NBA trade scenario: Lakers' Nick Young for Cavs' Timofey Mozgov

The Cleveland Cavaliers could potentially deal Russian centre Timofey Mozgov before the deadline, with all the money and playing time going to power forward Tristan Thompson, according to a report.

The NBA trade deadline is nearing and teams are either gearing up to dump expiring contracts for this summer’s free agency or trade for pieces that could help the team for a playoff push. One surprising team that is heavily linked in the rumour mill is the Cavs, who is currently atop the Eastern Conference rankings.

Ti Windisch of Hoops Habit outlined 10 players who are most likely dealt before the deadline. One of the candidates in his list is Mozgov, who has been in a decreased role with the emergence of Tristan Thompson at the centre position.

According to Windisch, the Cavs could use Mozgov to get a backup small forward for Lebron James. Currently, the Cavs only have Richard Jefferson and James Jones manning the second unit at the SF position, but either of the two are likely to give a scoring punch off the bench.

Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports reported last week that the Cavs are getting calls from other NBA teams for the Russian big man. Spears noted the Cavs have yet to show interest in trading away Mozgov, but the 7-foot-1 centre’s decreased role, his looming free agency and the team’s massive payroll could be the factors in a possible trade before the deadline.

In the trade scenario, the Cavs would send Mozgov to the Los Angeles Lakers for Nick Young, which, according to ESPN’s trade machine, is a possible deal.

“The Lakers have been wanting to deal Young for years now, and would love to have a true center to help them build a real team in L.A. The Cavaliers get a quality shooter and decent defender, which means in LeBron-less nights they can keep JR Smith on the bench as a sparkplug and Iman Shumpert at the two, instead of having to either start an ancient veteran or slide Shump or J.R. up,” Windisch wrote.

While the trade is essentially possible, considering all the factors the Cavs should look at, Cleveland would likely hold onto Mozgov, according to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin.

“Even though Mozgov will be a free agent this summer and could fetch a price higher than the Cavs would be willing to spend, their preference is to keep him for the rest of the season with the hope he turns it around,” McMenamin added.