Cavaliers get major overhaul with flurry of deadline deals
From Isaiah Thomas to Dwyane Wade and Derrick Rose, the Cleveland Cavaliers loaded up on big names last summer.
None will be there if the Cavaliers get back to the NBA Finals.
In what felt like an unprecedented do- over for a contending team, the Cavaliers simply changed the pieces that weren’t fitting for new ones on Thursday at the trade deadline.
Fans who usually marvel at LeBron James were instead praising his general manager, as Koby Altman used a series of swaps to strengthen a sputtering team and leave open the possibility for more moves.
Cavs’ fans probably had the most fun, and for good reason. Cleveland was the story Thursday .
The Cavaliers acquired Jordan Clarkson and Larry Nance Jr. in the deal with Los Angeles, which also got Channing Frye and a firstround pick from Cleveland.
George Hill came from Sacramento and Rodney Hood from Utah as the Cavaliers dealt away Rose, Wade, Jae Crowder and Iman Shumpert changing nearly half their rotation.
All that wheeling-and-dealing stole headlines even with nearly two-thirds of the league making deals.
“We were really worried that what was going on the floor and sort of our culture in the building that we were marching a slow death andwe 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.”
The Los Angeles Lakers were the other newsmakers on deadline day though their moves were to try to win this summer, not this season. Their deal with the Cavaliers, in which they acquired Thomas, got them out of future salary and set themselves up to offer perhaps two maximum contracts in free agency.
“This is what I came here to do, was to create flexibility for our organization,” Lakers president Magic Johnson said, “so that one daywe can have a superstar or two come to this organization with our incredible young talent that we have, that we will continue to grow.”
Wade returned to Miami.
“The fact that he decided to come off the bench in Cleveland has minimized and also limited his opportunities to do certain things that he has always been capable of doing, so I would imagine he would morph right back into the role of being a scorer, a front-line scorer for us, a crunch-time scorer for us, a defender on the ball in niche situations,” Heat president Pat Riley said.
Most of the moves outside Cleveland on Thursday were minor.
Some players traded Thursday were immediately waived. Players who are on NBA rosters have to bew aived by March 1 to be eligible to play for another team in the postseason.
That means the highspending contenders can try to add talent without giving any up by signing veterans those took buyouts to become free agents. Boston did that Thursday when it signed Greg Monroe, and teams who have open roster spots will surely be watching to see if players such as Tyreke Evans or Joe Johnson become available in the coming days.
There were some teams that didn’t want towait and did some tinkering Thursday.
• Detroit, unbeaten since acquiring Griffin from the Clippers, acquired point guard Jameer Nelson from Chicago. The Denver Nuggets brought in Devin Harris and sent out Emmanuel Mudiay in a three-team trade with New York that landed Doug McDermott in Dallas.
• DeAndre Jordan remained with the Clippers, and Evans didn’t get a trade out of Memphis.
MONROE SIGNS WITH CELTICS » Boston signed free agent center Greg Monroe in their lone move at the trade deadline. Monroe was waived last week by Phoenix after being traded from Milwaukee in November. He is averaging 10.4 points and 7.4 rebounds this season. WALKER AN ALL- STAR » Charlotte guard Kemba Walker has been picked to replace the injured Kristaps Porzingis in the All-Star Game. Commissioner Adam Silver selected Walker for the opening on Team LeBron that was created when Porzingis tore his left ACL.