The Cleveland Cavaliers might be at the top of the Eastern Conference with a comfortable lead in the standings, but one might never know if they read the news. The team is surrounded in more controversy than the Philadelphia 76ers as many begin to wonder what move follows the firing of head coach David Blatt. With tension rising following another loss to the Chicago Bulls, will the trade deadline see the Cavaliers very active?
According to ESPN's Brian Windhorst, when the Cavaliers met to be told about Blatt's firing on Friday, the team thought it was to announce that Kevin Love had been traded. Many believe the forward could be the next to do considering the Cavaliers are not trading LeBron James and are not moving Kyrie Irving. Love continues to remain at the center of the on-the-court issues as he still cannot find his place within the team.
Dave McMenamin of ESPN reports that everyone is on notice right now in Cleveland as tension is high within the team. However, the chances that Love gets traded as a result are slim to none, at least when it comes to the trade deadline. At this point, no one is going to get the Cavaliers the real value of Love's worth. They will be the losers in a trade situation. However, if the Cavaliers feel that Love most go, trading him at the end of the year could be the better option. If someone is going to catch the heat for the team's "struggles" then Love will the first to go.
The biggest criticism to Cleveland right now is that James appears to be the one calling the shots. However, the forward is making it clear that he had no idea Blatt was getting fired prior to the weekend and he has not been consulted on any future moves the Cavaliers might make.
"I found out about it just like every other player on this team at 3:30 yesterday," James said, via ESPN.com. "I think [Griffin] was right on everything he said. Like it or love it or hate it, we got to respect it. For me, I can't get caught up and worried about what other people are thinking. I stopped doing that a long time ago in my career. ... The only thing I can worry about is how I can get these guys better prepared and we can play better basketball."
If the Cavaliers are going to make a trade, Timofey Mozgov is the likely move. According to Yahoo Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski, the Cavaliers are open to dealing the center in hopes of getting something in return. They would prefer not to shop players like JR Smith or Mo Williams as Mozgov is the easy target right now. It remains to be seen if the Cavaliers hold true to that or if they get more active when the deadline gets close.
