The Cleveland Cavaliers already missed their chance for a quality blockbuster trade
The Cleveland Cavaliers blew their chance at a quality blockbuster trade this offseason when they dealt Kyrie Irving for Isaiah Thomas.
Around the NBA, the general consensus is that the Cleveland Cavaliers will make a trade before the February 8 trade deadline. However, the ideal trade happened several months ago.
Late August, when Kyrie Irving was traded, seems like an eternity ago. Since then, the Cavs have played 44 games and have started their midseason slump a bit early.
That being said, just a few months before Irving was traded, both Paul George and Jimmy Butler were jettisoned from the franchises where they developed their superstar identity.
Unlike any trade that the Cavaliers could currently pull of, a trade for George or Butler might have been able to put the Cavaliers over the figurative hump.
According to NBA.com, the Cavaliers had explored trading Irving before he formally requested a trade.
One such move was a huge blockbuster deal that included George, Irving, Eric Bledsoe and the fourth overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft. A deal that ultimately fell through thanks to the Pacers’ unwillingness to deal George to an Eastern Conference team.
The Cleveland Cavaliers could have gone in a completely different direction with this team.
They could’ve traded for Paul George. George would’ve been a much better fit for the Cavaliers against Golden State than Thomas is. Thomas is small, standing at 5-foot-9. On top of that, he is not a fantastic defender, to put it mildly.
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Meanwhile, George is one of the league’s best defenders. He’s averaging a league and career-high 2.2 steals per game. The Cavaliers, who have the league’s second-worst defense, need a player like George.
George could competently guard Durant while being a trusted offensive force alongside LeBron James.
As for Butler, the same concept applies. Butler is averaging 2.0 steals per game, a career-high for him, and excelling in Minnesota.
Just like George, he’s also averaging over 20 points per game.
If anyone even thinks for a second that James couldn’t alter his own game to fit better with Butler or George, then they obviously haven’t seen how James learned to defer to even Irving.
The Cavaliers are a few months late on their ideal blockbuster trade, the same trade that could have easily been made them true Finals contenders.
At the moment, the Cavs aren’t even close to being on the same level as Golden State, and in order to get to that level, they would have to give up the key asset they acquired in their trade with Boston, the Brooklyn Nets’ 2018 first-round pick.
DeAndre Jordan seems to be the most likely target and even Jordan might cost the Cavs that pick while not necessarily pushing them over the hump. So, what should the Cavs do?
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What’s next in Cleveland is, for the most part, unknown, but what we do know is that this team and this management already missed their golden ticket to Finals contention.