4 huge trades Cavs could make to shake up the roster

After a 13-12 start, and with multiple important contributors injured, things looked bleak for the Cleveland Cavaliers. However, after a bounce back, they're in a good spot. It could get better.

As of this writing, they've won seven of their last 10, all without All-Stars Darius Garland and Evan Mobley. That has them at 21-15, one win over the seventh-place Indiana Pacers in the East. Though the players leading the charge have been different with injuries, the formula has been the same: average offense (18th in offensive rating) and elite defense (seventh in defensive rating). While that may seem like a positive given the injuries, when considering that they've stagnated compared to last season even though they didn't suffer significant losses in the offseason, it might not be the best thing.

And, while their core is still very young (Donovan Mitchell is the oldest at 27), you can't wait around forever to hope to seriously compete. Furthermore, Mobley will be due an extension next year, and that year will also be the last guaranteed one Mitchell has in Cleveland before deciding on a player option for the 2025-26 season. So, while they aren't in dire straits, they have to keep pushing for improvement.

So, what to do? Do they punt on this itiretation of their team? Or do they make improvements to possibly make a run this season? I'll propose four frameworks for deals they should chase, two for each direction.

4. Cavs can trade to improve shooting

When thinking of the department that Cleveland needs the most improvement on, shooting is the first thought, and the correct one. Last season, while they shot it well (36.7 percent, 12th in the league), they didn't get enough of them up (31.6 attempts, 24th in the league, and 19th in makes with 11.6). This year, their volume has gone up with the addition of Miami Heat sharpshooter Max Strus (35.9 attempts, 12th in the league), their makes (12.7, 16th) and efficiency (35.4 percent, 21st) are still in the bottom half of the league.

With the attention Mitchell and Garland draw off ball screens, and the presence of Mobley and Jarrett Allen in the paint with their size advantage, it's imperative to have players that can make shots consistently. Besides Strus and Georges Niang, Isaac Okoro has shot better, albeit in low volume, and Sam Merrill has lit the net on fire recently, but we'll see if he stays consistent. Even in the best case where these four stay shooting over 35 percent from 3, that's still too few to be a serious contender.

Looking around the league, there are plenty of players on struggling teams worth targeting for depth: Doug McDermott and former Cav Cedi Osman from the Spurs, Luke Kennard from the Grizzlies, Bojan Bogdanovic and Alec Burks from the Pistons, Landry Shamet from the Wizards, Gary Trent Jr. and Otto Porter Jr. from the Raptors, and Saddiq Bey and AJ Griffin from the Hawks. Other players that could be asked about are a struggling Kevin Huerter from the Kings, who's lost his starting spot and could use a change of scenery, Buddy Hield on an expiring contract from the Pacers, and an expiring Gary Harris on a guard-heavy Magic team.

Cleveland has variety in the contracts they can trade ($15+ million in Caris LeVert, medium-sized deals in Okoro and Niang, and on the lower scale with Dean Wade, Damian Jones and Ty Jerome), so they have room to get a deal done in this regard. If they want to take it further, they can do both this and pursue this next move ...