As discussed here last week, it's quite possible the Cavs will elect to hang onto Wally Szczerbiak's $13.8 million expiring salary instead of dealing Szczerbiak -- as many teams expected coming into the season -- before the Feb. 19 trading deadline.
The thinking: Cleveland is rolling too smoothly, with Mo Williams clicking immediately, and with Szczerbiak and Ben Wallace looking far more settled than they did when they arrived in February, to change too much midstream.
The exception? If the Cavs can turn Szczerbiak's contract into something big and bold.
"Like a trade for Vince Carter," one rival executive said. "That's a name on their list."
The Cavs certainly have room for at least one more top contributor in the frontcourt as well as the backcourt, but saving the Szczerbiak chip for an All-Star caliber name such as Carter or Antawn Jamison feeds into the team's primary objective. Which, of course, is sparing no expense to make the roster as enticing as possible to discourage LeBron James from looking anywhere else in the summer of 2010.
At worst, it's Cleveland's 1A mission, right up there with its dreams of dethroning Boston as early as this spring.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/dailydime?page=dime-081220-21
