Cleveland Sports Forum

2. The Salt Lake Tribune's Gordon Monson wrote this of Hood: "The Jazz gave him his shot -- a lot of shots -- and the results were mixed. He was enjoying career highs ... but the same afflictions that had plagued him in the past were apparent again -- inability to avoid injury and swings of inconsistency. He ... at times played with his own agenda for his own purposes."

3. Not sure how much of that is accurate. But there usually is some reason a player is traded. Hood being a restricted free agent and possibly receiving a lucrative offer sheet also worried the Jazz.

4. Hood missed 23 games last season and 14 this season because of a variety of injuries to his ankle and knee. So keep an eye on his durability.


Ok, believe it or not I watch a lot of Utah games (ok, ok, I own Donovan Mitchell in a fantasy Keeper league). This is all accurate but one thing Pluto didn't mention was that they have a glut of guys at Hood's position. For example Alec Burks is a right handed version of Hood - shooter without a conscience. They also have Rubio and Mitchell as their starting guards. They also like Royce O'Neal and apparently like (haven't seen) a newer guy Raul Neto.

Utah is not a big spender so with all those options they were not going to match offers for Hood. Smart spot by Altman. (Score another one for having Gilbert who WOULD match an offer to Hood.) The injury bug has bitten him though for sure.

I found by watching that Hood does shoot a lot but is surprisingly efficient for a guy who does that as his 39% from 3 point range does show. Like I said he's Jamal Crawford Jr and bigger/lefty. No conscience but definitely dangerous.

Most importantly, like Crawford, this is a guy who you can give the ball to and he can get his own shot. On a team with Lebron those guys tend to be sparse (Kyrie). So perfect fit there especially on the 2nd unit and in the playoffs where defenses are formidable.

4. The 6-foot-5 Clarkson consistently shoots 44 percent from the field, 33 percent from 3-point range. So he's not a stand-still, long-range shooter but a mid-range scorer. He's scoring 14 points a game in 24 minutes this season -- that's impressive. He does tend to dominate the ball, so some adjustments will be needed.

Not on the 2nd unit, lol. But yeah he has teammates who can actually score now.

By the way, in defense of the Kings signing Hill - they also signed Zach Randolph. They wanted older vets to mentor the new guys (Hill to mentor DeAaron Fox and Randolph for Willie Cauley Stein and Skal Labissière) But it's now 60 games into the season and the vets were playing less and less, understandable.

They were quite generous to George Hill to serve in that role, nice contract. But Hill is only 31 so it makes sense for him to chase a title elsewhere. With only 1 more guaranteed year he's a good risk.

TFIR, not really trying to broadcast this but, as you know, I called DirecTV and cancelled my NBA League Pass. But I'm still getting it...

Shhh, don't tell anybody..

I've actually watched most of the games this year. Although several I turned off during 3rd or 4th quarter...

We traded away a lot of playoff experience, so it is good adding Hill in that regard too. He's been through it many times.

I have got to see Hood a lot too. Jazz is the home team on the local cable sports channel here. Obviously, every one love his length. He should help out when we face some athletic wing guys, like Golden State. But he has potential. Maybe I just caught him during some of his hot streaks, but I think if used properly he can really help.

"I think it just wasn't working," Frye said. "I don't think it was a chemistry off the court thing because I went and talked to those guys all the time. I just think on the court, there just wasn't enough give and take. I don't think we were built to sacrifice for each other. I think a lot of guys had success in different systems. There wasn't enough time for them to adjust to doing it a certain way and that happens."

While Thomas is making his way back from a hip injury, Frye says the point guard will return to the form that had him averaging 28.9 points and 5.9 assists last year. Both players are in the final year of their contracts.

"I'll be honest, he's gonna be fine," Frye said of Thomas. "... I think everyone makes a big deal out of it because it's Isaiah, but Kyle [Korver] wasn't having a great year. I wasn't having a great year. Jae [Crowder] wasn't having a great year. Dwyane Wade. You gotta put all these different personalities and groups together, it sometimes just doesn't work out.


"There's nothing [wrong] with him. You're gonna see. He's gonna ball. How many games do we have left? You're gonna see Isaiah start to become the old Isaiah, especially with a faster pace. Especially the way the ball moves and pops here. I think this is a better system for him."

