CLEVELAND, Ohio -- One of the free agents the Cavs covet has already hit the waiver wire. Another could be bought out of his contract at any time.

So now that the trade deadline has passed, and Cleveland chose not to make any moves before the NBA's 3 p.m. deadline, all eyes turn toward the free-agent market. The Cavs could chase the just-waived point guard Deron Williams out of Dallas, the just-traded, soon-to-be-bought-out Andrew Bogut out of Philadelphia, or just-released Terrence Jones out of New Orleans. Or Larry Sanders, whom they already interviewed.

Williams is the point guard and reserve "playmaker" LeBron James and the Cavs have said they've needed for months, and has already decided to join Cleveland if he clears waivers Saturday, according to numerous reports.

But the Cavs also have just two healthy big men right now with Kevin Love injured, and could use four come playoff time. They also have just one roster spot available, and would have to waive a player if they wanted to sign multiple free agents.

So, what's general manager David Griffin to do?

"Obviously we have a great deal of interest and we've said it for a long time in a playmaker," Griffin said Thursday, three hours after the deadline passed. "I won't speak to specific names just because nobody's free currently that's out there for us to talk about. But, obviously the need for a playmaker still exists, and we hope in all of these cases that we're the kind of organization and the kind of team that people want to be part of, and we feel that we'll be competitive in that market for sure."

Griffin said the addition of forward Derrick Williams, who is playing on a 10-day contract but is expected to be retained for the rest of the season, eases some of the need for another big man. But Griffin also said "we wouldn't turn away from the right piece" in terms of adding another post, which more than leaves the door open for the pursuit of Bogut, who is expected to be bought out of his contract after the 76ers acquired him in a trade.

The Cavs felt both Deron Williams, 32, and Bogut, 32, would be bought out by the Mavericks and have eyed bringing them to Cleveland after that happens. If Williams is as sure of a thing (assuming he clears waivers) as the league seems to believe, the Cavs would get a "playmaker" averaging 13.1 points and 6.9 assists this season who could conceivably see rotation minutes in the playoffs.

Williams played with James on Team USA. But the Mavericks also chose to play Yogi Ferrell, who was in the D-League this year, instead of him.

"I always liked D-Will, he's a good player," Cavs coach Tyronn Lue said. "Any time you have a guy who is an All-Star, he's a great talent. So, he can make the plays, he's a great pick-and-roll player, he can shoot the basketball, he has size so you can switch 1 through 4 with him defensively. He can post smaller guards so I've always been a big fan of D-Will."

Bogut is expected to draw interest from multiple teams in contention, including the Rockets and the Celtics. The former Golden State Warrior who's faced the Cavs in the last two Finals is averaging just 3.0 points to go with 8.3 boards this season.

Bogut is a 7-footer and known commodity, whereas Sanders is 6-11 and hasn't played in the NBA in two seasons.

Griffin said Sanders was "something we're looking at pretty closely.

"Larry looked good. Larry offers a rim protection that is attractive and there are other players that may or may not become available that do that as well," Griffin said, meaning Bogut, Jones, or another player yet to hit the market.

Griffin said the Cavs actively pursued a trade up until 3 o'clock Thursday, but said the limited assets they had made getting something done via trade difficult. He pointed to his January trade for Kyle Korver -- in which Cleveland shipped to Atlanta Mike Dunleavy, Mo Williams' contract, and a first-round pick -- as the team's "deadline" move this season.

"We tried a lot of things that didn't work," Griffin said of the Cavs' attempts for another trade this week. "It is what it is. But we're really, really comfortable with the group we had. We were not going to do anything of any significance."