Cavs remake roster in stunning fashion
CLEVELAND» With their NBA title hopes fading fast, the Cavaliers got aggressive at the trading deadline.
They swapped teams. Cleveland completely changed its look — and perhaps its chances of winning a championship this season — with a stunning sequence of deals Thursday. Cavs general manager Koby Altman traded six players, including Isaiah Thomas, Dwyane Wade and Derrick Rose, and two future draft picks in moves designed to not only help them in the short term but potentially help keep LeBron James beyond this season.
Just like that, the Cavs traded nearly half their roster, got younger and maybe wedged themselves back into contention to make a fourth straight Finals appearance against Golden State.
After a long day that left him “numb,” Altman said his main objective in making the deals was to alter the chemistry of a team that was no longer playing with joy.
“We were really worried that what was going on the floor and
NBA trades Thursday not involving the Nuggets
• Cavaliers send Isaiah Thomas, Channing Frye and a first-round draft pick to the Lakers for Jordan Clarkson and former Wyoming star Larry Nance Jr. • Cavaliers send Derrick Rose and Jae Crowder to the Jazz and Iman Shumpert and a 2020 second-round pick to the Kings; Jazz sends Rodney Hood to the Cavaliers; Kings send George Hill to the Cavs, acquire Joe Johnson from the Jazz.
• Cavaliers send Dwyane Wade to the Heat for a protected 2024 secondround draft pick.
• Pelicans send Dante Cunningham to the Nets for Rashad Vaughn.
• Trail Blazers send Noah Vonleh to the Bulls for Milovan Rakovic. • Pistons send Willie Reed to the Bulls for Jameer Nelson.
• Grizzlies send James Ennis to the Pistons for Brice Johnson and a 2022 second-round draft pick.
• Raptors send Bruno Caboclo to Kings for guard Malachi Richardson. • Magic sends Elfrid Payton to Suns for 2018 second-round pick. sort of our culture in the building that we were marching a slow death and we didn’t want to be a part of that,” he said on a conference call. “So with the window we have with LeBron and with this team, we figured it was time to do something to re-energize the group but also to have sustainability going into the future.”
Watching from the West Coast, the defending league champions took notice.
“It’s interesting, really interesting,” Warriors forward Draymond Green said of Cleveland’s drastic midseason renovation. “It’s probably obviously something that they felt was needed. I feel like they made some good moves. I don’t know, we’ll see. A lot of action. That’s a completely different team now than the team we faced the last three years.
“They’ve still got LeBron James. I think everything else at that point is irrelevant.”
The Cavs began their shocking overhaul by sending the disappointing Thomas along with for- ward Channing Frye and one of their two first-round draft picks to the Los Angeles Lakers for point guard Jordan Clarkson and forward Larry Nance Jr.
Thomas, who came over in last summer’s blockbuster trade with Boston for Kyrie Irving, played in just 15 games and wasn’t fitting in with Cleveland on or off the floor after he returned from a hip injury.
As the Thomas swap was being digested around the league, the Cavs completed a three-team deal with Utah and Sacramento, said a person with direct knowledge of Cleveland’s moves. The Cavs sent Rose, who has also been slowed by injury, and forward Jae Crowder to the Jazz for forward Rodney Hood. The Cavaliers received guard George Hill from the Kings in exchange for guard Iman Shumpert, said the person who spoke on condition of anonymity while the teams awaited league approval.
And if all that wasn’t enough, the Cavs then dealt Wade to Miami for a protected 2024 secondround pick. It’s a homecoming for the 36-year-old Wade, who played 13 seasons in Miami, winning three NBA titles.