Cleveland Cavaliers News: Players Reportedly Concerned of Team's State Following 10-Point Loss vs. Warriors
Some players of the Cleveland Cavaliers have reportedly expressed their concerns over the team's state, especially after their loss to previous championship rival, the Golden State Warriors, by 10 points on Monday.
The Cavaliers once again failed to defeat the Warriors in their second match after the 2016-17 Finals with a final score of 108-118. However, what was worrisome was the fact that they have won only two games out of the seven they have played since 2018 began, and Monday's match marked their fourth game in a losing streak.
Concerns over the team's direction and performance were reportedly expressed by several players, who asked not to be named, in several reports on ESPN, The Athletic and Cleveland.com.
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"Rotations are awful. IT (Isaiah Thomas) is so much worse than Kyrie (Irving) defensively it's insane," a league source told Cleveland.com. "There is not a great feeling anywhere. They need to limp into the All-Star break and get away from each other."
From the beginning of the 2017-18 season, many fans and analysts saw a problem arising in the overall play of the Cavaliers, but the players and the coaching staff remained positive that everything could still work out in the end.
However, the game lost to the Warriors seemed like a wake-up call to some of the players.
According to ESPN, several members of the Cavaliers now "doubt" that the team's issues could be solved as they noted that the "aging roster" was facing defensive challenges on the hard court.
Now that some of them have pointed out a worsening roster condition, the question of whether the Cavaliers' front office will grab the opportunity to somehow amend that with the upcoming trade deadline on Feb. 8 has emerged.
It was reported that a number of sources have confirmed the Cavaliers management will try to shop for a trade deal. However, the team is not very keen on giving up their unprotected first-round pick from the Brooklyn Nets for the 2018 draft.
The said draft pick, which they acquired from the Boston Celtics after sending Kyrie Irving to them and receiving Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder and Ante Zizic in return, is reportedly being reserved by the team as leverage in case their star player, LeBron James, decides to leave the Cavaliers in the summer.
The Cavaliers are set to play against the Orlando Magic on Thursday, Jan. 18, at 7 p.m. EST.
