Monday, the Cleveland Cavaliers reached an agreement to acquire New York Knicks guards J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert in a multi-team trade that also sends guard Dion Waiters to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Oklahoma City will give the Cavaliers a protected future first-round draft pick and send reserve guard Lance Thomas to the Knicks. The Cavaliers will send rookie center Alex Kirk, veteran reserve forward Lou Amundson, and a 2019 second-round pick to the Knicks.
The Knicks are also expected to waive center Samuel Dalembert. His contract would’ve become fully guaranteed for the season if he had remained on the roster through Wednesday.
At first glance the trade might seem a little uneven, but the reality is that all three teams come out of this better, with some issues addressed for both the short and long term.
How New York benefits: First and foremost, the Knicks are basically adding by subtracting. J.R. Smith has had a rocky road throughout his NBA career, and reportedly had worn out his welcome in New York. Team sources have indicated that the team is looking to change their culture to better suit the wishes of new team president Phil Jackson and first-year coach Derek Fisher. The Knicks also benefit financially, as dumping Smith’s salary combined with Dalembert’s waiving provides the team an additional $7 million in cap space this summer, giving them as much as $30 million to spend in free agency.
Although only two years removed from winning Sixth Man of the Year, Smith’s current averages of 10.9 points per game, 40.2 percent field goal shooting, and an 11.7 PER are all his worst since the 2005-2006 season. The influence and persona of LeBron James could certainly provide direction and guidance for Smith, and allow him to thrive in a more positive and controlled team environment with a contender.
The Knicks don’t receive any immediate help from acquiring Lance Thomas, but with their current season already in the trash, the best they can do is position themselves for the complete roster overhaul that is sure to come in the off-season. It appears that they have done just that.
How Cleveland benefits: The Cavs are also improving themselves by shedding a bad fit from their lineup. Dion Waiters put up impressive numbers in his first two seasons, but is currently averaging just 10.5 points per game on 40.4 percent shooting from the field and a dismal 25.6 percent from three-point range, while also exhibiting attitude problems at times this season. Waiters has simply struggled to fit in with the team since Kevin Love and LeBron James arrived to town.
This about sums it up:
Iman Shumpert’s arrival provides Cleveland a young replacement at shooting guard for Waiters. Shumpert is currently averaging 9.3 points per game on a career-high 40.9 percent field goal percentage to go along with 3.3 assists per game, also a career-high, although he has been out since separating his shoulder on Dec. 12th. An excellent perimeter defender, Shumpert’s skills on that end of the floor will provide the Cavs something at the position that they need even more than scoring.
J.R. Smith’s past attitude problems might serve as a red flag to a team who just dealt a player with some of the same issues, but the move to bring him to Cleveland would certainly not have occurred without approval from LeBron, so those concerns do not appear to be an issue. A change of scenery to go along with playing alongside arguably the best player in basketball might be just the things Smith needs to return to his past form. The Cavs stand to be the biggest winners in this trade if his production returns to a similar level from the 2012-13 season.
How Oklahoma City benefits: The Thunder gave up the least of the three teams by far. The draft pick may come back to bite them a bit, but the pick does have protections. The Thunder want to win right now, and with how competitive the Western Conference has become this season, this was a move they had to make. Lance Thomas was a solid backup, (5.1 points per game and 3.4 rebounds per game,) but he has no comparison to Waiters’ skill set and prior production.
Waiters has proven to be very effective before in Cleveland, and like J.R. Smith, he stands to gain a lot from a fresh start. He’s young, won’t likely command an extremely large contract next summer, and has an average-yet-improving defensive game that has upside with a team like the Thunder. He also provides some security coming off the bench if the Thunder end up having to part ways with guard Reggie Jackson, who becomes a free agent this summer.
Waiters’ shooting percentage has nowhere to go but up this season. If he buys into his bench roll, makes better shooting decisions, and meshes with the rest of the team, then his arrival will significantly bolster bench scoring, better positioning the Thunder to make up ground in the playoff race, and making them even more dangerous in the upcoming postseason. Not bad for only giving up a Lance Thomas.
