The Cleveland Cavaliers still have an opportunity to turn the season around. They were the best team in the Eastern Conference at this point last season, and this year's regression shows that this roster may have peaked already.
Also, given their long history of postseason shortcomings, the front office should try to make a big swing ahead of the Feb. 5 trade deadline. Unfortunately, it seems like that won't be the case, at least not during the season.
According to a report by Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, the Cavs' front office has fielded calls about Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen. Nonetheless, they won't pull the trigger until the season is over -- if at all.
Cavaliers continue to make the same mistake
"Elsewhere, teams around the league have kept tabs on whether Cleveland would consider trading Darius Garland or Jarrett Allen, but a change to the team’s core isn’t expected until the summer at the earliest, depending on how the playoffs go," Scotto wrote.
If this sounds familiar, it's because it is. This is probably the third consecutive season of fans and analysts debating whether this team can win as currently constructed. Koby Altman, however, continues to double down on a roster that's clearly flawed.
Granted, not many teams would've broken up the core that just won 60+ games in a season. Then again, they've stormed out of the playoffs every year, and it's become painfully evident that guys like Allen and Garland simply aren't cut out for the playoffs.
Garland and Donovan Mitchell are defensive liabilities, and having them both on the court at the same time leaves the perimeter defense way too vulnerable. Garland is also injury-prone and inconsistent, and he's been dreadful in elimination games.
Allen, on the other hand, is quite a serviceable role player and outstanding rebounder. Even so, he's always manhandled and bullied in the postseason, and he can't seem to be able to hold his own against physical big men.
It's not that Garland and Allen aren't good players, but history isn't on their side. They could probably fetch a decent return in the trade market, and sometimes, teams need to take a couple of steps back to take a leap forward.
If this team didn't make the NBA Finals when they were the top seed, it's hard to believe things won't be any different this season. The supporting cast is worse, and the Lonzo Ball experiment has failed miserably.