Cavaliers News: French lessons, trade chatter, schedule ahead

The Cleveland Cavaliers may not have the needed resume to make it onto the Christmas Day slate -- not an inner-circle contender, not in a big market, without a clear Top-10 player -- but that comes with its own silver lining: a mini-break in the midst of the season.

For a Cavaliers team that is struggling to survive with a roster riddled with injuries, it was surely a well-needed respite. Time for Sam Merrill and Caris LeVert to continue to heal. Time for Donovan Mitchell to get over his illness. Time for the coaching staff to review film from the past few games and identify what is working from their unexpectedly-successful cast of characters left standing.

Hopefully, the Cavs also took a break to celebrate the Christmas holiday with their loved ones. Those of us here at King James Gospel certainly did! That's why, just like your trash pickup, our weekly pieces have all slid back a day. Enjoy the rare Cavs News on a Wednesday as we dig into the biggest storylines around the team!

Cavaliers Trade Chatter

The NBA rumor mill is in full deployment, with everyone from superstars to draft busts being discussed as potential targets for this team and that. The Cavaliers are no exception, and their roster turmoil has only increased the speculation that they will make a move.

After the surgeries for Evan Mobley and Darius Garland were announced, the immediate trade chatter was that the Cavaliers needed to consider dealing Donovan Mitchell. In the past week, the reporting has swung back the other way, with ESPN's Zach Lowe reporting that Cleveland has "shown no inclination to discuss Mitchell trades at this point."

Jake Fischer at Yahoo Sports went a step forward, doing a deep dive on the Cavaliers and stating that the Cavaliers "are not prepared" to shop Mitchell; what's more, they have "maintained a commitment to this core of four All-Star talents." Fischer did report that the Cavs are increasingly convinced that Ricky Rubio will not be returning to the NBA and are searching for trade options to use his salary to bring back a rotation player.

If Mitchell were to be shopped, the Miami Heat would certainly be a candidate to make an offer; we built a trade package and evaluated it from both sides. Should the Cavaliers consider such a deal with the Heat?

Schedule Ahead

The Cavaliers had a nice break over the holiday but now they will have a busy stretch, playing six games in the next eleven nights. That begins tonight in Dallas against a Mavericks team that just bullied the Phoenix Suns on Christmas night but will be without Kyrie Irving. They return home to face the Milwaukee Bucks at home on Friday.

From there, they play four games in seven nights against a relatively soft quarter of opponents: the Toronto Raptors, the Washington Wizards twice, and the San Antonio Spurs. It could be an opportunity to rack up some wins as they continue to wait for Garland and Mobley to get healthy.

The reason for the busy schedule? The Cavs' next game will be against the Brooklyn Nets in Paris, France.

French Lessons

Wondering how the Cavs are preparing for their game in France? The social media team is apparently helping the roster learn the French language:

What to Read

Wondering what you missed from the past week? Here are some of our pieces from the last eight days to dig into:

• Caleb Crowley took his weekly look at the Cavaliers, highlighting the role players stepping up
• The absences in the Cavaliers rotation have led to some unique lineups; here are three that are destroying opponents and should get more run
• Which players should Cleveland be targeting? An NBA Insider highlighted one target that could be a perfect fit for what the Cavs need
• Which of the Cavaliers' two injured stars is more crucial for the team? Dan Gilinsky takes a look
• Which players on the roster are least likely to last the entire season in Cleveland?

What's Next?

The Cavaliers take on the Dallas Mavericks tonight and hope to continue their momentum; even more so, they hope that Donovan Mitchell will be suiting up to go toe-to-toe with MVP candidate Luka Doncic. That games is at 8:30 PM ET and can be seen on NBA League Pass or Bally Sports.