The Cleveland Cavaliers made multiple last-minute trades to enhance their lineup in preparation for the playoffs with a little over two months left. This left many NBA experts and analysts wondering if the Cavs can manage to create a better team around LeBron James in time before the playoffs.
Multiple trades
In multiple tweets posted by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, he revealed the trade moves made by the Cavaliers. When talks to bring Kemba Walker to Cleveland fell apart, the Los Angeles Lakers made a straight deal with the Cavs that will send Jordan Clarkson and Larry Nance, Jr.
In return, the Lakers will get Isaiah Thomas, Channing Frye, and the Cavs’ 2018 first-round pick.
In another trade that involved two other NBA teams, the Cavaliers got Rodney Hood from the Utah Jazz and George Hill from the Sacramento Kings. The Jazz got Jae Crowder and Derrick Rose while the Kings will have Joe Johnson and Iman Shumpert.
Meanwhile, Dwyane Wade’s dream to retire with the Heat may finally come true as the third trade deal sent him to Miami. In return, Cleveland will get a heavily protected second-round pick.
Dwyane Wade’s homecoming
At 36, Wade still remains as the Heat's all-time leader in several categories: points (20,221), assists (3,933), steals (1,414), and games played (855).
After being traded to the Chicago Bulls during the 2016-17 NBA season where he averaged 18.3 points in 60 games, Wade averaged a career-low 11.2 points in 46 games coming off the bench for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
A source close to the Cavaliers told Dave McMenamin of ESPN that the move was the right thing to do since Wade’s role would be greatly reduce with the arrival of Jordan Clarkson.
The source added that before the trade happened, Wade’s rep, Leon Rose, and LeBron James were consulted.
The failed Isaiah experiment
Some NBA analysts were surprised when Isaiah Thomas was traded. The 5’9” point guard was averaging 14.7 points, 2.1 rebounds and 4.5 assists in just 27.1 minutes. He started in 14 of 15 games he played as a Cav.
Yet Thomas’ agent, Aaron Goodwin, believes that leaving LeBron’s “ball-dominant” shadow is a good opportunity for the former Boston Celtics star point guard. “It's LeBron's ball, and this clearly wasn't working. Koby (Altman) and I have had enough conversations where it was clear, with the way the system was going, it wasn’t beneficial for either party,” Goodwin told Cleveland.com.
