Cavaliers cutting waste at the deadline- Part Two

I wrote earlier about the first part of the Cleveland Cavaliers deadline dealings or the soon to be named film "Koby's Big Day", so I'm going to finish with the other two trades and with a lot of writer's cramp.

The bigger trade involved two other teams but landed the two pictured players, who were teammates with the Utah Jazz last season.
The Cavaliers bring in two talented players that both bring versatility and the ability to help diversify the defense in adding George Hill from Sacramento and Rodney Hood from Utah.

The 31-year-old Hill joins his third team since leaving Indiana before the 16-17 season and disappointed in his half season with the Kings as his numbers have dipped in almost all categories (Hill is shooting 45 percent from three-point range, which is five points higher than his previous career high), but Hill can run the point, has been a good defensive player in the past and should be the type of player that thrives in being a lower scoring option on a good team, doing the little things that help playoff teams and should pick his game up after leaving a lottery team in the Kings.
The Cavaliers will have Hill signed for the next two seasons as he signed a three-year contract going into this season with Sacramento.

Rodney Hood averaged just under 17 points in Utah and at 25, the swingman should be just beginning to have his game mature.
An often explosive scorer, Hood's main problem has been staying on the floor as it seems nagging injuries have tended to add up for the 25-year-old Hood.
Hood shoots well, although he is reported to not always attack the basket and settles for fadeaway jumpers and avoids contact.
Hopefully, in Cleveland, where he won't be required to be as aggressive and will be asked to knock down jumpers, Hood's game will be an offensive asset.
Hood will be a restricted free agent at the conclusion of the season and unless someone signs him to a huge deal that is far more than he is worth, Hood should be returning to the team for a while.

So what's heading out of Cleveland?
Jae Crowder and Derrick Rose are going to Utah, Iman Shumpert is now a Sacramento King, the Kings also received the 2020 second rounder obtained from the Miami Heat and...

Let's get back to another deal quickly, the Cavaliers acquired that draft pick from Miami for Dwyane Wade earlier in the day.
With the new arrivals and the projected increase in playing time for Cedi Osman, the Cavaliers didn't think that Wade was going to see as much time on the floor and asked Wade if he would prefer to be traded and if so where and the Cavaliers would try to accommodate him as the circumstances that brought him to town and his projected role had changed.
The team was able to send Wade to Miami, where he had spent most of his career and still lives, so I thought that was a classy move by the team to take care of an aging star that did his best in Cleveland, played hard and did everything that could have been asked for as a Cavalier.

Utah is expected to release Derrick Rose, who wants to play for a contender ( ever notice that no one ever takes a buyout to play for a rotten team? ) after playing just sixteen games for the wine and gold with a tenure filled with injuries ( like that sentence has never been written about Derrick Rose ), excused absences and questions about his desire to even play basketball.
Rose's release by the Jazz will create some extra cap space for Utah, who will try to rejuvenate the career of Jae Crowder, who came to Cleveland as a touted two-way player that was part of the recent success of the Celtics but never seemed comfortable as a Cavalier.
Crowder averaged just over eight points per game, barely shot over 40 percent from the field and after a while didn't seem interested in changing his game at all in an attempt to be better suited to what the Cavaliers were doing on either end of the floor.
Of the entire trade involving Kyrie Irving, it's the lack of getting anything at all out of Jae Crowder that is the most disappointing to me.
Isaiah Thomas was a risk considering his injury, but a risk worth taking, Jae Crowder was thought to be the sure thing- a hard-working, two-way player and one that would be an asset for a considerable time with a very team-friendly contract.
None of that worked out, which is why you never know when a trade is going to work out or not.

Iman Shumpert goes to Sacramento after playing in just fourteen games this season and playing less than twenty minutes a night.
Shumpert had knee surgery in the offseason and never found a role in this year's rotation.
Shumpert saves the Cavaliers eleven million on the cap for next season as he had a player option, which he almost definitely will activate.
Shumpert at one time was a terrific defender, but knee injuries have slowed him down and at 27, Shumpert appears to be on the downside of his career.

After all of that shuffling, what has happened to the Cavaliers for the stretch run?
Cleveland has gotten better in the locker room, although Channing Frye and Dwyane Wade will be missed and haven't been part of the problem (Frye, in fact, has been given a large amount of credit for being one of the few players that have kept things together as much as they were).
They also have gotten younger (Clarkson, Hood, and Nance are all 25), more athletic and more versatile as well.
They should be better defensively with what Nance brings to the interior defense, having the ability to guard all three frontcourt positions and Hill has shown the ability in the past to guard both the one and two.

Is it perfect?
No, but few things are, still, Koby Altman was able to make his team younger, quicker and more stable for both the immediate and longer-term- LeBron James or not...

Cavaliers keeping the core!

Dan Gilbert promised that the best was yet to come for the Cleveland Cavaliers and that money was not going to get in the way of that destination.

Cleveland found themselves off to a fast start with the re-signing of Kevin Love and Iman Shumpert to long-term deals and it looked as if Tristan Thompson was going to added to the fold on the same day as well before an apparent monkey wrench has resulted in no current agreement,although talks are continuing.

