A few big moves took place last night in the NBA. According to ESPN:
The Cleveland Cavaliers, New York Knicks and Oklahoma City Thunder engineered a multifaceted six-player trade Monday night.
As part of the deal, Dion Waiters goes to the Thunder, J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert go to the Cavs and three players with nonguaranteed contracts — Alex Kirk and Lou Amundson from the Cavs and Lance Thomas from the Thunder — join the Knicks. Also, the Thunder are sending a protected future first-round draft pick to the Cavs, who are sending their 2019 second-round pick to the Knicks.
The Thunder are sending a protected 2015 first-round pick to Cleveland in the deal. The Cavs will get the pick if it falls outside the top 18 this year or if it falls outside the top 15 in 2016 or ’17. If it doesn’t convey in any of those years, it will become two second-round picks, according to sources.
The Cavs are attempting to bolster their bench with the trade by adding Smith, a mercurial shooter, and Shumpert, who specializes in wing defense that the Cavs badly need. The Knicks had been attempting to trade both for some time.
Shumpert is currently out with a dislocated shoulder he suffered last month.
Team officials spoke with LeBron James about his willingness to play alongside Smith before executing the deal, sources said.
“We wish Dion the best as he continues his career with the Thunder and thank him for his effort and work here with the Cavaliers,” Cavs general manager David Griffin told reporters Monday night. “Dion is a talented player with potential ahead of him. Trades like this are always difficult to make because there are relationships and bonds built, and that was the case with Dion.
“At the same time, we’re very excited to welcome Iman and J.R. to Cleveland. With their size and versatility, we think both Iman and J.R. can help our team on both ends of the court, and we look forward to them joining us.”
If you ask me, this could be a big move for the Oklahoma City Thunder. Dion Waiters is a great scorer and give the Thunder a similar scoring attack to the one they had when James Harden was on the team. J.R. Smith could be a spark for the Cavs but I’m interested to see how they make minutes work. Who got the better end of this deal? Let us know below and stay tuned to HHS1987 for all your sports news.
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