When the news broke that the Cleveland Cavaliers would be without Darius Garland and Evan Mobley until early 2024, the immediate reaction was that their season was over. Cleveland was already on a three-game losing skid and looked lost on the court. So when it was announced that Mobley's knee and Garland's jaw would keep them sidelined, it was understandable to think that the end wasn't near. It was here.
And now, every expert, analyst, fan, and pundit saw the vultures beginning to circle and thought it was time for the team to tear things down, fire J.B. Bickerstaff, trade Donovan Mitchell and Jarrett Allen, and retool around a healthier Garland and Mobley.
But, two games into life without Garland and Mobley and the Cavs have won two in a row. Neither win over the Atlanta Hawks nor the Houston Rockets were dominant for Cleveland, but that's to be expected when they're missing arguably two of their most important players. But with the Cavs taking a softer portion of their schedule in stride, it looks like Rome was not burning, with Moon Dog fiddling away.
Now Cleveland likely won't go undefeated while Mobley and Garland are out. But it does at least bring some normalcy back to the table and, in turn, some stability for a Cavs team that desperately needed it. Nevertheless, the vultures are still circling, which will continue to create unnecessary outside noise. Thankfully, Yahoo Sports NBA insider Jake Fischer was the voice of reason on the national stage, sharing some interesting intel and shooing the buzzers away. According to Fischer, Cleveland isn't actively looking to break up their star-powered quartet nor searching for an alternative at head coach.
Cavs' Ricky Rubio trade?
More interestingly, Fischer did mention that Ricky Rubio, who is away from the team to prioritize his mental health, is someone the Cavs are looking to trade leading up to the annual trade deadline. Now, the optics can be a bit muddled for Cleveland to move on from Rubio who is at a crossroads in his career, figuring out if he mentally can continue to deal with the anguish and toll constant injuries have taken on him. But, to Fischer's point, Rubio is taking up a valuable roster spot, hamstringing a top-heavy team that is missing key players at the top.
So, while it can be tricky to navigate, a team or two out there could be willing to take on Rubio's contract. It'll take the Cavs sprinkling in some incentives to make it happen, but there are teams at the bottom of either conference that could be interested if Cleveland called.
One possibility could be a simple swap with the lowly Washington Wizards, where the Cavs send Rubio and a future second-round selection for Delon Wright. If that doesn't work, perhaps a swap with the Detroit Pistons, where the Cavs send the same hypothetical package and Ty Jerome to acquire Alec Burks. Finally, if Cleveland wants to be really bold, they could always offer up Rubio and two future second-round selections to land Derrick Rose and Jon Konchar from the Memphis Grizzlies.
Clearly, there are options that make sense for the Cavs and a team that will be acquiring Rubio. There are only 36 days to go until the annual trade deadline, so talks will start heating up sooner rather than later. For the vultures overhead, any trade coming from Cleveland's front office won't be overly splashy. Instead, it'll be like the packages mentioned above, where the team looks to get better on the margins rather than tearing everything down to start fresh.
A recent update suggested that Cleveland and Rubio may consider parting ways, per Shams Charania of The Athletic.
“The Cleveland Cavaliers and Ricky Rubio have begun discussing a potential parting of ways amid doubts about Rubio resuming an NBA career that has spanned 12 seasons, league sources say,” Charania wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
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