The Cavaliers are in a tailspin having lost 12 of their last 18 games, including a disastrous 120-88 beating at the hands of the Rockets on Saturday night. Cleveland has looked non-competitive against the best teams in the NBA over the past month-plus with seven double-digit losses to teams in the top four of each conference. With a 28th ranked defense overall and an offense that has slipped to 23rd in the league over the past 15 games, the Cavs face a very difficult question with the trade deadline looming: Can they fix things by making trades?
Unlike previous years where you could see the single biggest problem with the Cavs’ roster that needed fixing, there are numerous issues with this year’s squad and pinpointing the biggest one is tricky. Key rotation players from previous seasons have regressed, the point guard position is something of a disaster and rim protection is almost non-existent. Because of that, Cleveland has been unwilling to part with their best asset in the Brooklyn 2018 first round pick in a deal as there isn’t one clear move that can make them a clear top contender again.
While understandable, the Cavs failure to make any moves to improve the team to this point is creating more tension with their top star LeBron James, which is not what Cleveland wants as he heads into unrestricted free agency this summer. Unlike last year when he was very vocal about what he wanted to see Cleveland add at the deadline, James has been quiet on that front, refusing to answer questions about the trade deadline and saying he’s not the GM.
That seems to indicate two possible things. One is that James is likewise unable to pinpoint what Cleveland needs to turn things around, and two is that he’s fed up with Dan Gilbert running the show and will let him sink or swim on his own. In any case, the relationship between James and Cleveland is clearly strained.
After dominating the Cavs on Saturday night, Rockets star point guard Chris Paul, who is also one of James’ best friends, offered a warning to Cleveland about how they are handling this season and their relationship with LeBron when speaking to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst.
“You’ve got LeBron James over there in that locker room. You know what I mean? What else the man need to do?” Paul said. “Don’t take it for granted, man, don’t take it for granted.”
Paul is, of course, biased being James’ friend but he also isn’t wrong. If the Cavs don’t make roster improvements, it’s hard to see LeBron wanting to stay in Cleveland beyond this season with Dan Gilbert calling the shots. We’ve long known about the tensions between James and Gilbert and without the buffer of a David Griffin between them, those problems seem to be reaching a boiling point again.
However, the Cavs also aren’t guaranteed to keep James beyond this season even if they do make some trades because landing George Hill and someone else probably still isn’t enough to make for a dramatic turnaround in Cleveland. So, without James’ commitment (which he should not make) the Cavs also should not mortgage the future when there’s a legitimate possibility the post-LeBron era starts this fall. From the outside, it’s fascinating to watch the two parties try to hold things together through this season, but it sure feels for all the world like we’re watching it fall apart in real time.
