The Cleveland Cavaliers are trying to put together a dynasty, and it appears that Timofey Mozgov might not be a part of that picture.
Whenever the Cleveland Cavaliers core takes a picture together, a big deal is always made out of the fact that Kevin Love is not a a part of the photo. But the larger picture of the Cavaliers future might not include someone else in the frontcourt — and it’s not Love.
There has been much made this year about the ineffectiveness of big man Timofey Mozgov. He was a godsend for David Blatt last season when Cleveland shipped off a first-round pick to Denver for him. But Blatt is gone and the Cavaliers have a logjam at the four and five which might cutout Mozgov from the equation.
According to Terry Pluto of The Plain Dealer, if the Cavs are unable to trade Mozgov this week, it’s unlikely that he’ll be back on a new deal in the summer.
This makes more than enough sense for the Cavaliers. While Mozgov wasn’t cheap to acquire, he has no real place in the Cavaliers lineup. He’s already wasting away and Cleveland isn’t going to give him a large deal when he has no real value to the team. He’s a starting caliber big who could get a decent deal and better role with a different team, but that team won’t be Cleveland.
It’s not a done deal that Mozgov won’t be back after 2016, but it wouldn’t be a shock if failure to move him did little to grow fondness for him in the front office.