Cleveland Cavaliers: What their involvement in the James Harden trade means

The Cleveland Cavaliers involved themselves in the James Harden trade. So what are they doing and why is it the absolute right call?

The Brooklyn Nets and the Houston Rockets have been working on a blockbuster trade for James Harden over the last couple of months and Wednesday they finally looped in the Cleveland Cavaliers and Indiana Pacers to get the deal done.

For the Cavaliers, this trade was both positive and somewhat confusing. Boiling it down to just their involvement looks like this:

Looking at overall talent this is a clear win for the Cavaliers. They will part ways with Thon Maker and Yogi Farrell to facilitate the deal but that is not a problem. The fit right now is complicated but ultimately that should not matter. The reality is the Cavs are not truly competing this season for anything meaningful so finding pieces for the future is the overarching goal.

Andre Drummond has been quite good for the Cavaliers but he is an expiring contract and not on the timeline of their young guards. He just turned into a trade chip given the addition of one of the brightest young centers in the entire NBA.

Jarrett Allen has the makings of a legitimate star in the making. Thus far this season he is only playing 26.7 minutes per game while posting career highs in points (11.2), rebounds (10.4), assists (1.7) and blocks (1.6). He is doing this while attempting the least amount of shots per game in his career. His role should increase in Cleveland immediately with Andre Drummond out and will only go up from there when he is eventually moved.

All of a sudden the Cavaliers have a collection of promising young players. Darius Garland (20), Collin Sexton (22), Allen (22), Kevin Porter (20) and rookie Isaac Okoro (19) are the highlights. Garland, Sexton and Okoro have shown quite a bit in this young season and should only do better as they all get back on the court together. Allen pairing with Okoro on defense even adds to something on the other side of the ball for a change.

Taurean Prince is an underrated part of this team. Still only 26, he is a solid wing defender and is a career 36.6 percent shooter from long range. He can provide some much needed spacing to a team full of big men.

Ultimately, the Cleveland Cavaliers roster is still a work in progress. Like many rebuilding teams, they have finally done the all-important action of choosing a direction. There is no reason to compete for the play-in this season when they can transition into a collection of young, potential All-Stars all under the age of 22. They could possibly be choosing to race to the bottom of the standing for one final time in a loaded draft, possibly targeting one of the elite wing talents at the top to fill out their future starting five.

That being said, they are undoubtedly better than they were a few hours ago and only had to give up a future Milwaukee Bucks draft pick to do so. They will continue to be one of the fun young stories to keep an eye on in a league presently focused on star building and safety protocols. The future is starting to take shape in northeast Ohio. For the first time since LeBron James left three seasons ago the future is looking bright.