NBA Rumors: Cavaliers Should Focus on Current Roster amid Jae Crowder Trade Buzz
The NBA preseason is underway, and the Cleveland Cavaliers are one team that is generating some buzz in the East.
Cleveland was a play-in team last season but failed to make the postseason proper. However, its improvement from the previous year (22 to 44 wins) was already noteworthy. Then, it went out and got All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell in a trade with the Utah Jazz.
Mitchell is an attention-getter himself, and he joins a strong roster featuring seasoned vets such as Kevin Love and Ricky Rubio and young stars like Darius Garland, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen.
Interestingly, Cleveland may not be finished making moves.
The Athletic's Joe Vardon reported last week that "Cleveland is said to have interest" in trading for Phoenix Suns forward Jae Crowder.
Adding another big name would cap an impressive offseason for the Cavaliers, but it would come with a cost and isn't really necessary. According to NBA insider Marc Stein, there has been talk of including Cedi Osman in a deal for Crowder, though that's only talk at this point.
"I've heard this in only one place, and trade discussions tend to be fluid, but I was told over the weekend that any talk of Cleveland swapping Cedi Osman for Crowder, is no more than that. At least for now," he wrote.
The Cavs should leave this trade as a hypothetical. They already have a great roster, one that has received a lot of praise from executives around the league.
In a survey of NBA general managers conducted by John Schuhmann of NBA.com, a lot of attention was directed Cleveland's way.
The Cavs were voted as having the best offseason (41 percent), they were the voted second among teams to have the most improved season (17 percent), and first for the team with the best young core (41 percent). Mobley was voted the player most likely to have a breakout season this year (21 percent), while Mitchell was voted as the acquisition to make the biggest impact (59 percent).
The Cavaliers owe it to themselves to see what this group can accomplish before tinkering with the roster any further—and Osman is part of the equation.
While Crowder's ability to make threes (34.8 percent last season) and play defense would be valuable, Osman has a lot to offer as a potential sixth man. He averaged 10.7 points last year and shot 35.7 from beyond the arc. He has also become a popular teammate within the locker room.
Osman is a product of a forgotten regime, but he could help push the Cavaliers into a new era.
"He's averaged 10 points and shot 35 percent from 3 for his career, is by all accounts a favorite in the locker room, and it would be cool from a sort of life-coming-full-circle perspective if he earns this job, having been in Cleveland so long and endured so much," Vardon wrote.
Having talent is one thing, but meshing that with great team chemistry is vitally important. Just look at last year's Los Angeles Lakers squad for proof. Cleveland needs to focus on developing the chemistry of its current players instead of doing some last-minute shuffling.
The trade deadline is a long way off (February 9), so the Cavs have plenty of time to assess whether another addition is needed.
Crowder is a noteworthy player, but Cleveland should learn from the 2021-22 Lakers and realize that having more stars doesn't necessarily make a team better. The current roster is already good enough to be a problem in the East if the chemistry is solid and the players can stay healthy.
If that isn't the case by February, the Cavs can consider making a move for a player like Crowder. Right now, that would be a luxury move and one Cleveland doesn't need to make.
President Koby Altman and general manager Mike Gansey have already done a tremendous job of building a potential contender. Trading a proven asset and/or draft capital to make one final splash could undermine that effort.
It's time for the work to be done on the court, with the roster that Altman and Gansey have already assembled.
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