The big news is the signing of Kevin Love to a max contract for five years and 110 million and ending the last year of speculation (including mine) of whether Love was a long term Cavalier and was the loss of Andrew Wiggins worth the potential of a one year rental.
Love's retention (and Shumpert as well) makes the Cavaliers a realistic title contender for the next few seasons and removes the speculation from the media that followed the team for the last year.
That alone has to improve the team from a morale standpoint not having to answer the various questions spun off the same theme and could result in a more relaxed atmosphere.
Love gives the Cavaliers the frontcourt scoring option that was so sorely missing against Golden State and allows Timofey Mozgov and Tristan Thompson (assuming he re-signs) room to roam in the paint.
This move alone allows Cleveland to continue to contend....

Iman Shumpert's four year contract for ten million per year (year four is at Shumpert's option) gives the Cavaliers a shutdown level defender that can defend both small forwards and shooting guards.
Shumpert might be a player that fits better in a role on a winning team more than a key player on a lesser team and the salary paid Shumpert seems more reasonable than the contract that the Spurs gave Danny Green on the same day.
Shumpert should plug in as a starter,but could also come off the bench,if the personnel dictates.

Tristan Thompson looked close to a five year deal for eighty million dollars,but the reports are currently that the pair are still a little apart.
Thompson did play well last season,but keep in mind that he is a one-tool player right now and is still rolling into his offensive game.
I'm all for the Cavaliers retaining Thompson,but keep in mind that the more expensive that he is,the less money that Cleveland will have to spend on shooters and a badly needed veteran point guard.

Mike Miller picked up his player option for next season as expected.
A few million to basically practice and hardly play is a pretty cushy job and Miller figured to add the
option to stick around..

Planning on a Friday podcast,so stay tuned....

Cavaliers pull three way trade

Minutes before last night's loss to the Philadelphia 76ers,the Cleveland Cavaliers made a trade that left them with just eight players for the game in Philly,but hopefully will fill in some holes on the roster to sit things straight for when players return from injury.

The Cavaliers sent the mercurial Dion Waiters to Oklahoma City and bench depth players Alex Kirk and Lou Amundsen to the New York Knicks,while the Cavaliers added Iman Shumpert and J.R.Smith from the Knicks and a top 18 protected first round pick from the Thunder.
The Thunder also added a Knicks bench player in Lance Thomas,while New York also obtained a 2019 second rounder from Cleveland.

First,lets talk about what the Cavaliers lost in Dion Waiters.
In my opinion,Waiters is a me first guy that has to have the ball in his hands to be successful and might best be suited to be a 25 point scorer on a .500 or lower team.
Waiters has always struck me as being happier scoring 30 points and losing than 12 and winning.
I don't know that obviously,but that is the feeling that one gets by watching him.
I was lukewarm on the Cavaliers taking him to begin with despite his talent because he appeared that way in his college years at Syracuse,let alone his later NBA years.
Waiters seemed disinterested in defense and never seemed to settle in as a supporting player either early in his Cavalier tenure with Kyrie Irving nor currently with LeBron James.
Waiters was thought by many (myself included) as a best fit as an offensive sixth man where Waiters could lead a second team where he could have the ball in his hands more often as the focal point of that group.
That really hadn't panned out for the most part and I do think that it was time for the Cavaliers to make a move with Waiters...

The additions to Cleveland are interesting as well with Iman Shumpert and J.R.Smith joining the Cavaliers.
Shumpert is considered the key to the deal despite being injured at the current time with a shoulder issue that he is expected to return from soon....
Shumpert gives the Cavaliers a good fit on the wing with a player that can defend shooting guards very well and some small forwards.
The athletic 6'5 Shumpert brings the backcourt an excellent defender with someone that can finish on the break.
Shumpert has had two less than strong seasons after an strong rookie year,so a change of scenery could just what he needs to return to form.

J.R.Smith is known mainly for two things- Outside shooting and a personality that brings the term "locker room lawyer" to mind.
Supposedly,LeBron James was consulted on adding a player with Smith's reputation and gave the okay to add Smith to the trade.
Smith's outside shot should help a team without a offensive threat off the bench and with the right attitude,Smith could be a huge steal...

Cleveland adding the Thunder's 1st rounder (protected through 18) might help the Cavaliers in working on obtaining the center/"rim protector" that the team has badly needed all season.
Not saying that will get this done,but it adds another chip to the table.

My thoughts on the trade?
The Cavaliers could have addition by subtraction here as J.R.Smith brings better shooting and Iman Shumpert brings better defensive skills than Dion Waiters and the Cavaliers have improved their depth at least.
If J.R.Smith comes in with the right attitude,he could prove to be very helpful off the bench and Shumpert is a much needed help on the defensive end,so this could be huge.
I also think that Dion Waiters could struggle in Oklahoma City for the same reasons that he didn't get the most of his ability in Cleveland,so this could be a huge upgrade.

There is risk here,but the Cavaliers needed a little shakeup right now and this has the chance to be a move that sets some chemistry issues in order.