The Cleveland Cavaliers can be fully usurped by their competitors in a way that has nothing to do with them.
Things are bad for the Cleveland Cavaliers. They can still get a whole lot worse with the NBA calendar rapidly approaching the unofficial start to trade season.
Dec. 15 marks the pivotal date when many of the offseason signings have their trade restrictions lifted. That may not mean much to the Cavaliers, but it does to the competition around them in the Eastern Conference.