NBA Trade Rumors 2017: Cavs Interested in Acquiring Jose Calderon and Andrew Bogut
The Cleveland Cavaliers are still the team to beat in the Easter Conference, there's no doubt about that. But the defending champions struggled in January and LeBron James wasn't happy about their performance. He has already made it known that they would need another playmaker if they want to defend their title, and the Cavs have been busy searching for the right person for the job since then.
Deron Williams' name was mentioned in trade rumors late last month, but sources said the Dallas Mavericks weren't interested in trading their starting point guard. Reports also said the Cavs inquired about the availability of T.J. McConnell, but the Philadelphia 76ers weren't interested in a deal as well.
The Cavs might have to look for options elsewhere, and according to ESPN's Marc Stein, Los Angeles Lakers guard Jose Calderon has emerged as one of their top targets. He also revealed that the team is interested in Dallas Mavericks center Andrew Bogut and they are still monitoring Williams.
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The Cavs may be interested in these players, but acquiring them is a whole different matter. The team is way over the salary cap, and Stein does not think that they can pull off a trade with the assets they currently have.
"The best they can realistically hope for is that one or more of those three gets bought out after the trade deadline and eventually hits the free-agent market," Stein said in his report.
But according to sources in Dallas, Williams and Bogut weren't interested in a buyout, so that leaves Calderon as the player most likely to be available for a trade.
Of course, the Cavs' search for a playmaker isn't limited to the trade market. The team also held a free-agent minicamp last week. Mario Chalmers, Kirk Hinrich, Jordan Farmar, and Lance Stephenson attended the tryout and Farmar managed to impress. However, the Cavs still haven't offered him a contract.
It's clear that the team is still weighing the options, but they should address the problem soon before it gets any worse.
