Cleveland Cavs Trade Talk: 5 Cavaliers Trade Targets

In Cavs trade talk, the Cleveland Cavaliers should be looking to improve their roster before February’s NBA trade deadline. General manager David Griffin should focus on these five players.

The rumor mill keeps on churning for the Cleveland Cavaliers. As LeBron James made abundantly clear to general manager David Griffin, finding a backup point guard is first on the docket.

But do the Cavaliers hold the assets to make a deal come to fruition?

The rights to European small forward Cedi Osman is one bargaining chip. Griffin also has three trade exceptions at his disposal: $4.8 million from dealing Mike Dunleavy Jr. to the Atlanta Hawks, $2.2 million from Mo Williams in the same deal for Kyle Korver and $4.4 million from last season’s Anderson Varejao deal.

The Varejao trade exception was initially valued at $9.6 million, but the team absorbed Korver’s $5.2 million salary into the exception. Confusing stuff, but crucial to the acquisition of additional talent.

It’s no secret the Cavaliers are struggling through January. The beat-down bestowed upon the Wine & Gold Monday at Oracle Arena bookended a so-so West Coast trip (3-3). Despite losing three of their past five, the Cavaliers still hold a 2.5-game lead over the Toronto Raptors for the top spot in the Eastern Conference.

Panic and concern are not the vibes coming from the Cavaliers locker room. Remember, at this time last January the team was in borderline turmoil. Head coach David Blatt was fired, Tyronn Lue took over, LeBron was tweeting and on-court chemistry was lacking.

The end result? An NBA championship.

The regular season for a LeBron James-led team is nothing but 82 glorified scrimmages. In other words, a tune-up for the postseason full of trial and error. To contend with those guys from the Bay Area, a move needs to be made. Here are five possible trade targets for Griffin and the Cavaliers.