Cleveland Cavaliers Rumors: In the market to improve their bench and depth, Jose Calderon and Andrew Bogut are emerging as top targets for the Cavaliers.
Cleveland Cavaliers rumors are beginning to swirl with the NBA Trade Deadline quickly approaching. The Cavaliers have already made one trade this season, acquiring Kyle Korver from the Atlanta Hawks in exchange for Mike Dunleavy and Mo Williams. But, they are looking for more.
An overtime loss, at home nonetheless, to the Sacramento Kings put LeBron James over the edge. James was in the midst of his first losing month since February 2006; his third season in the NBA.
James was not in a good mood with the losses piling and fired off some expletives in his postgame interview, telling whoever was listening that the Cavaliers need to add another playmaker.
The Cavaliers searching for some depth on their bench, specifically in the backcourt, is nothing new. They technically haven’t had a backup point guard for Kyrie Irving all season; James’ postgame interview just further cements that notion.
The Cavaliers know that they need to improve their depth, and they have gone a few different routes to try and accomplish that. Earlier this week the Cavaliers held a veteran minicamp, according to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin.
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Going into the workout, many believed that Mario Chalmers was the favorite to land a deal. But, he is only interested in signing should the Cavaliers give him a contract for the remainder of the season, according to league sources. Kirk Hinrich falls in the same boat.
As a result, Jordan Farmar emerged as the leading candidate. He is willing to play on a 10-day contract and was told that if anyone is going to be signed from the workout, it would be him. Lance Stephenson was also at the workout and is willing to take a 10-day contract from the Cavaliers.
Part of the reason the Cavaliers are holding off on signing any of those players is because they are hoping others become available in the coming weeks. According to ESPN’s Marc Stein, the Cavaliers are becoming more and more interested in adding the Los Angeles Lakers‘ Jose Calderon or Dallas Mavericks‘ Andrew Bogut.
The Cavaliers will have to be patient, and lucky if they want to acquire either Calderon or Bogut. With the Cavaliers so far over the salary cap, trading for either player is very complicated. Unlike T.J. McConnell, whom the Cavaliers tried to acquire from the Philadelphia 76ers but were turned away, Calderon and Bogut are owed millions of dollars.
McConnell was an undrafted free agent and could have been easy for the Cavaliers to fit into their salary cap on his minimum contract. Things won’t be that easy with Calderon or Bogut, who are making over $7 million and just over $11 million, respectively.
With a trade difficult to execute, the Cavaliers will have to hope that those players are released or bought out by their respective teams. In that scenario, the Cavaliers would be able to sign them as free agents, making it much easier to fit them into their cap situation.
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The Cavaliers will be on the hunt to add a veteran to their squad. Cleveland lost Matthew Dellevdova and Timofey Mozgov, two key pieces to their bench last season, in free agency. They have been unable to fill that void thus far but will undoubtedly continue working the phones to improve their roster.