The Cavaliers likely aren’t going to make any big, splashy moves this offseason beyond hiring a coach and hopefully for their sake, signing Donovan Mitchell to a four-year, max contract extension.
But it won’t keep people from making predictions (guilty as charged). And the Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen rumors aren’t likely to go away. Let’s face it, Garland could become a real trade candidate if his camp does file a request, as has been widely speculated. Allen, I contend, will go nowhere.
Regardless, ESPN posted a piece entitled “How all 30 teams can nail their offseason,” and had some specific suggestions for the Cavs, saying that some tough summer decisions loom.
“Suggestions to break up their talented backcourt, with Mitchell and Darius Garland, and/or the skilled frontcourt, with Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley, have only grown louder — particularly after Cleveland went on a midseason hot streak, growing more willing and efficient from deep — when Garland and Mobley were both out of the lineup with injuries,” wrote Chris Herring of ESPN.
“Truth be told, the team should explore deals and potentially make them involving Garland and Allen in an effort to gain more depth and spacing. Once that’s all resolved, an easier decision: The team should lock up the 23-year-old Mobley to his max rookie extension.”
That’s all well and good, and I agree with the parts about Mitchell and Mobley and the contract extensions. The Cavaliers likely do, too. But Garland is very much a wait-and-see scenario. Trading him is a possibility. But as I’ve written previously, if you trade Allen, you have another big hole to fill. He is a double-double machine who doesn’t need the ball and an excellent rim-protector.
Spacing is nice, and the Cavs do need it. They will explore multiple avenues to find it. But I can tell you they don’t think gutting half of their core will be the solution.
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Yeah those clowns at ESPN would love to see the Cavs break the core apart. It’s part of the new narrative among the so called “insiders” who have not really been paying attention. Kobe needs to give these national nut jobs a giant F U, grab his balls and run it back and see how this team performs when fully healthy.