The Cleveland Cavaliers did everything they could to get younger and improve as they race to the NBA playoffs for the fourth season since LeBron James returned home. They traded away older stars in Dwyane Wade and Derrick Rose and disgruntled stars like Isaiah Thomas and brought in young, exciting talent like George Hill, Rodney Hood, Jordan Clarkson and Larry Nance Jr. However, it is what they didn't do that seems most surprising. When some NBA teams kept buying out their disappointing stars to give them a chance to revive their career somewhere else and other teams nabbed up these players to help their playoff aspirations, the Cavs stood pat.

What decision did Cavaliers make?

The biggest NBA rumors after the trade deadline were that the Cleveland Cavaliers wanted to find a big center to bring on to help back up Tristan Thompson, and possibly be there in case he reverts to the level he was playing at before Kevin Love's injury. They didn't sign a center. They also didn't sign a forward or guard either.

The big names they were looking at chose other destinations. Corey Brewer is headed to the Oklahoma City Thunder. Trevor Booker is going to the Indiana Pacers. Shabazz Muhammad has chosen to play for the Milwaukee Bucks. Marco Belinelli and Ersan Ilyasova stuck together and headed to the Philadelphia 76ers.

However, interestingly, the Cleveland Cavaliers didn't even aggressively pursue any of those names.

They considered Corey Brewer and Trevor Booker but didn't seem to push to convince them to join the team.

What now for the Cleveland Cavaliers?

The Cleveland Cavaliers signed not one but two big-name buyout players last year and neither man worked out for the Cavs. Andrew Bogut came in and broke his leg. Deron Williams joined the team and completely washed out when the playoffs rolled around.

Why waste a spot on a player that another team has already given up on, especially when it didn't work out well last season?

The Cavaliers might bring in a veteran -- someone like Sean Kilpatrick or Tony Allen, but they are guards and won't play over the new young stars in George Hill, Jordan Clarkson and Rodney Hood. There is really no one left at center that would be worth paying to back up Thompson, and Kevin Love should be back soon.

That leaves maybe some young body from the G-League could get some time to sit on the Cavs bench and play in low-pressure situations down the line. There is still an open roster spot following the trades and there might be two if the Cleveland Cavaliers let Marcus Thornton leave. For now, the Cavaliers are doing nothing but waiting, and that might be the best option at this point in the season.
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