To acquire an established star, teams must be willing to part with what is perceived as equal value. That may be in the form of another established star who, while talented, isn’t as skilled in the area the trade is aimed to improve. If there is an imbalance in value, then draft picks may be used to equalize the trade. Less frequently, an established star may be traded solely for draft picks. In the case of Timofey Mozgov, the Cleveland Cavaliers acquired him from the Denver Nuggets in exchange for two first round picks. That’s a steep price for the Russian center with career averages of 6.4ppg, 4.8rpg, and 0.9bpg. So it begs the question, why was this done? It is easy to understand why Denver would make this trade and lose their 7’1″ starting center. They are high on Jusuf Nurkic, a 6’11” Bosnian center, eight years younger than the 28 year old Mozgov and seemingly at minimum as productive. Plus, they’re the ones who get benefit of the draft picks. But why would Cleveland make this trade? For one thing, Cleveland needed a center, especially after Anderson Varejao went down for the season with a knee injury. Also, Mozgov isn’t an entirely unknown commodity, having played for the Russian National Team when coached by the new Cleveland coach, David Blatt. Adding an experienced 7’1″ starting center can only help a team so sorely lacking rim protection, but is Mozgov the answer? And is the price reasonable, even under the circumstances? Anyone watching the Cavaliers this year can see teams exploiting three weaknesses. One is wing defense. That comes as a surprise on a team featuring Lebron James, given the years that he and Duane Wade wreaked havoc in the passing lanes for Miami, like a couple of traffic cops driving Ferraris. Chris Bosh, a very good pick and roll defender is none the less not imposing at all as a rim protector, but it didn’t typically matter with James and Wade in the lanes and on the run. However, Lebron hasn’t been healthy this year, and his best partner on wing defense in Cleveland has been Shawn Marion, who has been slowed by age and his own injuries. When Lebron returned to Cleveland, some expected a recreation of sorts with top overall pick Andrew Wiggins to team with Lebron on the wings. But Wiggins was traded away in the Kevin Love deal. Which brings me to the other two weaknesses, dribble penetration against Kyrie Irving, and points in the paint against Kevin Love. Dribble penetration kills them when Kyrie’s man beats him on the dribble and goes to the unprotected rim, or dishes to someone who does. Similarly, when the ball goes down low against Kevin Love, opposition success rates are pretty high. The Cavaliers hope Iman Shumpert, recently acquired in a trade with the New York Knicks will help the wing defense when his shoulder heals and Lebron returns from his maladies. That is a crucial need because creating havoc in the passing lanes can prevent teams from exploiting Irving and Love so readily. But when all else fails, you must rely on the big guy, your strong presence in the middle, your rim protector to anchor the defense and turn back those who made it through the rest. For Cleveland’s sake, at the cost of not one but two first round picks, let’s hope Timofey Mozgov can do enough of that for them.