
Cavaliers GM David Griffin Says Team Is Looking to Trade for Playmaker
The Cleveland Cavaliers already acquired Kyle Korver in a deal with the Atlanta Hawks, but don't expect them to stop scouring the trade market.
On Friday, Cavaliers general manager David Griffin told the media the team isn't finished trying to improve its roster and find help for stars Kyrie Irving and LeBron James.
"It's something where we're all pretty keenly aware that it would help take some burden off of Kyrie and LeBron as our primary playmaker, so if we could get somebody else that could do it," he said, per ESPN.com's Dave McMenamin. "And it really doesn't even have to be a point guard; it's just we need playmaking."
Entering Friday night's game against the Sacramento Kings, the Cavaliers lost three of their last five games, where opponents exposed a thin backcourt behind Irving at times.
In the midst of that streak, shortly after the Cavs acquired Korver on Jan. 7, James told the media that "we got to get a point guard," per McMenamin.
The veteran Korver isn't that, but his three-point shooting prowess opens up another dimension within the offense led by James, Irving and Kevin Love.
For Griffin, the trade that sent Mike Dunleavy, Mo Williams and a protected first-round draft pick to Atlanta for the sharpshooter was just a step in the right direction, per ESPN.com:
"The hope is that Kyle gives us the opportunity to create some offense another way and make us less dependent on those two play creators. Obviously coach [Tyronn Lue] has done some creative things with Kevin Love to make offense run through him as well. But all season long, we've known we need more playmaking and just more intelligence at times on the floor in terms of the decision-making. We'll continue to try to improve.
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Through 38 games, Cleveland is 28-10 and in the Eastern Conference's top spot. But James (26.1), Irving (23.8) and Love (21.4) have combined to average 71.3 points per game. Channing Frye is fourth on the team in scoring with an average of just 9.4 points per game.
It's forced head coach Tyronn Lue to occasionally go against the plans he made prior to the start of the year. He expressed his desire to rest his stars as much as possible during the regular season, per McMenamin, but each member of the Cavs' Big Three is averaging over 32 minutes per night, with James clocking in at 37 minutes.
Not only could acquiring that playmaker provide another element to Cleveland's offense, but it could give Lue more flexibility when it comes to giving his big names a break.

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