Best trade deadline deals in Cavaliers franchise history

Best trade deadline deals #4: 2018 deal for Jordan Clarkson, Larry Nance Jr.

Here is an unverified piece of trivia: Who is the only father-son duo in NBA history to be traded to the same franchise on deadline day deals? In 2018 the Cavaliers were trying to retool around LeBron James and Kevin Love for one last run at the title with Kyrie Irving now in Boston. They made a move with the Los Angeles Lakers, a trade that (1) set the table for the Lakers to sign LeBron that summer, but (2) gave them the pieces they needed to make it back to the NBA Finals.

In the best of the Cavs’ three deals at that deadline, they sent out an injured Isiah Thomas, an aging Channing Frye and a first-round pick for Jordan Clarkson and Larry Nance Jr. Both Clarkson and Nance played roles in the playoffs, and both brought compensation back to the Cavs when they were traded out.

Best trade deadline deals #3: 2016 deal for Channing Frye

Channing Frye may have been sent out at the deadline in 2018, but he came in at the 2016 NBA Trade Deadline. The Cavs should have been in a place of confidence, making the NBA Finals the season before, but instead were in a place of turmoil. In the middle of that season they fired head coach David Blatt, elevated Tyronn Lue, and made multiple deadline deals to tweak the roster.

The most significant was trading a second-round pick (and the little-used Jared Harper) to the Orlando Magic for Channing Frye. Immediately, the stretch-big provided the Cavs with a way to space the floor around LeBron James without completely giving up on rim protection. When Kevin Love went down for a couple of games in the NBA Finals, the Cavs had a ready-made replacement in Frye already on hand.

Perhaps the Cavaliers come back from a 3-1 deficit in the NBA Finals without Frye; certainly, LeBron James and Kyrie Irving were most pivotal. Even so, Frye was a tremendous addition and a key part of their run to hoist the trophy at the end.