J.R. Smith/Shumpert to Cavs, Dion Waiters to Thunder, 2nd rounder to Knicks

[benji]

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/12125 ... ty-thunder

The Cleveland Cavaliers, New York Knicks and Oklahoma City Thunder engineered a multi-faceted six-player trade Monday night, sources told ESPN.com.

As part of the deal, Dion Waiters will go to the Thunder, J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert would go to the Cavs and three players with nonguaranteed contracts -- Alex Kirk and Lou Amundson from the Cavs and Lance Thomas from the Thunder -- would go to the Knicks. As part of the deal, the Thunder are sending a protected future first-round pick to the Cavs and the Cavs are sending their 2019 second-round pick to the Knicks, sources said.

Sources told ESPN the [Knicks] will also waive center Samuel Dalembert, a move that will save $3.8 million.

Sources indicate Cavs plan to use first-round pick they receive from Thunder as part of different trade for big man.

[zz21]

[JAWSFreelao]

The Thunder got Waiters for practically nothing. Great deal for OKC, even if I have to question how the Jackson-Waiters pairing is going to work out.
The Cavs got something good for cents on the dollar, I love this deal. Shump starts for defensive purposes, and Smith comes off the bench (in the 20-18 minute range, if I had to guess- due to his worsening play, of course). Basically they replace Waiters with a streakier and more experienced Waiters.
The Knicks got robbed, plain and simple. If they honestly think a Free-Agent (not some D-Leaguer just looking for a chance) legitimately wants to be there, they're delusional. The city is fantastic, but the Knicks are LOSERS, and nobody wants to join a loser.

[ThePointForward]

So Knicks are clearing cap space...

They are going to offer Joel Anthony max contract this summer!

On a more serious note: Thunder wins. They gave up (most likely) next year's late 1st round pick and a guy that didn't practically play for Waiters.
Cavs got what they probably wanted. Just a few days after LeBron said that he won't hesitate to leave again if the team fails this trade happened.
And Knicks right now sucks, so maybe they just want to get out of paying luxury tax?

[JAWSFreelao]

Joel Anthony FTW @ Dommy73,

[ThePointForward]

didn't have enough time nor proper tools, so don't hate too much

[JAWSFreelao]

Anddd he's already better than anyone the Knicks have at Power Forward.

[NovU]

Good for the Knicks. They finally pull the plug on JR Smith experiment and decide to tank. Notice they're encouraging Carmelo to sit out for remaining season even when he allegedly wants to keep on playing. It looks like winner in this scenario is young guys like Hardaward Jr and Early who could use some minutes to develop their game at NBA level. Unfortunately though their ceiling doesn't seem to be that high and they probably want that high end draft pick more from tanking.

As for the Thunder, Waiters will be disastrous for them. He was taking more shots than LBJ, Love, and Irving when he was on the court. This would have been good if he was hitting at near league average percentile. But nope, he sucks, he's just an inefficient chucker. The Thunder fans are deluded if they think he can actually help the team.

As for the Cavaliers, getting rid of Waiters is actually addition by subtraction. It's nice that they got rid of him and got Iman Shumpert. JR Smith has that potential to be the scoring spark off the bench too which they didn't have before(NO, Waiters wasn't). Now if they can land Hassan Whiteside, Koufos, or Mozgov, they are set.

[Kevin]

I actually think OKC kind of "won" here since they swapped "nothing for something".

[Kumode]

NY Knicks - cleared much needed cap space for off-season, which is a great move.
Cleveland Cavaliers - got rid of bad fit for their team and got 2 exciting players to help their bench, which is a great move.
OKC - got a potential scorer, which could be big, if coaching staff takes right approach to him.

[Mandich]

WHOAAA !!

I'm really sad Shumpert left NY. This was really a good deal for each team.

[JAWSFreelao]

The problem is- who wants to play with Melo? All that cap space will go to waste unless they do the Dallas plan- shoot for the stars, but when that fails, go for the lower-tier stars (O.J Mayo, Monta Ellis to name two).
The Knicks shoot high and get disappointed all the time it seems.

