There has been a lot of smoke coming out of Cleveland over the last week regarding the Cavaliers’ efforts to land a superstar in a trade, but apparently there is no fire. The Cavs were reportedly interested in landing Jimmy Butler from the Bulls or Paul George from the Pacers, both of whom have returned to the trade market after not moving at this past trade deadline.
The problem for Cleveland was their lack of future assets, having traded away this year’s first round pick and their 2019 first rounder, and the lack of roster depth with which to choose from current players.
The one piece that the Cavs were reportedly willing to part ways with that has value is Kevin Love, but according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, all trade talks have come to an end because no one wanted Love bad enough.
Windy on George/Butler: "Nope. Not happening. The Cavs were not generating enough trade interest in Kevin Love."
— ESPN Cleveland (@ESPNCleveland) June 22, 2017
The Cavaliers had been reportedly trying to piece together a three team deal with teams in the top 10 of the draft this year by offering Love to the likes of the Suns and others to send their draft pick this year to the Bulls or Pacers. Apparently, those talks failed and the Cavaliers have no other ammunition to try and beef up their offers. This poses a problem for the Cavs moving forward, as they clearly need something more in order to compete with the Warriors, but they don’t possess the assets now or in the future (they can’t deal another first round pick until 2021) to make an upgrade a reality.
