After the Cleveland Cavaliers changed their starting lineup, they won two consecutive games against the Indiana Pacers and Detroit Pistons. Unfortunately, since Kevin Love’s broken hand injury, the Cavaliers have reverted to their old ways with blowout losses to the Houston Rockets and Orlando Magic.
As the trade deadline quickly approaches, the Cavaliers will be aggressive and DeAndre Jordan is their No. 1 target according to Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports as transcribed by RealGM:
“They are going to be aggressive,” said Shams Charania. “They are looking at guys like Derrick Favors. DeAndre Jordan is their No. 1 target. If they can somehow convince the Clippers to take on one of their bad contracts, whether it is J.R. Smith or Tristan Thompson, and give their own first, they would jump on that.
“But those scenarios just aren’t in play right now.”
After trading Blake Griffin to the Pistons and re-signing Lou Williams to a three-year, $24 million contract extension, it is unclear what the Clippers’ stance is on Jordan, who will likely become an unrestricted free agent after the 2017-18 NBA season. While all eyes are on the 2018 Brooklyn Nets draft pick, there is the risk he could be a one-year rental.
As the Feb. 8 trade deadline nears, the consensus is the Cavaliers need to make changes if they even want to think about a fourth NBA Finals appearance. In addition to Jordan, Cleveland has been heavily linked with George Hill.
For owner Dan Gilbert and general manager Koby Altman, it will be interesting to see what they ultimately do as LeBron James is set to become an unrestricted free agent as well.