[Stress Fracture]

Waiters to OKC just means that the "steal" of the Harden trade sucks big time.

Now if Jackson can just convince Dolan to sell the team........

[JAWSFreelao]

Lol Lamb is one-dimensional. What a waste huh?

[Mandich]

I would still call Lamb a fairly talented player. At least they got so ething for Harden rather than letting him walk off.

[JAWSFreelao]

He's talented at what he does, but I am somewhat disappointed in his development. Even if it may be through circumstance, I still hoped he would at least become a respectable defensive player.

[I Hate Mondays]

You guys think this will kill Reggie Jackson or help him take up his game ?

[JAWSFreelao]

This will kill him. I really do. Disappointing I suppose...
Random thought: Cavs need to poach John Henson away from the Bucks who aren't even using him at all.

[Kevin]

I dont think so. Brooks trusts Jackson way too much, but I heard Waiters got the nod to be a starter.

[JAWSFreelao]

Really? I thought he said Roberson would start BUT Waiters would get the bulk of the minutes at the position.

[Andrew]

I wonder if Phil Jackson took a look at what Stan Van Gundy did with Josh Smith in Detroit, and figured that addition by subtraction might start the Knicks on a better path. It's a shame for them that they had to give up Shumpert to make it happen, but Smith's career year really seems to have been a flash in the pan as far as being a dependable sixth man. Talent-wise, they get the worst of this trade, but it might be best for them in the long run.

Do they really want to shut down Melo for the season, though? I mean, I can understand wanting to protect their investment, but I don't think that's the kind of culture you want to build and encourage. Melo has his faults, but if he wants to play through a difficult season rather than sit it out and just collect his salary, more power to him. That's commendable.

The Cavs are kind of in a holding pattern until LeBron gets back. I think they'll come out of the trade alright, but it's difficult not to expect some dysfunction with Smith on board.

It remains to be seen how well Waiters will fare in Oklahoma City, but I agree that it's essentially a "something for nothing" trade, so it was worth rolling the dice on.

[NovU]

You guys think this will kill Reggie Jackson or help him take up his game ?

Unfortunately the Thunder have been silently killing Reggie from awhile back. From rotoworld:

The Thunder have done their best to distance themselves from Jackson and by adding Dion Waiters via trade on Monday they're taking an interesting risk. They've also been known to underplay their young assets in an attempt to control the free agency market, so there appears to be a lot going against Jackson right now.

Waiters is a really shitty player. He won't deserve PT but the Thunder will try forcing him into a rotation which will backfire. Sooner they realize this better they will become. Whether anyone like it or not, Reggie Jackson is the only real deal off the bench. Rest are garbage including Lamb and Perkins, and especially Waiters.

[benji]

but Smith's career year really seems to have been a flash in the pan as far as being a dependable sixth man.

He's been pretty good in that role for a number of years. 2013 was Manu style trickery where he played starter minutes (first on the team in minutes!) but just never started.

Do they really want to shut down Melo for the season, though? I mean, I can understand wanting to protect their investment, but I don't think that's the kind of culture you want to build and encourage. Melo has his faults, but if he wants to play through a difficult season rather than sit it out and just collect his salary, more power to him. That's commendable.

Why risk your investment when the teams going to lose like 65 games and the goal will be to see if they can pluck anything useful out of the dregs of the league and d-league?

They should play a Acy-Hardaway-Calderon-Prigioni-Larkin lineup just to confuse the hell out of whoever they're playing against that night. Then substitute with Kirk-Smith-Bargs-Aldrich-Amare.

[JAWSFreelao]

I think Smith needs to start attacking the basket again; He gets too jumper-happy, which is why he's not scoring in bunches anymore. I love J.R, despite his faults, and I think LeBron will reach him in a way that the selfish bastard/coach killer known as Carmelo Anthony never could.

[[Q]]

I think Smith needs to start attacking the basket again; He gets too jumper-happy

LIES. I saw a clip of him passing up a wide-open 3 and hit Jason Smith in the head with a pass because no one in the world thought he was passing out of that.