NBA trade grades: Grading the four-team James Harden blockbuster trade
By Duncan Smith
Cleveland Cavaliers trade grade
Usually, in these multi-team blockbusters, the peripheral teams make out like bandits. The Cleveland Cavaliers were no exception, yielding control of the Bucks’ 2022 first-round pick, Dante Exum and some of Dan Gilbert’s cash and getting Taurean Prince and Jarrett Allen in the process.
Kurucs may or may not be a major piece of the rotation, but Jarrett Allen should be the starting center for the Cavaliers as soon as he touches down in Cleveland. What to do next with Andre Drummond becomes a compelling question for the team currently holding the league lead for centers on a roster, but that question is an easy one with Allen.
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The Cavs’ experience in this trade makes for an object lesson on how to utilize cap space to your advantage while rebuilding. Being able to leverage it in order to basically get free assets for nothing is a classic way to take advantage of teams desperate to make a deal happen, and they did it perfectly in this situation.
There’s not a thing wrong with this trade from the perspective of the Cleveland Cavaliers, it was a job well done for general manager Koby Altman and crew as they continue to build an exciting young team.