Trade Breakdown: Cavs acquire Hill, Hood in three-team trade

How can the Cleveland Cavaliers benefit from the acquisitions of George Hill and Rodney Hood?

The Cleveland Cavaliers hit the “upgrade” button as they remodeled their backcourt. According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Cavs, Sacramento Kings and Utah Jazz completed a three-team trade that would send Derrick Rose and Jae Crowder to Utah in exchange for Hood and Shumpert to the Kings in exchange for Hood.

They’re now replacing the undersized and malcontent  Thomas, who was playing poorly and antagonizing both the team and coaches. In his place will be former Sacramento Kings point guard Hill.

Hill is averaging 10.3 points, 2.8 assists and 0.9 steals per game in what’s been a down year.

He’s still worlds away a better defender than Thomas although his defensive numbers are down across the board this season. Furthermore, at 6-foot-2 with a 6-foot-9 wingpsan, much more suited to executing the Cavs’ preferred defensive strategy of switching on screens. Thomas was the team’s worst defender, both statistically and visually.

Offensively, Thomas’ ball-dominance, was an issue.

Per cleveland.com’s Joe Vardon:

"“He’s worked too hard to get back, and he’s a ball dominant player,” said Thomas’ agent, Aaron Goodwin. “It’s LeBron’s ball, and this clearly wasn’t working. Koby (Altman) and I have had enough conversations where it was clear, with the way the system was going, it wasn’t beneficial for either party. This is a good opportunity for Isaiah.”"

While taking shots away from Kevin Love (primarily in the first quarter, Love’s go-to period), Thomas also saw fit to take the entire offense out of rhythm and the team out of the game in order for him to just get a shot up. This, despite his eyesore shooting splits.

Time and time again, Thomas alluded to his time with the Boston Celtics and being used to being a ball-dominant player. A player that he couldn’t be beside LeBron James, the team’s alpha.

The best thing about Hill, offensively, could be that he’s shooting 45.3 percent from three-point range (47.1 percent on catch-and-shoot threes). His ability to thrive off-ball may be the most underrated part of his acquisition, with Kyle Korver appearing as the Cavs’ only elite three-point threat.

By trading Thomas for a player that’s a better defender and less ball-dominant, the Cavs are hoping to infuse energy into their team on both sides of the court. Make no mistake about it though, Hill is a tremendous pick-and-roll player who will set up the Cleveland Cavaliers frontcourt for quite a few easy baskets.

The Cleveland Cavaliers also added 25-year-old shooting guard Rodney Hood to the roster.

Hood is a player that the Cavaliers know well, since it seems that the methodical guard had Cleveland’s number. Prior to this season, Hood scored 62 total points against the Cavs across three appearances (20.7 points per game).

A point guard in high-school, Hood is a wing with a solid handle and propensity to take care of the ball. Those traits go hand-in-hand with his great basketball IQ, shooting ability and ability to make plays for other.

Essentially, Hood is like a 6-foot-8 combo guard on the offensive end. Defensively, Hood’s intensity is inconsistent but he has the physical tools to be a solid (though not elite) defender. He’s a player that would likely see the bulk of his minutes beside other strong defenders on the team.

J.R. Smith will likely continue to start at shooting guard. However, the Cavs now have a viable backup that they can consider promoting to the starting lineup in place of Smith.

Hood is averaging a career-high 16.8 points per game this season while shooting 42.4 percent from the field and 38.9 percent from three-point range.

Related Story: Did Cavs improve with Lakers trade?

*Unless otherwise referenced all stats gathered from www.basketball-reference.com