After a season-long pursuit of a center to help improve their inside defense after losing Anderson Varejao to a season-ending injury the Cavaliers have acquired Denver Nuggets big Timofey Mozgov in exchange for two future protected 1st-round picks. The picks include Oklahoma City’s 1-18 protected first rounder that they acquired in the Dion Waiters deal and the Grizzlies’ 1-5 and 15-30 protected first round pick, that only becomes top five protected in two years.
While the team’s pursuit for frontcourt talent has been going on throughout the entire season, the Cavs finally had the necessary tools after they acquired OKC’s pick in the Dion Waiters deal.
So when you look at the grand scheme of Cleveland’s two moves from this week, you can say that they basically acquired J.R Smith, Iman Shumpert and Timofey Mozgov for just Dion Waiters. That’s an excellent return for a former top-five pick that clashed with teammates and never really seemed comfortable in Cleveland.
As for Timofey Mozgov, he should become an immediate fit into the Cavaliers rotation. Since Varejao’s season-ending injury occurred in late December, the team has been utilizing a frontcourt of Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson. Perhaps due to the team’s real lack of any inside presence, opponents have shot 56.5% from around the rim against the Cavaliers, which would be the 2nd highest shooting percentage behind the Minnesota Timberwolves.
When it comes to Mozgov, he’s been able to provide a more stable inside presence than the Cavaliers are used to. That presence is evident by opponents shooting 48.6% from around the rim against Mozgov, which is a lower shooting percentage than what is maintained by Andre Drummond, Omer Asik and Marc Gasol.
Even though the majority of Mozgov’s presence is exhibited on the defensive end, he does provide some amount of stability as an offensive player. From inside the restricted area, Mozgov has shot 62%. In addition to that solid shooting percentage, Mozgov is a terrific offensive rebounder, as he has collected 2.7 offensive boards per game so far this season.
Although the Cavaliers are still struggling to meld as a team under new head coach David Blatt, the addition of Timofey Mozgov helps mend one of their biggest weaknesses.
