Take a deep breath if you are a Cleveland Cavaliers fan. The Cavs have used the NBA trade deadline to the max and basically reshaped their roster. The team has entered in a series of bad games since January, dealing with poor defense and locker room issues, so something needed to be done to keep their NBA Finals hopes alive. Still, no one expected so many changes in such a short period of time.
The biggest trade the team has made was one with the Los Angeles Lakers. The Cavs sent point guard Isaiah Thomas, forward Channing Frye and their first-round lottery protected 2018 draft pick to the Lakers in exchange for guard Jordan Clarkson and forward Larry Nance Jr.
The second trade Cavaliers made was a three-team deal, which also included Utah Jazz and Sacramento Kings. The Cavs received guards Rodney Hood and George Hill from the Jazz and Kings respectively. The Kings got Iman Shumpert and a 2020 second-round pick from the Cavs and Joe Johnson from the Jazz. Finally, the Jazz got Jae Crowder and Derrick Rose from Cleveland.
The last trade saw Dwyane Wade heading back to the Miami Heat, with the Cavs getting a heavy protected second-round draft pick.
While there will lots of analyzing of these deals in the upcoming days, when the dust settles, the first impression is that the Cleveland Cavaliers got better with all these trades. Although the team won’t have much time to settle into a rhythm, the Cavs got younger, more athletic and in theory should be better on the defensive end. They got rid of Thomas and Crowder, who performed well below expectations since their arrival from Boston in Kyrie Irving deal. Aso, they have cleared the air in the locker room and could use a fresh start. Finally, the team has shown that they are still ready to surround LeBron James with the tools he needs to make a push for his eight NBA Finals appearance and maybe convince him to stay in Cleveland.
