NBA trade talk: Russian Timofey Mozgov draws interest from other NBA teams

Cleveland Cavaliers centre Timofey Mozgov is drawing interest from other NBA teams even as the Russian big man has struggled to find consistent playing time with the LeBron James-led squad.

According to Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports, teams are lining up and inquiring about the availability of the 29-year-old Mozgov, whose numbers have dipped in his second year with the Cavaliers.

In 30 games this season, Mozgov has started 25 games and is averaging 6.3 points and 4.1 rebounds in just 17.8 minutes per game on the floor. The numbers has decreased since last season’s 8.5 points and 7.8 rebounds average in 25.6 minutes per game. His role has taken a hit as the team prefers to give more minutes to star forward Kevin Love and forward Tristan Thompson, who earned a huge contract earlier in the season.

Mozgov’s role has decreased this season despite the fact that he was one of the key players in the Cavaliers roster that helped the team reach the 2015 NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors. In 20 post-season games last year, Mozgov averaged 10.6 points, 7.3 rebounds and 1.8 blocked shots per game.

Mozgov, who is from St. Petersburg, Russia and who also had stints with the New York Knicks and Denver Nuggets, is an unrestricted free agent after the 2015-2016 NBA Season. The Russian is expected to draw interest during the summer from other NBA squads and the Cavaliers might consider him before this season’s trade deadline so they can not lose him for nothing when he hits free agency.

The Cavaliers can also re-sign Mozgov but they have one of the highest payrolls in the league with max or near-max contracts to the likes of Love, Thompson and Kyrie Irving.