The Cleveland Cavaliers were never going to have an easy path to making in-season trades. However, it's one thing to be tied down by circumstances, and it's another to eliminate yourself from contention altogether.
Reports about the Cavaliers continue to insist the team will try to make it work with what they have. There is no strong desire to shake it up in Cleveland. No one is asking them to reinvent the wheel here, or blow up what they have entirely midway through the year, but that stubbornness is keeping them from upgrades that could legitimately be available.
One such move could have been to improve the bench. The Cavs ranked top-10 in the NBA last season. They have dropped into the bottom-10 in that same category this year.
Ty Jerome provided the Cavaliers with a microwave scorer and a real leader for the second unit last season. His departure was never adequately accounted for. Exploring trade options with a player like Malik Monk could have been a potential fix for Cleveland. That may no longer be on the table.
Sacramento Kings insider Matt George said: "Going back to the summer, the Sacramento Kings were pretty eager to try and move Monk & his contract. As of now, that's changed. A source tells me the Kings are comfortable with keeping him and don't appear to be actively shopping him at this time."
Cavaliers passed on a tailor-made Malik Monk solution for their bench
Monk's $18.8 million contract falls right up the alley of a salary that is very gettable for the Cavaliers in trade talks. There are numerous ways Cleveland could acquire that type of figure with the players they have on the roster.
Putting an end to the De'Andre Hunter experiment could have been an easy path to explore. A one-for-one swap would even save the Cavaliers $4.5 million off their salary books for this season.
However, if money was not the prime objective, Cleveland could have also flirted with the idea of snatching away the most coveted 3-and-D option available on the trade market in the deal too. Hunter for Monk and Keon Ellis still works financially as a two-for-one trade the Cavs could execute.
For the sake of Koby Altman, hopefully the Cavaliers will repay his faith.
Cleveland has won seven of their last 10 games. The concerns of inconsistency have not gone away (at all), but it's just enough to have the Cavs front office start to believe in the vision they are desperately clinging to. With Feb. 5 almost here, the mental gymnastics in Cleveland will be at an all-time high.