Former Cleveland guard Lonzo Ball believes the Cavaliers’ aggressive trade-deadline overhaul cost the team a deeper postseason run.
Speaking on the “Ball in the Family” podcast, Ball said Cleveland would have been better off keeping its core intact instead of making the February blockbuster moves that sent Darius Garland to the Los Angeles Clippers for James Harden on Feb. 3 and shipped Ball to the Utah Jazz the following day in a three-team deal.
“If you were trying to win a championship, I don’t think that was the path you should’ve taken,” Ball said. “If you ask me, I think we would’ve gone further. But that’s just me. I’m always going to bet on myself.”
The Cavaliers still reached the Eastern Conference finals for the first time since 2018 but were swept by the New York Knicks. Harden averaged 16.0 points while shooting 38.9 percent from the field and 17.9 percent from three-point range during that series.
Ball, who averaged 4.6 points in 20.8 minutes with Cleveland before being dealt, argued that the mid-season changes left the team without a clear identity. “To me, it’s going to be hard to win when you don’t have an identity,” he said.
Cleveland can point to its conference-finals appearance as evidence that the trades paid short-term dividends, but Ball remains convinced the original group, led by him and Garland, would have advanced even further.
Source: Hoops Wire
