TRADE ALERT: The Cleveland Cavaliers Made Four Trades in One Day

Considering how the Cleveland Cavaliers have been having a pretty rough season. considered one of the best teams in the NBA just last season, the Cavaliers aren't even a top-five team in the league right now, as they currently sit with a 30-21 record on the season and with the 3rd seed in the Eastern Conference, just half a game ahead of the 4th seed Washington Wizards. They've struggled with inconsistency over the last few months and several players (Isaiah Thomas & Jae Crowder to name a few) have been woefully under-performing. It was clear changes they need to be made, and with the trade deadline being today, they needed to be made quickly. And they did. The day before the trade deadline, the Cavaliers made four separate trades, sending away six players and a first-round pick for four new players and a second-round pick. The Cavs sent Isaiah Thomas & Channing Frye to the Los Angeles Lakers for Jordan Clarkson and Larry Nance Jr., Derrick Rose & Jae Crowder to the Utah Jazz for Rodney Hood, Iman Shumpert to the Sacramento Kings for George Hill, and Dwyane Wade to the Miami Heat for a "heavily-protected" second round pick. Now, I'm going to go through every team and see what they got and how good I think the deals are.

Cleveland Cavaliers

Starting off with the biggest one, the Cavaliers made the biggest roster shift out of everyone in this trade, as they now have four new players on their roster that, as a Cavs fan, I hope can turn them back into a championship contender. The fallout from the Kyrie Irving trade has not been kind to Cleveland, as Isaiah Thomas has been awful since coming back from injury and Jae Crowder has been woefully under-performing. However, I think this trade has helped them out not just now, but for the future.

First off, we have George Hill, a player who is exactly what the Cavaliers needed right now. The Cavs are the second worst team in the entire NBA on the defensive end. They were already the 10th worst defensive team last season, and it just got worse this season. The addition of Hill provides a much needed defensive upgrade over Thomas, Derrick Rose, and Jose Calderon. Along with being a strong defender, Hill is a decent enough scorer and playmaker with career averages of 11.3 points and 3.3 assists per game. Hill didn't fit in well with the Sacremento Kings, but with two strong scorers in LeBron James & Kevin Love, this might be the exact team he needs to be on. Another strong addition that the Cavaliers made with these trades is Rodney Hood. Hood is having the best scoring season of his career right now, averaging 16.8 points per game on 42% shooting and 39% from three-point range. However, with Donovan Mitchell tearing it up right now, the Jazz didn't really need him and shipped him to the Cavaliers. As a much more reliable scoring option than J.R. Smith, Hood is a good addition to a team that seriously needed another scorer on the team. A concern, however, is that Hood is on the last year of his contract and could look elsewhere for more money, something the Cavaliers likely couldn't match right now.

Along with Hill & Hood, a good addition to the Cavs is Jordan Clarkson. Clarkson was a reliable player during his three and a half year run with the Lakers, averaging 14.3 points per game on 44% shooting and 33% three-point shooting. As a player capable of playing both point guard and shooting guard, having a two-way player could do great things for the Cavs. While the shooting guard spot is pretty full with Hood, Smith, and Kyle Korver, but he could easily slide into either a starting or backup point guard role. Lastly, the Cavaliers also added Larry Nance Jr., the son of former Cavalier and three-time all-star Larry Nance. Nance Jr. is in his third season in the league and is currently putting up the best numbers of his career, averaging 8.6 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 1.4 steals per game while shooting 60% from the field. Nance Jr. is a decent defender and at only 25, looks primed to become a strong part of the Cavaliers roster for years to come.

Los Angeles Lakers

You know...I don't really understand why the Lakers would accept this trade. Isaiah Thomas might have been an all-star last season, but his stats have taken such a huge dip, averaging barely over half the amount of points per game he averaged last season (28.9 last season to just 14.7 this season) and his shooting had dropped from 46% to 36% and his three-point shooting has gone from 38% to just 25%. It could be that he just needed a change in scenery, but with the Lakers seeming content with starting Lonzo Ball, you have to wonder if Thomas will be happy as a backup point guard, and with Thomas being in the final year of his contract, if he wants to stay a back-up for the near future. And that's even if the Lakers want to keep him after this season. Along with that move, swapping Larry Nance Jr. for Channing Frye was smart from a contract standpoint (Frye is also in the last year of his deal), but they did sacrifice a young prospect in Nance Jr. for a player almost 10 years older than him in Frye.

