CLEVELAND -- The Cavaliers filled their biggest hole.
Desperate for a rim-protecting centre, the Cavs agreed to trade two future first-round draft picks to the Denver Nuggest for big man Timofey Mozgov, a person familiar with the deal told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
The Cavs have targeted the 7-foot-1 Mozgov for several months and came to an agreement in principle, said the person said on condition of anonymity because the NBA still has to approve the trade. Cleveland is sending a first-round pick they got in 2013 in a trade with Denver and a first-rounder acquired from Oklahoma City earlier this week.
With starting centre Anderson Varejao out for the season with a torn Achilles tendon, the Cavs needed a front-line scorer and defender to complement forwards Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson.
Mozgov played for Cavs coach David Blatt on the Russian national team, winning a bronze medal together at the 2012 London Olympics. He's averaged 8.5 points and 7.8 rebounds in 35 games for the Nuggets.
Blatt did not comment on the proposed deal before the Cavs, who have dropped six of eight and are playing without superstar LeBron James, hosted the Houston Rockets. James has been out a week with a strained back and knee.
The deal for Mozgov comes two days after the Cavs acquired guards J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert from the New York Knicks in a three-way deal that sent guard Dion Waiters to the Thunder. Smith will give the Cavs a scorer off the bench and Shumpert is a strong defender, who Blatt described as "willing" to take on the opponent's top scorer.
"We need a guy like that," he said.
In making the moves, Cavs general manager David Griffin has given up some major assets, hoping to turn around a team that has not lived up to extreme expectations after James re-signed this summer and the club acquired Love.
Cleveland is just 19-16 and the Cavs are about to enter a rough stretch of their schedule with five games on the West Coast.
