Cleveland Cavaliers GM Says 'No One Is Untouchable' in Trade Talks

Cleveland Cavaliers general manager David Griffin is a tall-tale teller.

I think.

During an interview in which he discussed the Cavaliers' progress at length with Northeast Ohio Media Group's Chris Haynes, Griffin commented on his trade-market aggression. (Spoiler: He's aggressive.)

"No one is untouchable, and you're never done building a team, so we're always paying attention to what opportunities are out there," he said. "My tendency is always trying to do what we can do to improve the roster. But I'm not looking to create one so much as paying attention to what I'm hearing."

Um, something seems to be missing here. Rather, someone seems to be missing here.

That someone is Dion Waiters LeBron James. Kevin Love and the freshly signed Kyrie Irving belong here, too. It's beyond unlikely the Cavaliers trade any of them.

Short of Love declaring his intent to sign elsewhere this summer, Irving publicly professing his love for Utah and James displacing Griffin from his post in order to become a player-general manager who trades himself to the highest bidder, all three players should be considered untouchable.

As for everyone else, they should be fair game.

Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

The Cavaliers clearly aren't a polished product just yet. Though they're pacing themselves toward registering one of the 28 best offensive ratings in NBA history, their defense is a mess. They rank 25th in points allowed per 100 possessions, and the complete absence of a rim protector has left opposing offenses to convert 55.6 percent of shots around the basket.

Porous defense—which extends to pick-and-rolls—stands to cripple these offensively loaded Cavaliers. Like SB Nation's Jason Patt points out, they must get their act together or suffer the consequences:

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But the defensive problems simply can't be ignored if Cleveland expects to win a championship. In the playoffs, when each possession is so crucial, these kinds of breakdowns can't consistently happen. Just look at the top competition in the Eastern Conference. The improved Chicago Bulls' offense has the ability to take major advantage of these issues, especially if Derrick Rose is at full strength, and they have an excellent defense to boot.

The Cavaliers have plenty of time to fix their defensive shortcomings, but there are legitimate questions as to whether their personnel is good enough to even have a league-average defense.

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Such observations have not gone unnoticed.

Sources told ESPN.com's Marc Stein that the Minnesota Timberwolves are shopping recognized perimeter defender Corey Brewer and that the Cavaliers are among the strongest suitors. If accurate, that means Griffin is staying true to his self-admitted aggression, working the phones, trying to remedy his team's most flagrant flaws.

But that does not mean everyone is available.

Even after beginning 2014-15 by hovering around .500, the Cavaliers project as an NBA superpower. The offense alone should be enough to carry this team deep into the Eastern Conference playoffs. Breaking up the band less than 10 games into their season would be unheard of and, frankly, is in no way a legitimate option. Cleveland would be linked to flashier names than Brewer if any one of the Big Three was actually dispensable.

Let us then say what Griffin should have said—and likely meant.

No one is untouchable—except for, you know, the obviously untouchable.

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