How the Cleveland Cavaliers revamped culture after James Harden trade
By Tony Pesta
Cleveland Cavaliers rebuild: Trades and signings
The Cavs revamped their entire culture seemingly out of nowhere. However, for those paying close attention, the franchise has been steadily working towards this outcome since before LeBron James even left for Los Angeles.
At the time, trading Kyrie Irving for an injured Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder, Ante Zizic and a single first-round pick felt like a fleecing. The Boston Celtics walked away with a perennial superstar, while the Cavaliers wound up moving Thomas and Crowder at the deadline of that season anyway.
But, nearly four years later, the only really jarring thing about this trade in hindsight is the lack of draft compensation Cleveland got in return. By today’s standards, a talent like Irving is worth a minimum of three first round draft picks. However, the precedent for unloading draft picks for a star wasn’t fully set – and the Cavaliers weren’t invested in a rebuild with LeBron James still under contract.
Still, the Cavaliers managed to snag a future top-10 pick which then became Collin Sexton. Seeing as how he’s become the team’s de facto leader on offense, I’d say this was a win for Cleveland. As for the other assets acquired from Boston, Cleveland relentlessly flipped each player until indirectly ending the initial deal with Andre Drummond, Jarrett Allen, Larry Nance Jr. and Taurean Prince.
The front office has shown no hesitation to trade expendable players for the sake of building a brighter future. This tactic has worked out, with each new member of the team certain to play a key role moving forward.
In particular, Nance, Prince and Allen should become longstanding pieces to the rebuild. Nance’s versatility has been on full display, while Prince’s two-way capabilities should help him fit right in on the wing. Lastly, Allen will effectively act as the replacement for Drummond, assuming he is either traded or leaves at the end of his contract.
Aside from trades, the front office has also signed players with glimmers of promise such as the athletic forward Lamar Stevens and a semi-reliable shooter in Dean Wade. Don’t forget the free agency signing of veteran JaVale McGee, who has proven to be an important factor in the locker room as well as on the floor in short spurts.