Cavs reportedly getting ‘a ton’ of calls, only two players considered untouchable

ESPN’s Shams Charania is busy as the floodgates have opened for NBA trade season. The Cleveland Cavaliers, given their recent struggles, have found themselves at the center of discussion.

It’s long been discussed whether or not the Cavs should trade a member of their core four. Each consecutive playoff failure has only increased the pressure to shake things up. With the most expensive roster in basketball and a meandering 15-13 record to show for it, a final decision might have to be made.

You can’t really justify spending this much money on a team that isn’t even close to being competitive. That is, if you don’t believe the Cavs have any chance of turning this season around internally. The natural conclusion would be to cut your losses and trade away a few players while you still can. Ducking the second arpon and surviving to fight another day.

The alternative of keeping everyone together might be hard to buy into. At least, for the moment. This core hasn’t given any indication that they can overcome adversity and compete for a title. It would require a lot of faith to give them another season to figure it out when things are progressively getting worse.

Still, making a trade at this point isn’t guaranteed to fix anything. Making drastic changes in the middle of the season is rarely a recipe for success. Those types of moves result in chaos more often than not. Maybe the Cavs are the exception, but I wouldn’t count on it. A trade this season likely means punting on fourth down.

What I’m trying to say is, it’s complicated. The Cavs might be able to get healthy and hit their stride at the appropriate time to compete this season. Or, maybe they have been doomed from the start.

The only thing I know for sure is this: Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley are untouchable.

Whatever future this team has, outside of a complete and total rebuild, rests on the shoulders of Mobley and Mitchell. They are the cornerstones. It’s not a surprise that Shams is reporting that both of them have been off the table in Cleveland’s trade negotiations.

But what do you think? Is it time to give up on the core four? Or should the front office go down with the ship they’ve built? Let us know in the comments.