The Cleveland Cavaliers are feeling good right now. They've won four in a row, including two straight since acquiring an entirely new cast of characters at the NBA's trade deadline last Thursday.
The Cavs overhauled their roster, dealing away a bunch of established, well-known vets (Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder, Iman Shumpert, Channing Frye, and Dwyane Wade) and receiving a bunch of young guys (Rodney Hood, Larry Nance Jr., and Jordan Clarkson) in addition to the seasoned guard George Hill. It was a crazy 24 hours for Cleveland.
ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, who had the scoop for every deal on Twitter seemingly as soon as it happened, has published an inside account of what happened that day. It's a phenomenal piece from one of the best NBA writers out there, and you can read it here.
As it turns out, things almost looked a lot different. The Cavs came very close to dealing for Clippers big man DeAndre Jordan, who surprisingly did not end up on a new team at the deadline. The potential deal involved Crowder, Frye, Shumpert, and the Cavs' 2018 first-round pick going to L.A. in exchange for Jordan.
The reason that deal fell through? L.A. didn't want to take on Shumpert's contract (he has $21 million remaining on it). The Clips also refused to take Tristan Thompson or J.R. Smith. All three players have underperformed and are playing on loaded contracts.
When it became increasingly clear that the parties weren't close to agreeing to a deal, Woj reports, Cleveland GM Koby Altman went back to pursuing a different deal with the other team in L.A. That's how we ended up with this trade and Thomas sporting the purple and yellow.
The report makes it clear that the Cavs were working with a bunch of different scenarios. At this point, Cleveland fans are certainly thrilled with how it all shook out—and Lakers fans are, too.
