The Cleveland Cavaliers were never going to have an easy path to making in-season trades. However, it's one thing to be tied down by circumstances, and it's another to eliminate yourself from contention altogether.
Reports about the Cavaliers continue to insist the team will try to make it work with what they have. There is no strong desire to shake it up in Cleveland. No one is asking them to reinvent the wheel here, or blow up what they have entirely midway through the year, but that stubbornness is keeping them from upgrades that could legitimately be available.