Thing is... I'm wondering what the Cavaliers' brain trust has planned. There are a few different things the Cavs can do to round out the roster for the stretch run. They have three options:
1. Stand Pat with the current line-up
2. Make a trade before the deadline
3. Sign a player(s) that is still a free-agent.
Most fans think that the Cavs will go with either option one, or with option two.
Option one does make some sense. The Cavaliers have the best record in the league at 30-6, the have the league's top defense in ppg, defensive efficiency, and opponent's fg%. They also lead the league in offensive efficiency - something that has only been done one other time (95-96 Bulls) - and they also lead the league in margin of victory. All of this despite starting center Zydrunas Ilgauskas being out with a fracture in his ankle, and Daniel Gibson missing a few games with sore toe.
The money that can be saved by the Cavaliers, by letting Wally Szczerbiak expire, and not trading Eric Snow, is nothing to sneeze at. If the Cavaliers were to let those two contracts stay with the team, their payroll next year would be around 72 million (Not including the likely re-signing of Varejao...so we'd add between 3-5 million for that, assuming his salary starts between 8-10 million).
On the other hand...
If the Cavaliers don't make a play for someone now, there is a decent chance that they wont be able to next year. From all appearances, it looks like the Cavs plan on Keeping Ben Wallace until his contract expires. Assuming that they do, then that would mean that the Cavaliers would only have Sasha Pavlovic to trade over the summer (I don't expect him to make the team if he isn't traded). Besides Sasha, the Cavaliers would have the MLE and the bi-annual exception (assuming it isn't used before the end of the year). That is enough to sign someone like Roger Mason to a free-agent contract, to replace Wally, but not enough to get much help for the front-court. And if Anderson were to pull a "Boozer," then there could be some real trouble in C-Town
However, if we can think of these things, I cannot imagine that Ferry and Grant and Gilbert aren't thinking of the exact same things, and more.
Keeping that in mind, and looking at players that may be available, or who have been rumored to be available, I think that the Cavaliers will make a trade before the deadline. I'm not entirely convinced that we are going to trade Wally though. I think that he is the preferred trading-chip, but I don't think that Eric's contract has been taken off the table either. I think that the only way Wally gets traded is if the player we are trading for has a salary of more than 9.6 million, or if we trade him for more than one player...or a three-way. Unlike the last two years, I don't think the Cavaliers are real interested in anything that OKC has, except what they cannot send us (JSmith); so I don't think we'll be dealing with OKC unless it's a three-way, and the player(s) from the thunder are going to a team other than ours. Mason and Wilcox are possibilities, however they are both really unlikely. Wilcox doesn't play defense, and Mason is another version of Sasha. Collison isn't even a possibility, as he is a bad locker-room person, and I would be extremely surprised if Ferry traded for him...although he could be had really cheap.
I'm thinking that if the Cavaliers do make a deal, that it will most likely be a three-way trade, and that one of the teams involved will likely be Golden State. The Warriors really want to dump Corey Maggette, and there are 3 or 4 teams out there that have reportedly shown interest. Of those teams, the two that are seen in the rumors-section of web-sites the most, are Toronto and Dallas.
The problem with both of those teams is that they don't have a player that can match salaries, that is expiring. They have other players they can add to the deal to make it work, but then things start getting complicated because that means that they have to give up an extra player, which ultimately makes them short again. In the case of Toronto, Bryan Colangelo had started listening to offers for Andrea Bargnani, but since he has been back, he has been playing at a really high level. In addition to that, Toronto may be slipping again, which would render a deadline trade useless.
Which leaves the team that I think is the most probable trading partner: The Dallas Mavericks. Dallas has been enamored with Corey Maggette since Rick Carlisle became coach. Carlisle first tried to trade for Corey while the coach of Indiana, in 2004, then tried again in 2005. I guess it was just a matter of time before his newest team decided they wanted him, once it was known he was available.
The Cavaliers' place in all of this would be to give the Warriors the expiring contract they are looking for (Snow), and to take Howard from Dallas, while the Warriors would send Maggette to Dallas. There would have to be another player sent from Cleveland to either the Warriors or Mavericks, to make the money work, but the basics of the trade work out very well. Dallas already offered Howard to the GSW for Maggette, but they supposedly declined because they don't want any contracts that go beyond this season. If that was the case, then the Cavaliers would be a perfect trading partner. As I said earlier, they'd have to include another player (either Kinsey or Wright ... the other 2 don't make enough).
Something like this would work:
Cleveland Cavaliers
Incoming Players
Josh Howard
Salary: $9,945,000 Years Remaining: 2
Outgoing Players: Eric Snow, Tarence Kinsey
Dallas Mavericks
Incoming Players
Tarence Kinsey
Salary: $797,581 Years Remaining: 2
Corey Maggette
Salary: $8,275,862 Years Remaining: 5
Outgoing Players: Josh Howard
Golden State Warriors
Incoming Players
Eric Snow
Salary: $7,312,500 Years Remaining: 1
Outgoing Players: Corey Maggette
Whether or not this exact deal is done, I have no clue. However, I do think that this will be the kind of deal that the Cavaliers make, if they make one...which I believe they will.
For the Cavaliers - Well, you all know how it helps the Cavs.
For Dallas, they replace Howard with a comparable talent, and one that their coach likes. They also save some money in the short-term, and gain an extra shooter (Kinsey), which they need badly.
For the Warriors, they save money immediately and in the long-term, which according to the papers in the Bay-area, is exactly what they want to do.
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