Bench Life Sports

In: Jordan Clarkson, George Hill, Rodney Hood, Larry Nance Jr., “Heavily Protected” 2nd round pick

Out: Jae Crowder, Channing Frye, Derrick Rose, Iman Shumpert, Isaiah Thomas, Dwyane Wade, 2018 first-round pick, 2020 second-round pick

That amount of turnover in player personnel would be significant if it were a full offseason’s worth of changes, but it’s actually just what the Cleveland Cavaliers managed to do yesterday in about an hour total prior to the NBA’s trade deadline. It’s kind of ridiculous how one team could steal the deadline so dramatically, but they did, and obviously it was LeBron’s team that was behind it all.

Here’s a quick recap of the deals themselves and the implications that come along with them. In brackets are the times that the deals were first announced by Yahoo Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski.

Isaiah Thomas, Channing Frye and the Cavaliers 2018 1st round pick in exchange for Larry Nance Jr. and Jordan Clarkson (12:05pm):

The first WojBomb to drop. The key player (Thomas) the Cavs received in the Kyrie Irving deal is gone after suiting up for just 15 games in a Cavs uniform. Thomas never looked like himself in Cleveland, and he appeared to be one of the main sources behind the infighting with this team.

Channing Frye has had his moments in recent years as a solid off the bench shooter, but he is 34 and not very relevant anymore. Both Thomas and Frye are unrestricted free agents come seasons end.

The Cavs get younger and more athletic in picking up Clarkson and Nance. Both attributes that they hope will help improve their awful, 29th ranked defensive rating.

From a Lakers perspective, this can really be boiled down to them dealing Nance and Clarkson for a 1st round pick and cap space to gun for a superstar(s) in free agency. This is because I can’t see a reason why they’d be interested in re-signing either of Thomas or Frye to an extended deal.

Rodney Hood and George Hill to Cleveland; Joe Johnson, Iman Shumpert and a 2nd round pick (CLE via MIA) to Sacramento; Jae Crowder and Derrick Rose (to be waived) to Utah (12:58pm):

By far the biggest deal of the day. At this point players were being thrown around like ping pong balls at a Friday night beer pong tournament. One of these guys is currently injured and has been basically all season (Shumpert), two will likely – or are – going to being waived (Rose and Johnson) and Jae Crowder simply has a new home. As for the Cavs, they get a veteran point guard in Hill that should help defensively and he is set to make $18 million through 2019-20 (ouch). They also get probably the most impactful player in the trade (not saying much) in the form of Rodney Hood. Hood’s pretty fragile when it comes to injuries, but I guess he can add a decent scoring punch from the wing,. He’ll probably start too.

Dwyane Wade to Miami in exchange for a “heavily protected” 2nd round pick (1:06):

This to me seems like nothing more than an act of goodwill towards Wade from the Cavs front office. Their return was almost non-existent, but they essentially clear a roster spot, clear some cap-space and get a little younger in the process while Wade likely gets to sail off into the sunset with the team he’s built up a Hall of Fame worthy resume with. Definitely the feel good deal of the deadline.

Verdict: The Cavs improved but the American media is still infuriating

Why do we constantly give these talking heads the time of day? They think that in a snap the Cavs are the team to beat again? They can’t be serious. It appears that their main arguments are that “they brought in guys that are comfortable in their roles” and “they got rid of the drama in the locker room”. I’d like to see some results on the court before we get ahead of ourselves. Again, they’re role players, not impact stars. This is not in the same universe as a Kevin Love acquisition. Who’s to know right now what happens with this team?

“But it’s LeBron James’ team, they’re always a threat”. Well I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but he’s been there all year, they haven’t played good basketball and are 6.5 and 7.5 games back of the Raptors and Celtics. Certainly not his fault, but it is a reality. So why are they being vaulted to the top automatically? I honestly don’t have an answer. Sure, I’ll admit that by the looks of things they have improved their roster. But “best in the east”, “100% better” and “Eastern Conference favourites again” is excessive. Never would I have thought guys like Hill, Hood, Nance Jr. and Clarkson could shift the landscape of the NBA. I had to contain my laughter typing that.

I’m a salty Raptors fan right now, I hate how they’re constantly disrespected. Shannon Sharpe actually called them the “baby dinosaurs”. I also hate the Celtics, but they’re still better than the Cavs too. Bottomline, if you’re a Cavs fan just chill out, or get a George Hill jersey so I can laugh at you, because the Raptors are still making the finals with or without Bruno Caboclo. Book it.