How to fix the Cavs (and the Wolves) with one simple trade

The Cleveland Cavaliers are going through expected growing pains and learning how to jell as a team. LeBron James hasn’t been himself, Kevin Love has groused at his low usage rate, and Kyrie Irving has, at times, been too concerned with getting his own shots than creating shots for his teammates.

But the Big Three isn’t the main issue; all three are still playing at an All-Star-caliber level. The problem is the lack of depth.

Sure, it was hurt mightily by backup guard Matthew Dellavedova‘s knee injury that will likely keep him out until January, but they didn’t exactly set themselves up for success in the off-season, either. There is no backup center (the corpse of Brendan Haywood has only appeared in three games), and in the absence of Dellavedova, there’s no backup point guard.

In addition to LeBron, the wings are the aging Mike Miller and Shaun Marion along with the atrocious Dion Waiters. Besides James, it’s been an absolute train wreck at the two and three positions.

In theory, depth is a greater issue over the course of an 82-game season than it would be in a seven-game playoff series — see the George Karl-era Denver Nuggets for proof of how overwhelming depth over a great starting lineup can fail you in a knock-em-out, drag-em-out series — but if your depth is teetering on league-worst, it’s a whole separate issue.

Even if the starters are able to play 35+ minutes per game in the playoffs, coach David Blatt will still be entrusting chunks of game time to the likes of Waiters, Joe Harris, and this sad, old version of Mike Miller. That’s not the recipe to beat the San Antonio Spurs, or even the Chicago Bulls, Washington Wizards, or Toronto Raptors.

With the understanding that I’m not hitting the panic button the Cavs’ season (they’ll be just fine in regards to making the playoffs and even earning home court advantage in the opening round), some things must change if they’re going to be lock for the Finals that many of us believed they’d be come springtime. And the Wolves are the perfect trade partner.

Minnesota has the right kind of backup point guard to add to the Cavaliers’ second unit (Mo Williams), as well as a very good backup center that is also a great locker room presence (Ronny Turiaf). They also have an energetic bench wing that is best used in a 10-20 minutes per game role who just so happens to add value to Love’s full-court passing ability in Corey Brewer.

It may seem silly to suggest that Williams, Turiaf, and Brewer could be the missing pieces to a championship-caliber team. But they’re certainly better than Will Cherry, Waiters/Miller, and Haywood. The current Wolves are all very nice but limited ancillary parts to a playoff team, and are not starters in the NBA, which is how the Wolves are currently using Williams and Brewer. That said, they would augment the Cavs’ current group perfectly.

The first issue with this idea, at least from Minnesota’s perspective, is the Wolves’ depth. Saunders doesn’t care about having “good” depth, or at least he shouldn’t. (More accurately, General Manager Flip doesn’t care, but Coach Flip most certainly does.) They simply don’t have enough healthy bodies to pull off a trade at this point in time.

The other potential roadblock is that the Cavs don’t have any players that the Wolves would be interested in as part of a trade. Cleveland is a bit shorter on potential draft picks to trade away than they were before the summer of 2014. They owe a couple of first round picks over the next couple of years, and have a protected Memphis pick owed to them. Potential compensation for the Wolves’ troubles would be main thing standing in the way of a swap, and Cleveland may need to involve a third team to garner enough assets to convince Flip Saunders to pull the trigger.

In summary, the Wolves are an extremely attractive trade partner from the perspective of the Cavaliers. Williams, Brewer, and Turiaf are perfect fits as low-minute, solid backups, which is exactly what the Cavs need. The Wolves, for their part, will need draft pick compensation at the very least, but could need to involve a third team to bring bodies back to shore up the roster.

These factors will likely combine to ensure that the trade won’t happen for a while. December 15th is usually when trades pickup league-wide, as off-season acquisitions are available to be included in deals, but it could even be closer to February’s deadline before a trade is finally consummated.

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