Ever since trading for James Harden, the Cleveland Cavaliers' front office has always branded Harden as an ideal fit next to Donovan Mitchell, even though he's clearly not. Harden and Mitchell's defensive weaknesses leave the Cavaliers wholly exposed on the perimeter. They aren't going to win a championship that way.
What's really interesting is that new intel surfaced this week from Cleveland.com's Chris Fedor revealing that Cleveland was also eyeing Derrick White and Jrue Holiday (as alternative options to Harden) at the deadline. Fedor's article even insinuated that Cleveland preferred the idea of White to Harden, which would make sense (White is a much better defender and, at this point, a more valuable overall two-way player than Harden).
"The Cavs wondered about Boston’s appetite for moving Derrick White — a non-starter given Jayson Tatum’s speedy recovery from a ruptured Achilles," Fedor wrote. "They contemplated a Jrue Holiday swap with Portland given Holiday’s defensive acumen and championship pedigree, ultimately determining he wasn’t enough of a reliable offensive engine."
Cavaliers' opinion on Jrue Holiday exposes their lack of trust in Donovan Mitchell/Evan Mobley
The reasoning behind Cleveland not pursuing Holiday over Harden (if you take Fedor's reporting as truth) is extremely consequential. If the Cavs had decided that Holiday was no longer the defender he used to be (now 35 years old), that would've been a more logical stance. But that wasn't the concern, according to Fedor. The problem in Cleveland's mind was that Holiday didn't provide enough offense.
Not enough offense? But isn't that what Donovan Mitchell, and, to a lesser extent, Evan Mobley are for? Didn't Cavaliers president of basketball operations Koby Altman assert last week that Mitchell is absolutely good enough to win a championship as the Cavs' best player? Didn't he also say that Mobley was Cleveland's best player during the playoffs this year?
If the Cavs truly feared that bringing in Holiday (who, by the way, is no slouch offensively) would leave the team not capable enough offensively, they clearly don't view Mitchell and Mobley behind closed doors as potent offensive weapons, certainly not in the way that Altman and the franchise advertises these guys as being.
It's not like the Cavs lack offense from their role players, either
Guys like Dennis Schröder (instant offense), Max Strus, and Sam Merrill also provide firepower offensively that would be enough for two franchise players to work with (especially with Holiday added to that mix) ... isn't that what Mitchell and Mobley are? Two franchise players?
White would have been an outstanding acquisition for the Cavs, as his All-Galaxy defense and good size for position would've been awesome next to Mitchell. It's refreshing to hear that the Cavs considered this move (perhaps as a better alternative to Harden), but the Holiday stuff makes you think in a negative light about Cleveland's front office all over again, undoing the goodwill that a White pursuit provided.
Are the Cavaliers sending out false messages about how they truly feel about Mitchell and Mobley? Or, are they just being extremely hypocritical? I, for one, would've loved to have seen Holiday in Cleveland, and while he wasn't going to push the Cavs to the Finals, he certainly would've mitigated a massive weakness for this team that Harden not only does nothing to solve, but worsens.
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