Cleveland Cavaliers Still Active On Trades, Targeting Denver Nuggets’ Timofey Mozgov

Considered one of the top contenders for an National Basketball Association (NBA) title but struggling at the start the 2014-2015 NBA season, the Cleveland Cavaliers are not done wheeling and dealing with reports that the LeBron James-led franchise is once again active in trade talks a day after they acquired a pair of wingmen— J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert— from the New York Knicks. In the new rumoured players exchange, the Cavaliers are apparently pursuing Denver Nuggets big man Timofey Mozgov, a move that has been speculated upon since the start of the season.

Adrian Wojnarwoski, one of the most reliable NBA insiders, tweeted the development on Tuesday. Popularly known as “Woj”, the Yahoo Sports writer was also one of the first who broke the Cavaliers-New York Knicks-Oklahoma City Thunder trade on Monday.

Cleveland remaining in pursuit of center Timofy Mozgov, but Denver still reluctant to deal him, league sources tell Yahoo.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) January 6, 2015

Six players and multiple picks were involved in the Cleveland-New York-Oklahoma City deal; Shumpert, Smith and a future first round pick going to Cleveland, Dion Waiters going to the Oklahoma City Thunder, and Alex Kirk and Lou Amundson moving to the New York Knicks, which also received a 2019 second round pick from the Cavs. For both the Cavaliers and Thunder, the deal meant that they shore up their bench as they aim for a deep run in the postseason. For the Knicks, which are almost assuredly on the way to the NBA lottery, they clear some cap space by dealing away Smith, who has a player option for over $6 million for the 2015-2016 season.

While the recent 3-team trade addressed some line-up issues for the Cavaliers, particularly that of wing depth, LeBron James’s team is still thin on the front court. They recently lost Brazilian centre Anderson Varejao to injury for the rest of the season and only has Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson as the legit big men. Adding Mozgov, who was a former player by Cavs head coach David Blatt with the Russian National Team, will certainly add a legit centre in the Cavs line-up and immediately, he’ll be the starting five for them if and when acquired.

Denver’s reluctance is perhaps because they are searching for better value for Mozgov around the league. But they do have the luxury to trade the Russian out as they still have JaVale McGee and prospect Jusuf Nurkic as centres in the line-up. Should Denver decide to dance with the Cavaliers in this particular rumoured trade, they will most likely demand a future pick or picks from Cleveland, which owns possibly three first round picks in the 2015 NBA Draft.

To contact author of this article, email j.quizon@IBTimes.com.au