The Cleveland Cavaliers are in dire need of a backup point guard following their blowout loss to the Golden State Warriors on Monday. The Cavs have been linked with several playmakers which include Rajon Rondo of the Chicago Bulls and Ricky Rubio of the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The Rondo experiment in Chicago has imploded and the Bulls are trying to deal the 30-year-old point guard. His spat with head coach Fred Hoiberg led to his benching earlier this month but he has been used since January 10.
Rondo has asked for a trade but it would be difficult to find a suitable partner because of his salary, as well as attitude. He was linked with the Cavaliers in early January but no deal was made. According to FOX Sports, the Cavs can acquire Rondo in two different ways.
The first is to sign him as a free agent but it will only happen if the Bulls reached a buyout with him. The second one is a trade but the Cavs don't have any dead contracts to deal since they recently acquired Kyle Korver from the Atlanta Hawks.
On the other hand, the Timberwolves have made Rubio available via trade and the team is willing to throw in Shabazz Muhammad along with him, per Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Minnesota has lost patience with Rubio and they could go all in with rookie Kris Dunn.
According to Ryan Rosko of FanSided, the Cavaliers are an intriguing destination for Rubio but Minnesota has to accept that they will get limited assets in return. The Spaniard's salary would be a problem but the report noted that Cleveland is willing to pay more luxury tax bills.
"Starting with forward Cedi Osman would be a good start. Not to mention Cleveland's willingness to extend their luxury tax bill. If the Cavs were to make this deal, their best bet would be by finalizing it via a three-team trade to make sure the necessary and intriguing parts head to Minnesota," Rosko wrote.
Nevertheless, the Cavaliers have other cheaper options on the market like Mario Chalmers and Nate Robinson. The loss to the Warriors is a wake-up call for the defending champions and they need to make another big move as soon as possible.