Are the Cavaliers Heading in the Right Direction After the Deadline?
Even with the Cleveland Cavaliers defeating the Minnesota Timberwolves 140-138 in overtime on Wednesday, the Cavaliers made some splashes at the NBA trade deadline on Thursday.
Cleveland has traded Isaiah Thomas, Channing Frye, and Cleveland's own 2018 pick to the Los Angeles Lakers for Jordan Clarkson and Larry Nance Jr.
Cleveland also traded Dwyane Wade to the Miami Heat for a 2020 second-round pick.
The Cavaliers also sent Iman Shumpert, the drafts right of Dimitrios Agravanis, and a 2020 second-round pick via Miami Heat to the Sacramento Kings and Derrick Rose and Jae Crowder to the Utah Jazz. The Cavaliers receiver Rodney Hood from the Jazz, George Hill from the Kings, and draft rights to Arturas Gudaitis from Sacramento. Cleveland also has the right to swap 2024 second-round picks with Utah. Joe Johnson is also a part of this three-way trade that sends him to the Sacramento Kings from the Utah Jazz.
Does this trade help the Cleveland Cavaliers in any way now? It helps them but it still doesn't have enough fire power to beat an elite Western Conference team.
The most important thing the Cavaliers did was get rid of Isaiah Thomas. He clearly wasn't fitting in and general manager Koby Altman didn't mess around with that.
As for the other players, they didn't seem to fit in as well. It was surprising that Wade was traded back to Miami. Cleveland got a lot younger with getting George Hill, Rodney Hood, Jordan Clarkson, and Larry Nance Jr. They will be more athletic and better defensively.
When healthy, the starting lineup will be: (C) Tristan Thompson, (PF) Kevin Love, (SF) Lebron James, (SG) J.R. Smith (PG) George Hill. Off the bench will be: (SG) Kyle Korver, (SF) Cedi Osman, (C) Ante Zizic, (C/PF) Larry Nance Jr., and (PG) Jordan Clarkson.
They could win the east but it won't be easy. Cleveland probably won't win the NBA Finals, but they won't be a circus act from here on out.