And lastly, there's the Cavaliers' first-round pick, which could potentially be the most valuable piece of the trade. That pick could land them Grayson Allen, who is projected to go in the late first round. While Allen has become a rather controversial player due to several instances of him tripping players on purpose, he is a quality player who could help the Lakers in the future. Allen is currently averaging 14.5 points, 4.4 assists, and 1.4 steals per game while shooting 43% from the field and 38% from three-point range. If he slides to their pick, the Lakers would be smart to take him. And there is the other benefit of clearing $13 million after this season when Thomas & Frye's contracts expire. The Lakers seem like top teams for top free agents like Paul George and even LeBron James potentially, and having more cap room certainly helps them make a run for them. However, there's no guarantee James opts out of his contract and if Oklahoma City Thunder keep playing good basketball. then George might want to stay with Russell Westbrook & Carmelo Anthony.
So basically, the Lakers gave up two solid players for a former all-star on a fall from grace so bad Roy Hibbert is feeling bad for him, a veteran who's not really that good, a pick that can potentially land them a potential draft steal, and cap room that could potentially land them a star free agent. From a potential standpoint, this trade looks fairly good for the Lakers, but for now, it's not great.

Utah Jazz

While he was a solid player for them, it was pretty clear that Rodney Hood was not going to be the top guy in Utah, especially after Donovan Mitchell decide to show up quicker than anyone expected. Hood is a solid scorer, but Mitchell is even better and is much better in other aspects of the game. And the additions they got for Hood are fairly good, especially from their point of view. Derrick Rose is obviously far from what he used to be at this point in his career, but he's still a decent player worthy of minutes if he can stay healthy. Rose is averaging 9.8 points on 44% shooting, but only 1.6 assists per game. He definetly shouldn't be starting (especially with how good Ricky Rubio has been lately) but he's still a decent back-up and an improvement over Raul Neto. Along with Rose, they also grabbed Jae Crowder in the trade...so there's that. I was pretty excited when Crowder got traded to Cleveland, but even I'll admit he was incredibly disappointing. His stats dropped across the board and his shooting was just average. A change scenery might be just what he needed, but he definitely wasn't working out in Cleveland. I could see Crowder potentially starting at either forward spot over Joe Ingles and Jonas Jerebko, but I wouldn't be surprised if he comes off the bench due to his slump of a season so far.

Sacramento Kings

The Sacramento Kings didn't really gain anything substantial in this trade, but they didn't really give up anything substantial either. George Hill was a solid player, but he didn't really fit in with the team in a productive way. On top of that, Hill obviously wasn't the point guard of the future for the Kings, De'Aaron Fox is, and this clears up more playing time for Fox. The Kings did add Iman Shumpert in this trade. Shumpert s a quality defender, but offensively he's not someone you want shooting. They also got Joe Johnson from the Utah Jazz, but they already have younger players like Bogdan Bogdanovic and Justin Jackson to play the positions Johnson plays. Like I said, nothing really changes for the Kings, they're still trash.

Miami Heat

Just like with Sacramento, the Miami Heat didn't really gain anything substantial from this, but for what they gave up, they got a great return. Two years after leaving the Heat for the Chicago Bulls, Dwyane Wade is back with the Heat following this trade, with the Cavaliers only receiving a heavily-protected second round pick. Wade is obviously a Miami Heat legend, winning three NBA Championships with the team, making 12 all-star appearances with the team, and is arguably the greatest player in the franchise's history. While he's no longer an all-star caliber player, he's still a solid addition to the team. Wade is currently averaging 11.2 points per game and is shooting 46% from the field and a career-best 33% from three-point range. Wade could easily slide into the starting role at shooting guard. or he could back up Wayne Ellington. Huh...never thought I'd ever say "Dwyane Wade can back-up Wayne Ellington." That just sounds weird. Anyway. solid move for the Heat.