The Cleveland Cavaliers are expected to be more aggressive in their chase for a big man before the NBA trade deadline after the star-studded team lost Anderson Varejao for the remainder of the season.
Varejao, arguably the best defender on the Cavaliers roster, was ruled out for the rest of the season as he is set to undergo surgery to repair a torn left Achilles tendon he sustained during their 125-104 win against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday.
According to Brian Windhorst of ESPN, the Cavaliers are currently in talks with the Boston Celtics about the possibility of serving as a third team in a possible trade where they will acquire a high-caliber center.
Sources said that the Celtics are looking to acquire future draft picks in a possible three-team trade involving them and the Cavaliers, but Cleveland cannot trade their 2015 first-round pick to Boston because they have already surrendered their 2016 first rounder.
The Cavaliers could offer Memphis Grizzlies' protected first-round pick instead. It is also unclear at this point whether or not the Cavaliers are interested in some of Boston big men like Brandon Bass and Brandan Wright, whom they acquired in the deal that sent Rajon Rondo to the Dallas Mavericks.
The Cavaliers have been searching for a rim protector since the offseason in the hope of improving their title chances this season. Sources said that the Cavaliers are still interested in acquiring Timofey Mozgov of the Denver Nuggets and Kosta Koufos of the Memphis Grizzlies.
The Cavaliers reportedly packaged future assets with their $5.2 million trade exception to acquire either Mozgov or Koufos, but they failed to strike deals with the Nuggets and Grizzlies, which is reportedly the reason why Cleveland decided to talk to the Celtics to serve as a trade facilitator.
Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio reported that the Cavaliers are also interested in acquiring twin brothers Brook Lopez of the Brooklyn Nets and Robin Lopez of the Portland Trail Blazers.
However, sources indicated that the Cavaliers will have to surrender costly assets to acquire either of the two, especially Brook Lopez, who will earn $16.7 million in the final year of his contract next season.
The Nets have been shopping Brook Lopez over the past several weeks, but reports indicated that Brooklyn will not part ways with him without getting valuable assets in return.
