NBA Trade Rumors: Cleveland Cavaliers shopping picks for ‘experienced center’
While Kevin Love is dominating all Cleveland Cavaliers trade rumors, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports the Cavs are also looking for an ‘experience center’ on the trade market, dangling future first-round selections in the process.
"The Cavaliers have been offering future first-round picks for an experienced center, league sources said."
If the San Antonio Spurs–and every champion before them–showed us anything, complete teams with ideal balance wins championships. As constructed, the Cleveland Cavaliers aren’t that. Even if they pull the trigger on the rumored Kevin Love-for-Andrew Wiggins deal, the Cavs will still be missing the most important piece to the team: a rim-protecting center.
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Currently, the power forwards and centers the Cavaliers employ are Anderson Varejao, Anthony Bennett, Tristan Thompson, and Brendan Haywood. Of the four mentioned players, only Haywood has a past as a rim protector, but at this point in his career, he’s barely a rotation player, ultimately leaving the Cavaliers in a hole.
With the Cavaliers shopping a future first-round pick, one wonders what center is currently available. Many suggest Milwaukee’s Larry Sanders could be the center Cleveland has their eye on, but with Jason Kidd in the fold, it’s unclear if Sanders remains on the trading block.
One name that comes to mind is Memphis Grizzlies reserve center Kosta Koufos. With Marc Gasol healthy, Koufos becomes expendable and with a first-round pick as bait, the Grizzlies could part ways with the big man.
In a way, this trade hunt is much more interesting than the Love deal. This will be the first true test to see how competent David Griffin is as general manager. If the right big man is acquired, the Cavaliers would move one step closer to championship contention.