The Cleveland Cavaliers were one of the most passive teams in the NBA offseason. Then again, fresh off winning nearly 70 games last season, the front office felt like they didn't need to make any major moves.
Koby Altman, however, did admit that the team lacked some toughness. Considering that, they lured former second overall pick Lonzo Ball to The Land. His reputation as an elite playmaker and pesky backcourt defender brought back hope to the fans.
Fast forward to today, and it's become painfully evident that the Lonzo Ball experiment has been a massive failure. Considering that, team insider Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com believes they could turn to the New Orleans Pelicans to fix that. In his latest column, he argued the Cavs could make a run at Jose Alvarado.
Jose Alvardo is a no-brainer trade target to fix the Lonzo Ball mess
"New Orleans, with the Western Conference’s worst record and sneakily close to the tax, could look to offload Jose Alvarado’s contract that contains a 2026-27 player option worth $4.5 million," Fedor wrote.
Alvarado's numbers don't necessarily pop, averaging 7.9 points, 3.2 assists and one steal per game on 42 percent from the floor. However, he does bring some much-needed toughness and physicality to the table.
Also, Ball's numbers have been even more disappointing. He's averaging just 4.8 points and 4.0 dimes a game on 30.7 percent from the floor and a horrid 27.5 percent from beyond the arc.
Ball cannot be trusted to stay healthy. He's already missed 16 games this season, and that's not going to change at any point in the future. That was a well-known risk of trading with him, but it was worth taking at the time.
The front office continues to preach patience with this team, so they might not be inclined to make any big move before the Feb. 5 trade deadline. Still, it's not like they would be absorbing a major contract or would have to give up valuable assets to acquire Alvarado.
He's not a superstar by any means, but teams need enforcers and reliable role players to get the job done in the playoffs. It's become crystal clear that this team doesn't have a talent problem; they have a toughness problem, and Alvarado is tough as nails.
There's enough time left in the season to turn this team around. They just need to make a couple of tweaks and bring in the type of role players they need to elevate their talented and inconsistent roster to the next level.