Cavs: Cleveland are sellers heading to the trade deadline

The Cavs were heading in the right direction through the first month-plus of the season but it’s been all down here from there, turning them into sellers.

Things could’ve been so much better for the Cavs. They were playing well at one point. They were playing well and half of their team was out with injuries. They were in contention for a playoff spot. Then things unraveled. There might be one or two reasons specifically why; namely running a defensive-minded team with players who don’t like playing defense, but we’ll leave that be for another day. Instead, the trade deadline is fast approaching and the Cavs are sellers.

On the Brian Windhorst & The Hoop Collective‬ podcast, Tim MacMahon made it clear the Cavs are among the few teams that are selling at the deadline for sure. The other two are Houston and Oklahoma City.

"The only teams that are truly selling are Houston, Cleveland and Oklahoma City. Everybody else is either not going either way, like probably a team like Detroit, or trying to make the playoffs."

That said, the trade deadline is March 25, and there’s a lot of basketball to still be played. The Cavs sit at 12-21 and are on a two-game winning streak. If the Cavs can go on another streak, and get within .500, the team could see their tune change.

After all, the Pistons were 22-26 during the 2017-2018 season when they swung for Blake Griffin. Sometimes losing teams still make moves to bring in talent. It could very easily go that way for the Cavs if they’re able to make some serious noise in the meantime.

If the Cavaliers do opt to sell pieces, the three most likely are Andre Drummond, Kevin Love, and Javale McGee. The Cavs have already made two trades this year, sending malcontent Kevin Porter Jr. to the Houston Rockets G-League team, and committing grand theft in the fleecing of Jarrett Allen from the Nets.

A third trade seems very likely and a fourth still possible yet. We’ll have to wait and see which way the wind blows.