It’s quite rare to see a No. 1 seed considering a trade of their starting center. But that is exactly what the Cleveland Cavaliers appear to be doing with Timofey Mozgov.
According to a report by Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports on Friday, the Cavs “have started to make calls on the market” for the Russian big man. Wojnarowski also notes that Mozgov “could appeal to Western Conference contenders.”
Mozgov was a gamechanger for Cleveland upon his acquisition at the 2015 trade deadline, as his rim protection and interior presence transformed the team from a middling defense into a first-rate one. But his performance has slipped big-time this season, perhaps due in large part to offseason knee surgery.
The 29-year-old center is averaging just 6.0 points per game, 4.3 rebounds per game, and 0.8 blocks per game in 2015-16. Also working against Mozgov is that Tristan Thompson is growing increasingly comfortable logging extended minutes at the 5.
Mozgov is still a worthwhile rotation big. But in a league that has become great at playing lumbering, immobile big men like him right off the floor, Mozgov’s trade value simply isn’t very high right now.
Image Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
H/T NBA Reddit / Bleacher Report
