The Cleveland Cavaliers were big movers on Thursday, the last day to make trades in the NBA.
The Cavaliers, in a matter of hours, got rid of Isaiah Thomas, Dwayne Wade, Derrick Rose, Jae Crowder, Iman Shumpert, Channing Frye and their own 2018 first-round pick.
Coming to the Cavs are Larry Nance Jr., George Hill, Rodney Hood and a second-round pick from the Miami Heat in exchange for Wade. The movement of Crowder and Thomas means the Cavs got little for Kyrie Irving.
The Cavs did get younger, but by no means will this be enough to beat Golden State, and isn’t that what everybody is trying to do? It may be enough to get past the Celtics and Raptors, however.
The Cavs did Wade a favor by shipping him back to Miami. His veteran leadership could help the Heat, and he could probably play more than the 23 minutes he was getting with the Cavs.
Thomas’ career never really got off the ground. His hip injury and surgery caused him to miss more than a quarter of the season, and people were able to see that because of his height (5-9) he was a defensive liability.
The Warriors need to not take games off down the stretch, and Draymond Green needs to keep his mouth shut and stay in games.
Officiating, has and always will be, inconsistent in the NBA. Just like baseball, every official has his own way of doing things. I’d love to see a league where superstars are treated like everybody else. That definitely doesn’t happen enough in either baseball or basketball.
The biggest question facing the Cavs, is will this keep LeBron in town.
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As I look at the Warriors, I wish they had some money left to get a real good center. They’ve been forced to man this position by committee, but neither Andrew Bogut or Zaza Pachulia has been an offensive threat.
At least Bogut was a good rim protector. Zaza plays a physical game, but his shooting range is about 8 feet. If Jordan Bell was stronger physically, he might be the answer.
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Nevada raved about its defense against 7-foot Brandon McCoy of UNLV on Wednesday. It was a decent effort, but everybody needs to realize he missed probably 12 minutes of the second half with foul problems. That made Nevada’s job much easier. McCoy wasn’t a factor down the stretch.
McCoy had a bigger impact on the game defensively, especially in the first half. He changed some shots and forced people to pass the ball outside on several occasions. He took some ill advised 3-pointers, and simply put, played like the freshman he is.
I look for him to be a one and done guy, though. He’s 7-feet and he’s athletic, though he’s not as athletic as Javale McGee was when he was at Nevada.
Through 11 MW games, the two teams that aren’t good matchups for Nevada are UNLV and Wyoming. UNLV exposed Nevada’s lack of size, garnering double-digit offensive rebounds, and Wyoming’s Justin James has torched Nevada for 33 points in each of the games.
