Cleveland trade

[JoeyBoy718]

I just heard about this today. Apparently some of it happened a few days ago. I'm still trying to figure out the details. Please give them if you have them. Here's what NBA.com says:

Cleveland traded Dion Waiters
to OKC for a 1st round pick
Then used that pick to trade to the Nuggets
for center Timofey Mozgov

Cleveland also traded two nobodies
Lou Amundson and Alex Kirk
along with a 2nd round pick
to the Knicks
for JR Smith and Iman Shumpert




I keep reading that it was a lopsided desperation trade for the Cavs, but it seems like a great trade to me. I'm still waiting on those details though. I don't really see the value in draft picks in the NBA unless they're top 3-5 overall picks. Also, although Dion Waiters is a good player, it was well known that he wasn't a great fit in Cleveland.

So to basically trade Dion Waiters for three players who will contribute every night, I think it's a great trade for Cleveland.

 

[JoeyBoy718]

I might have the details a little off. I'm just going by the NBA.com Transactions page. The Smith/Shumpert trade happened about 3 days ago and the Mozgov one happened yesterday I believe. Dion Waiters to OKC for the 1st round pick was part of the Knicks/Thunder trade. I also think the two nobody players were too. I don't know what was involved in the Mozgov trade. I read an article that said it was two 1st round picks. Either way, my point stands: Dion Waiters, two nobodies, and a few picks that wouldn't have produced any good players during the LeBron era for three guys who will play a key role. I think it's worth it.

 

[Manwiththeplan]

As a knicks fan who is pretty familiar with Shumpert, Smith and Mosgov (dealt for Melo), I think these wereall good moves by Cleveland. Waiters didn't fit offensively, since you can't have a ball dominant guard play with Lebron AND Kyrie. Shumpert will fit much better due to his defensive ability and he doesn't feel the need to shoot nearly as much. JR Smith will be interesting, but he has shown in the past he is willing to come off the bench, but paying his salary, whether thy use him or not, was worth getting Shumpert and the pick that helped them land Mosgov.

 

[jterrell]

You knew CLE was gonna make changes before the trade deadline.
That was the largest guarantee entering the season.
The fact is they were able to do quite a lot and still have Haywood's very valuable expiring 10m deal.

CLE had to have a defensive center. Giving two 1sts for him is a lot but when Varajao went down they had no choice at all.

JR Smith is oddly a good addition for a CLE team that needed a scoring 6th man who can play while LBJ sits and also stretch the floor.

CLE is fortunate to be in the East. They can tinker basically all year and make the playoffs.
In the West they'd be trying to collect more ping pong balls.

 

[jterrell]

As a knicks fan who is pretty familiar with Shumpert, Smith and Mosgov (dealt for Melo), I think these wereall good moves by Cleveland. Waiters didn't fit offensively, since you can't have a ball dominant guard play with Lebron AND Kyrie. Shumpert will fit much better due to his defensive ability and he doesn't feel the need to shoot nearly as much. JR Smith will be interesting, but he has shown in the past he is willing to come off the bench, but paying his salary, whether thy use him or not, was worth getting Shumpert and the pick that helped them land Mosgov.

Yea, Shumpert is a really good fit and along-term piece of the puzzle. He immediately becomes the best wing defender and ball pressure guy. And he takes very few shots or very seldom has the ball.
Irving
Shump
LBJ
Love
Mozgov
is actually a workable starting 5. 2 defensive stalwarts(Shump/Mozgov), 2 offensive stalwarts(Irving/LBJ), a couple rebounders(Love/LBJ).

Thompson and JR Smith are nice 6th and 7th man types.

They've got to work out the full bench rotation and add at least one more piece tho.
And they've got to figure out how to execute on offense and defense in the final 5 minutes of games.