leaves for the Milwaukee Bucks. Then, Mo Williams retires. And now, J.R. Smith will miss a few weeks after suffering a right thumb injury that requires surgery.
With the Cavaliers’ backcourt depth questionable to begin with, it only makes sense that they would explore the trade market for some stopgap solutions. They needed another option at point guard long before now, and quality play from Iman Shumpert and DeAndre Liggins won’t change that.
Apparently, though, the Cavaliers are in no rush to pull the trigger on any potential deals. As head coach Tyronn Lue said, per ESPN.com’s Dave McMenamin and Brian Windhorst:
“As of right now, no we haven’t,” Lue said before the Cavs faced the Bucks. “It just happened yesterday, and I had a chance to talk to (Cavs general manager David Griffin) a little bit before I came in here, but we haven’t discussed it yet. I mean, we’re a good team, still. We’re 20-6, so I mean, it’s no excuses.
So I told Griff take his time. We are 20-6 and we’re playing good. We’re a good team. And we don’t want to settle for just any point guard; we want to make sure that we have the right piece that we bring in here that could help us win a championship. That’s our goal. I mean, with Griff at the helm, I know he’ll get something done. He always pulls out something magical, so let him do his thing, and I just gotta to continue to coach the team with what I’ve got.”
This stance is hardly surprising. The Cavaliers’ injury woes won’t prevent them from securing the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, and it’s not like they have a ton of tradeable assets they can parlay into immediate, meaningful backcourt help.
The Cavaliers, however, do have a boatload of trade exceptions, affording them the ability to absorb unwanted salary from other teams. So they remain a team to monitor leading into the February deadline.
