by Sam Lawler ’19, Staff Writer

February 8th marked a big day for the Cleveland Cavaliers. Starting on their Christmas Day loss against the Golden State Warriors, they were on a disastrous 7-12 skid. New acquisition Isaiah Thomas wasn’t fitting in well with the team. LeBron James’ main sidekick, Kevin Love, had broken his hand the previous week and was expected to be out for 6-8 weeks. And it looked like age was proving to be a problem for a Cavs team that was among the oldest in the NBA.

But on February 8th, a new hope was brought into Cleveland. The Cavs acquired Jordan Clarkson and Larry Nance Jr. from the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for Isaiah Thomas, Channing Frye, and Cleveland’s 2018 first-round pick. They also received Rodney Hood from the Utah Jazz and George Hill from the Sacramento Kings in a three-team deal in which Cleveland dealt Iman Shumpert, Jae Crowder, and Derrick Rose. The Cavaliers also parted ways with 36-year old shooting guard Dwyane Wade.

Of course, these deals were huge for Cleveland. Los Angeles was also heavily affected by the trade, but Sacramento and Utah both made just slight changes. Therefore, we’ll only be analyzing the deal for the Cavs and the Lakers.

Hood, Clarkson, and Nance Jr. are all 25 years of age, presenting a fresh change from older players such as Channing Frye (34 years old), Dwyane Wade (36), Isaiah Thomas (29), and Derrick Rose (29). Thomas, the last pick in the 2011 draft, and Rose, the first pick in the 2008 draft, were exciting acquisitions this summer for the Cavaliers given that Thomas was playing at an MVP-caliber level and Rose was a former MVP. But Thomas is having the least productive season of his career since his second year in the league, and Rose’s minutes and points averages were lower than any other year in his career. Hood, Clarkson, and Nance Jr. are all about to enter the primes of their careers, and, if LeBron James does decide to leave, they could all be good building blocks for Cleveland’s future. According to Spencer Josloff ‘19, I “think the trade was good for the Cavs because it made them younger and more athletic. There’s a lot of time left to evaluate the move, but since the trades were made, Cleveland has won 4 out of the 6 games they’ve played.”

The Lakers, on the other hand, cleared cap space by trading Jordan Clarkson, something they’ve been wanting to do for quite some time. Now that Clarkson’s contract is off the books, all the Lakers need to do to be able to sign two free agents to max contracts this summer is simply stretching Luol Deng’s monster contract. Lakers president of basketball operations, Magic Johnson, has hinted multiple times that he would like to pursue some marquee free agents this summer. The Lakers were even fined $500K for contacting Paul George’s agent, in hopes that the superstar would agree to sign with the Lakers this summer, coming back home to his hometown of Palmdale, California. Getting rid of Clarkson and Nance Jr., two exciting young stars for LA, was no doubt a tough move to make. But getting rid of all that cap space, along with receiving a first-round pick from Cleveland, was worth the heartache of seeing two fan favorites get traded. NA Junior Bridget Bowen says that seeing her favorite player, Jordan Clarkson, was sad, but she understands why the Lakers made the trade.

The most interesting part about this trade involves a player that could perhaps be affected the most by it: LeBron James. With his upcoming free agency looming, there have been constant rumors and speculation about where the 4-time MVP will land. There’s been a reported rift between him and the Cavaliers’ owner, Dan Gilbert. Lots of dysfunction has plagued the Cavs’ locker room thus far, resulting in them standing in just 3rd place in the Eastern Conference as of now. If the King wants to win a few more championships, the best chance of doing so may be by joining the Houston Rockets or San Antonio Spurs, rather than staying with his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers.

Lebron’s recent purchase of a $23 million mansion in Los Angeles has caused people to speculate Lakers have also been linked to James as a free agent destination. As previously mentioned, LA has enough cap space to sign two players to max contracts this summer. Could those two players be Paul George and LeBron James? That would be quite the duo to pair up with young rising stars like Lonzo Ball and Brandon Ingram.

Of course, the trade makes the Cavaliers younger, more athletic, and probably a better team right now. But the trade could come back to haunt them if it proves to be the deal that made the Los Angeles Lakers capable of swiping Cleveland’s prodigal son away from them this summer.