3 takeaways from Cavs’ involvement in James Harden trade

The Cleveland Cavaliers were involved in a four-team trade centered on James Harden on Wednesday.

It was a bit of a shock that the Cleveland Cavaliers got involved in a blockbuster trade on Wednesday.

And they landed Jarrett Allen and Taurean Prince from the Brooklyn Nets out of that, which was a win, to say the least.

James Harden, who was a central part of trade rumors, has gotten his wish granted, and was dealt out of his Houston Rockets’ situation. Anyway, in terms of the reports I’m referring to, we’ll touch on those now.

According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Ramona Shelburne, James Harden was reportedly dealt to the Brooklyn Nets, and Dante Exum, Rodions Kurucs and four first-round picks will go to Houston. The Cavs were sent Allen and Prince, again, and their 2022 first via the Milwaukee Bucks is one of those picks sent to the Rockets. Cleveland reportedly sent a 2024 2 to Brooklyn as well, per Woj, and also as a later update, Houston sent Indy a 2023 2.

In regards to further reporting, Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium reported that the Indiana Pacers got involved, too, and Victor Oladipo was sent to Houston, and the Pacers were sent Caris LeVert. Charania also reported how the picks going to Houston were all unprotected (the Nets in 2022, 2024 and 2026, to go with Milwaukee 2022 via the Cavs), and that there were four unprotected first-round pick swaps (2021, 2023, 2025, 2027).

And lastly, in what were essentially corresponding moves for the roster, Cleveland reportedly waived Yogi Ferrell, who was on a 10-day deal, and Thon Maker, per Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor.

From the Cavaliers’ side of things, though, what are a few things that jump out from their part in the deal, you ask? Let’s get into those.

Here, we’ll hit on three takeaways from the Cavs’ perspective from this deal.

The first has to do with Cleveland seemingly locking up their 5 position looking onward.

#1: Allen seemingly locks up the 5 position for the Cavs for years to come

The Cavaliers nabbing Jarrett Allen from the Nets looks to give them their 5 for the foreseeable future, looking ahead to after this season. Andre Drummond I would think for the time being will man the starting 5, so long as he’s with the Cavs, and Drummond been a big reason why Cleveland has shockingly had the league’s best defensive rating.

He’s had 18.0 points and a league-leading 15.1 rebounds per game, too, to go with 1.5 blocks per outing, and is tied for fifth iin the league in total steals, of which Larry Nance Jr. leads the league actually.

Albeit Drummond is set to be expiring, and he could potentially be moved by the trade deadline. But even if that’s not the case, Drummond’s 28.7 million expiring contract is again, set to be expiring after this season, and the Cavs could perhaps keep him through this season, then let him sign elsewhere.

And with Allen due to be a restricted free agent this offseason, I’d fully expect them to commit to him via long-term extension this summer, or if needed, potentially match offer sheets from other teams.

Allen is such a capable shot blocker that is currently putting up 1.6 blocks in 26.7 minutes per game, and is a heck of an athlete vertically, and is a gifted lob/rim-running threat that can slam home putback jams off of offensive rebounds at times, too.

There’s been some flashes in terms of post-ups as well, but overall, his finishing near the basket should provide similar rolling gravity vertically to Drummond, which should aid Cleveland’s shooters.

And though he hasn’t proven to be too much of a shooter from three-point range, and has only attempted six three-point attempts in the past two seasons (0 this season), Allen could have some stretch big potential, in theory. Him hitting 75.4 percent of his free throws this season is a positive, and he’ll occasionally hit some mid-range shots, more so via the short roll.

But to me, with Allen even in his fourth season, being still only 22 years old, with his promise and feel as a rim protector/rim-running 5, the Cavs will seemingly lock him up, and I’d expect, let Drummond walk at minimum this offseason, if he’s not traded by this year’s deadline.

Potentially learning some from Drummond could aid Allen in the short-term, though. Either way, Cavs general manager Koby Altman acquiring Allen and, Prince, who we’ll get into more in a bit here, was awesome for Cleveland’s future. I’d expect Allen to fit in well alongside guys such as Collin Sexton, Darius Garland, Isaac Okoro, Cedi Osman and others.

