5 Trades Cleveland Cavaliers Should Already Be Considering

As you may have heard, the Cleveland Cavaliers are having a rough start to the 2017-18 season.

The Cavs have blown a 3-1 record to begin the year, dropping their last four games to the Brooklyn Nets, New Orleans Pelicans, New York Knicks and Indiana Pacers. A team pegged to once again walk into the NBA Finals has appeared old, slow and uninterested in the regular season.

Having eight new bodies to acclimate has slowed the process as well. Solution? Look at adding more new players, of course.

Trade season is still months away, but there's no reason the Cavs can't be working the phones already. By either pulling the trigger now or closer to the trade deadline (when this past summer's signings can be dealt), it's clear this roster won't be good enough to win a title.

Full disclosure: Cleveland will not be trading the Brooklyn Nets' 2018 first-round pick acquired from the Boston Celtics this offseason in any of these scenarios, unless Anthony Davis is tired of New Orleans.

He's not? Oh. OK. Let's proceed then.

Eric Bledsoe, PG, Couch (Phoenix Suns)

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Cavaliers Receive: PG Eric Bledose

Suns Receive: SG Iman Shumpert, SF Cedi Osman, 2021 1st-round pick (lottery-protected)

Let's start with the easy one.

Bledsoe will be traded by the Suns at some point, although Phoenix appears in no hurry to do so.

"We are open to doing a deal whenever the best offer presents itself," Suns general manager Ryan McDonough said, per Scott Bordow of AZCentral.com. "Any other comments or thoughts from me would be pure speculation at this point."

Bledsoe makes sense for Cleveland even with Isaiah Thomas, Derrick Rose and Jose Calderon on the roster. Thomas isn't due back for a few more months, and we have no idea how close he'll be to last year's MVP candidate. Rose is best suited as a scoring guard off the bench, as his 1.8 assists per game (67th in the NBA, via ESPN.com) would illustrate. Calderon is 36 and is purely insurance at this point.

Enter Bledsoe, who can defend with the best at his position and give Cleveland 20 points a night alongside buddy LeBron James.

Phoenix must have a high asking price for Bledsoe if they haven't traded him yet, but giving up a talented rookie in Osman and a future first would be a nice haul for the Suns.

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, SG, Los Angeles Lakers

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Cavaliers Receive: SG Kentavious Caldwell-Pope

Lakers Receive: SG Iman Shumpert, PF/C Channing Frye, 2018 1st-round pick

Cleveland needs all the three-and-D wings it can get to compete against the Golden State Warriors, and Caldwell-Pope would be a nice upgrade over J.R. Smith in the starting lineup.

Represented by Rich Paul and Klutch Sports (who also represent LeBron James, Tristan Thompson, Smith), Caldwell-Pope is on a one-year, bet-on-myself $17 million deal with the Lakers and looking to cash in this summer. What better way to increase one's value than playing with James?

The Lakers can't trade the 24-year-old wing until December 15, by which time they'll have fallen back into the bottom of the Western Conference. Los Angeles has no need for Shumpert or Frye, but it'll gladly pounce on a first-round pick for a guy who can walk this summer anyway. Their vision of maintaining 2018 cap space remains, as Shumpert can opt out of his contract and Frye will become an unrestricted free agent.

If the Lakers wanted to throw in Larry Nance Jr. so he can play under his dad's banner every other night, that would be cool, too.

Matthew Dellavedova, PG, Milwaukee Bucks

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Cavaliers Receive: PG Matthew Dellavedova, 2018 2nd-round pick

Bucks Receive: SG Iman Shumpert

"I'm coming home, I'm coming home, tell the world..."

Fact: the Cavaliers have never won an NBA title without Dellavedova on the team.

While he's been pretty average since signing with the Bucks in 2016 (7.4 points, 4.6 assists, 36.7 percent on threes), Dellavedova would be a great fit on this Cavs team.

He's 27, a proven three-point shooter next to LeBron James (40.9 percent in two years together) and actually tries on the defensive end.

The Bucks are working their way into a tough salary situation with Jabari Parker's restricted free agency this summer. If he signs an extension, that would make six players set to earn more than Dellavedova's $9.6 million on Milwaukee's roster next season. That's an awful lot for a small-market team.

Cleveland would get a nice morale boost with the return of Dellavedova, and the Australian guard would be great insurance for Isaiah Thomas and Derrick Rose.

Patrick Beverley, PG, Los Angeles Clippers

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Cavaliers Receive: PG Patrick Beverley

Clippers Receive: ???

I don't know why the Clippers would trade Beverley. I don't know what the Cavaliers would have to give up in return. All I know is he's exactly what Cleveland needs.

A member of the NBA's All-Defensive First Team last year, Beverley brings the ball-stopping intensity the Cavs lack. He takes extreme pride in getting under his opponent's skin and grinding out possessions.

Right now, there's no reason for Los Angeles to want to deal him. Beverley was a key piece in the Chris Paul trade, and they're thin at the position with Milos Teodosic recovering from a plantar fascia injury in his left foot.

Cleveland may have to wait.

If February rolls around, Teodosic is back and the Clippers have fallen to the back of the Western Conference playoff picture, would they consider parting with Beverley then?

Off to a strong start (12.6 points, 2.3 steals, 51.4 percent three-point shooting), the Cavs will have to bide their time before Mr. 94 Feet becomes available.

DeMarcus Cousins, C, New Orleans Pelicans

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Cavaliers Receive: C DeMarcus Cousins, C Omer Asik

Pelicans Receive: 2018 1st-round pick, 2021 1st-round pick (top-10 protected) C Tristan Thompson, SF Cedi Osman, F/C Ante Zizic

At some point this season the Cousins-Anthony Davis experiment will fail. Not for fault of the superstar duo, of course, but because there's such little talent placed around them in a loaded Western Conference.

With Cousins set to become an unrestricted free agent in 2018, the Pelicans have to decide if he'll stay long term or bask in the glory of summer freedom for the first time in his career.

Should they fear he'll choose the latter, then it's a matter of getting what they can get back.

There's no way Cleveland gives up the Brooklyn pick for a possible few months' rental of Cousins, but other valuable draft selections are on the market. Thompson ensures that Davis won't have to play center, while Osman and Zizic are two rookies to groom or use as future trade bait. Taking Asik's awful contract off the Pelicans is a big plus as well.

Could New Orleans get more for a big man putting up an insane 30.1 points, 13.0 rebounds, 5.9 assists and 2.2 blocks per game? Maybe, although how many teams have the culture and locker room in place to comfortably offer the hot-headed Cousins $200 million?

A trade for the 27-year-old would give the Cavs their own "death lineup" of Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder, LeBron James, Kevin Love and Cousins come playoff time, enough perhaps to better challenge the Golden State Warriors.

Greg Swartz covers the Cleveland Cavaliers for Bleacher Report. Stats provided by NBA.com and Basketball Reference unless otherwise noted.