Should the Cleveland Cavaliers go into the 2023 NBA Playoffs as is?

The Cleveland Cavaliers are playing well recently but does that mean they should avoid the trade market?

The Cleveland Cavaliers are in a unique space at the moment. They’re riding a three-game road winning streak and are playing the hapless Detroit Pistons as this is being written. Isaac Okoro and Cedi Osman are playing well, and Dean Wade is back in the rotation and fully healthy. Caris LeVert is still inconsistent and Kevin Love has fallen out of the rotation but what matters is winning.

And the club is doing just that. So have the perception around the squad changed? It wasn’t that long ago the talk of “needing” a wing player dominated the news cycle. The Cavs were linked to every trade in the book but now people are singing a different tune when it comes to the Cavaliers.

Word around the league is that the Cavs aren’t over the moon with the choices at wing the market is giving them. There seems to be a push to continue with what you have, especially if it’s working.  And it is working, they’re 6-3 in their last nine, while actively working on their 7th in 10.

The Cavs are in decent shape but does that mean not going for a big piece at the deadline?

The Cleveland Cavaliers should make a trade at the deadline but not for the reason you think

The worst thing in the world when it comes to pro sports is letting an asset go without recouping anything from it. In this case, we’re talking LeVert. LeVert is a solid player who can make an impact on a team like Detroit or Orlando, a squad that is lacking some specific talent at the perimeter, especially when it comes to playmaking.

LeVert’s deal is up at the end of the season and even if he wants to come back, it doesn’t make sense to bring him back, not with Ricky Rubio having another two years on his deal. After all, LeVert was only brought in to replace Rubio after Rubio tore his ACL.  Now that Rubio is back, LeVert is a redundancy.

The best bet for the Cavs is to try and swing LeVert for an asset. A few second-round picks, a project player that could develop into something (think Marc Gasol when he was with the Lakers). Recoup whatever you can from a LeVert deal and head into the postseason with Okoro, Osman, and Windler as your main small forwards.

Raul Neto has played well enough that if a guard does go down that the Cavs won’t be in total shambles, so there isn’t really a good reason to hang on to an expiring asset like LeVert.