#2: Another Cavs move seems to be on the way

The second takeaway here would be that another Cavs trade seems to be on the way, when you factor in that Cleveland now currently is set to have Drummond, Allen and JaVale McGee on the roster.

McGee has done a commendable job as Drummond’s primary backup thus far this season, and has had 8.5 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.1 blocks in 17.2 minutes per contest, but considering Allen’s addition, one would assume he could very well be moved by the March 25 deadline.

Swinging back, though, given Drummond being a subject of trade rumors, he could feasibly be dealt by the deadline, looking back, if not in McGee’s case.

Joe Vardon of The Athletic alluded to how others on the Cavs, such as Kevin Love, who has been a key subject of trade rumors throughout his time with the Cavaliers, even, could be a potential player on the move, or perhaps Larry Nance Jr.

I wouldn’t expect Nance to be moved, though, given his all-around play for Cleveland, and him being multi-positional. And honestly, Love is still currently sidelined due to a right calf strain/reaggravation potentially through this month, and Cleveland desperately needs his shooting when he’s back, so I’d more so expect Love to maybe be moved in the offseason.

He still is set to be on the books for $91.5 million for the next three seasons, so having only two set years left in the offseason would appear more likely, at this juncture, to me.

In any case, McGee again, or Drummond, maybe, could feasibly be in the cards by the deadline for the Cavs, given the Allen acquisition. McGee, for what it’s worth, has looked good and has been bought-in with Cleveland this year after initially being acquired via trade from the Los Angeles Lakers before the season, and he’s only been set to make $4.2 million this season.

Altman again, though, would appear to be likely to make another move fairly soon, anyway. Now let’s move on to Prince a bit, shall we?

#3: The Cavs also acquired a capable shooting forward in Prince

Taurean Prince should help Cleveland’s rotational shooting, I would imagine. Prince is a more than capable of catch-and-shoot player that has played his share of minutes at the 3, and last season, with Kevin Durant sidelined, more so a small-ball 4 for Brooklyn. Last season, Prince had 12.1 points, 6.0 rebounds and 0.9 steals per outing, and 8.1 points and 2.8 rebounds per game this season thus far.

The 6-foot-7, 26-year-old Prince, who played his first three seasons with the Atlanta Hawks before being dealt to Brooklyn via trade, has hit 33.9 percent and thus far this season, 35.1 percent of his three-point attempts. And in Atlanta, Prince hit 38.5 and 39.0 percent from deep in his last two seasons there, so to me, he should provide a floor spacing presence in his rotational minutes, feasibly at the 3 and potentially 4 for the Cavs.

Prince can create himself via some pull-ups in the mid-range to counter hard closeouts at times, too, and can get some buckets via drives.

Aside from the shooting/some on-ball scoring, Prince can be, when dialed-in, a competent defender against 2’s/3’s and more so small-ball 4’s, and has gotten his share of deflections. And his lifetime defensive rebounding clip of 14.4 percent has been solid, which could help Cleveland.

Now, factoring in Nance, though, and Love when he’s back in the fold, could we see Prince some at the 4? Potentially, but we’ll have to see there.

It does seemingly create some of a logjam when it comes to wings, anyway, however, as Dylan Windler, who hasn’t been active since Cleveland’s first game (left hand fracture) should be a rotational contributor when he’s back able to go. And Isaac Okoro and Cedi Osman will continually get their share of minutes, and Okoro, especially.

Osman, though, it would seem, could potentially be moved at some point down the road, perhaps? We’ll again have to see if Windler, who missed all of last season due to a stress reaction in his left leg, can hold up health-wise, at any rate.

Moreover, looking back generally at the Cavs’ perspective, Cleveland netting Allen and Prince, who is set to make $12.5 million this season and $13 million next season, for their 2022 1 via Milwaukee, Exum and that 2024 2 (the lesser between theirs and the Utah Jazz’s) was a terrific outcome.

Props to Altman here.