Dribbles: NBA trade season starts Friday. What does that mean for Cavs?

Random dribbles ahead of the Cavaliers’ road game against the Boston Celtics on Friday.

1. Let’s start here — Cavs president of basketball operations Koby Altman and general manager Mike Gansey probably don’t feel the need to make a major trade.

2. Every time I write that, Altman does something fairly big within a few weeks, perhaps out of spite. (That second part is a joke. I think.)

3. Either way, trade season in the NBA unofficially opens Friday, when some players who signed offseason contracts become eligible to be dealt. More will be in the middle of January. The trade deadline is Feb. 8.

4. Cavs guard/forward Caris LeVert is among the first set of players — eligible to be traded on Dec. 15. We have the full list here.

5. So are offseason acquisitions Max Strus, Georges Niang, Ty Jerome and Tristan Thompson. LeVert is the only one who I’ve heard mentioned as a trade possibility, which is why I started with him. 

6. At this point, I think it’s a safe bet that the Cavs aren’t looking to move Strus, Niang, Jerome or Thompson. That’s a no-brainer. I’m fairly certain they want to keep LeVert and Jarrett Allen, who’s also been mentioned on the rumor mill.

7. But that’s all they are — rumors. Anything I’ve read involving the Cavs and potential trades has been pure speculation.

8. I know this may come as a surprise, but Altman doesn’t sit around his office and say, “Well, I’d better check in with Amico before I make my next move.” Half the time, NBA GMs don’t even know what they’re going to do until they get off the phone with another GM, and sometimes, not even then. Trades are an incredibly tricky business.

9. So most of what we hear and read is indeed speculation. That said, I think if any Cavs are traded this season, it would be either LeVert or Isaac Okoro.

10. Again, that’s not any sort of inside information, just my guess. The Cavs love both players. I truly believe they want to see how far this group can go when entirely healthy. Still, if you’re not 25-0 at this point, you probably are open to suggestions. It’s just the way the NBA works.

11. Strus and Niang were Altman’s biggest offseason moves. Thompson has played an underrated role in his return. The Cavs want to assess how those guys fit, give it some time, and then identify any needs when the time is right.

12. Believe it or not, the front office isn’t as reactionary as the fans and media. They keep things in their circle and don’t get distracted by outside noise. They have actual perspective. So they will make a deal only because they think they need one, not because of what anyone says or writes.

13. Sometimes, teams get mad at me for suggesting they could make a trade. Other times, fans get mad at me for writing that I don’t think their favorite team will pull off a deal. The word “media” truly is short for “person stuck in the middle who pleases nobody all of the time.”

14. And yet I wouldn’t trade this job for any other.

15. Basically, I’ve written an entire column just to say the following: I do think the Cavs will make at least one in-season trade. I do believe it will come considerably closer to the deadline in February. I don’t think it will be anything splashy.

16. But that could change within the next two months. To be honest, fans should hope not. If the Cavs feel the need to make a splash, that means things aren’t going well.

17. As for the game against the Celtics … the Cavs already accomplished what I thought they needed to do on this brutal four-game swing on the East Coast. They won one (the first, vs. the Heat). This is the second game in three nights in Boston. The Celtics are the NBA’s last unbeaten team at home (11-0). It won’t be easy, to say the least.