The Cleveland Cavaliers might have pulled off one big trade, but that does not mean the team is done making moves. The Cavaliers still have holes that need to be filled on the roster if they are truly going to be a threat in the Eastern Conference and beyond. It is clear that super star talent is simply not enough to win games, which is why the Cavaliers plan on still being active in the market with size being the next priority.
The trade of Dion Waiters to the Oklahoma City Thunder got the Cavaliers JR Smith and Iman Shumpert which certainly fits one need for the team. According to head coach David Blatt, the team needed a spot-up shooter and that was not Waiters. Now they get Smith who can be a real threat off the bench when he wants to be. Shumpert will help with wing defense when he returns to the court following a dislocated shoulder injury. The Cavaliers were not happy with Waiters and the tension he was causing in the locker room, so the trade fits to needs in a sense for Cleveland.
However, the Cavaliers still have a size issue on the roster following the season-ending injury to Anderson Varejao. They have yet to truly replace the center on the roster and are sorting through potential trades in order to get something done quickly. The easy option would be to sign Samuel Dalembert off the free agent market. The center was waived by the Knicks on Monday and could come cheap for the Cavaliers if the team was not interested in giving up any more talent to acquire someone.
The big move would be to push a deal for Brook Lopez, Greg Monroe or Roy Hibbert. All three players have seen their names get tossed around in trade rumors for the better part of the year, but will not come cheap for any team interested in making a move. The Cavaliers would likely have to give up another asset in order to pull off a trade, but according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, they have no interest in dealing someone like Tristan Thompson.
That leaves Timofey Mozgov as the potential option, a player Cleveland has been interested in since the start of the year. According to Yahoo Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski, the Cavaliers will seek a deal for Nuggets center Mozgov in hopes that he can come cheap for the team. One trade is not going to fix all of Cleveland's issues, but getting someone like Mozgov could really be an upgrade for the team.
