The Cavaliers shocked the NBA Thursday afternoon. If you were living under a rock, or recovering from Philadelphia’s Super Bowl Victory Parade, refer to the recap below.
Cavs Trade
Isaiah Thomas to the Lakers
Channing Frye to the Lakers
Dwayne Wade- back to Miami (Gabby expressed her joy)
Derrick Rose to the Utah Jazz
Jae Crowder to the Utah Jazz
Iman Shumpert to the Kings
2018 First Round Draft Pick to the Lakers
2020 Second Round Draft Pick to the Kings
Cavs Receive
Larry Nance Jr. from Lakers
Jordan Clarkson from Lakers
George Hill from the Kings
Rodney Hood from the Jazz
Protected second-round pick from Miami
After it was reported that LeBron lashed out on the Cavaliers’ execs for lack of front office production, the team did the best they could to move on from a roster that had not clicked all year. The Isaiah Thomas experience was short lived. Dwayne Wade is simply too old to be the difference maker he once was. Derrick Rose returned from injury. Jae Crowder hasn’t been the best fit. The veteran, Channing Frye, was simply a throw in. The team did forfeit a valuable first round pick. The Cavs trade the majority of their core roster and are left with Tristan Thompson, an injured Kevin Love and J.R. Smith as the center of this team. A lot of moves were made, but are the Cavs still contenders? The oldest team in the league simply got younger and talented youth is something that they lacked.
The Lakers were the true winners of this trade. They gain a proven scorer in Isaiah Thomas, and an actually point guard until Lonzo Ball comes back from injury, a proven knockdown shooter in Channing Frye and a first round draft pick in this year’s draft. The Los Angeles ballers also cleared cap space in order to go after two superstars in either the 2018 or 2019 summer. They have been keeping close tabs on King James and Paul George for a long time. In this day and age of the NBA, players are bound to go to anywhere in a blink of an eye.