Lakers president Magic Johnson said he wants to see Thomas mentor Ball and take the rookie under his wing.

"I mean, that's fine," Thomas said. "I have been in the league six more years than he has. Obviously, I am going to help him out. We are part of the same team. He's a special young player, and he is going to be an incredible talent in this league for years to come.

"My job is to help where I can. I am still in my prime. So it is not like I am taking a backseat to anybody. I am here to be who I am and here to make a difference on this team and I am excited about the opportunity."

Nance primarily is going to play the 5 spot according to Lue.

New Cavs practice for first time as Ty Lue rolls out starting lineup
10:22 PM ET
Dave McMenamin
ESPN Staff Writer
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ATLANTA -- By trading away Isaiah Thomas as part of three deadline-day deals, the Cleveland Cavaliers officially abandoned the "Big Three" structure it rode to three straight NBA Finals appearances.

What became clear after George Hill, Rodney Hood, Jordan Clarkson and Larry Nance Jr. participated in their first practice with the Cavs on Saturday is that the pecking order has been shifted in Cleveland. Everything will flow through LeBron James -- even more so than before -- and then everyone else will fill in around the four-time MVP and three-time champion.

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"We have one of the best players in the history of the game, I'm sure he's going to dictate the tempo and things like that," said Hill. "We just got do our job, be the best role players we can possibly be. He's the Batman and we got to be all Robins. We got to figure it out."

When asked whom the No. 2 scorer will now be after James, Cavs coach Tyronn Lue said that while Kevin Love is out with a broken left hand, it could be just about anybody.

"LeBron is No. 1 and then after that, it's going to be, you know, different guys on different nights," Lue said. "We said that when the season first started. It could be Hood tonight. It could be George Hill. It could be Clarkson. It could be Jeff Green, [Kyle] Korver. So, you never know. Just LeBron, he's going to make those guys better, I know that for sure. But every night it could be somebody different."

Cleveland will trot out a different lineup when it faces Kyrie Irving and the Boston Celtics on Sunday (3:30 p.m. ET, ABC). Lue said he will start Hill and JR Smith in the backcourt, James and rookie Cedi Osman in the front court, and Tristan Thompson at center.

The Cavs are actually 5-3 in their past eight games after all the doom and gloom they've experienced in the past several months. Lue hopes the roster reinvention will keep them winning games.

"These guys, it's going to take a while for them to catch up but it's just good having them on the floor," Lue said. "Just trying to start all over again with our teaching and we'll just see how it goes."

Hood and Hill were able to participate in the Cavs' full practice, as everyone else involved in their three-team trade had already been processed in Sacramento and Utah. Hill passed his physical with the Cavs and said the big toe injury that has reportedly plagued him was a thing of the past.

"Toe's great," he said. "I haven't felt my toe [injury] since last year, so, I'm happy about it."

Clarkson and Nance Jr. were sidelined for approximately the first 20 minutes of practice, according to the Cavs, while the Los Angeles Lakers finished clearing Channing Frye's medicals.

"LeBron is No. 1, and then after that, it's going to be, you know, different guys on different nights. ... It could be [Rodney] Hood tonight. It could be George Hill. It could be Clarkson. It could be Jeff Green, [Kyle] Korver. So you never know. Just LeBron, he's going to make those guys better, I know that for sure."


Cavaliers coach Ty Lue

Lue said that Hood could eventually start -- either in place of Smith or alongside him -- and that Nance Jr. could as well when Cleveland faces an outsized opponent. For now, the onus is on the group to pick up the Cavs' sets as quick as possible. Hill, a 10-year veteran, will start because he is capable enough to, as Lue put it, "just run some pick-and-rolls."

The four new faces come in with all sorts of preexisting ties to the Cavs and to one another. Nance Jr. and Clarkson have been teammates their entire careers in L.A. Hill and Hood were teammates in Utah during the 2016-17 season.

"He's a guy who gave me a lot of wisdom," Hood said of Hill. "I look up to him."

Hill was on the Indiana Pacers when they lost to James' Miami Heat team three straight years in the playoffs.

"He's a champ, he's the MVP, an All-Star for a reason," said Hill. "One of the best to do it, so I tip my hat to him."

Hood battled against James when the stakes were much lower: at James' summer skills academy run by Nike when he was in high school. How did he fare? "Not too good," Hood said. "But just to play against a guy like that kind of gives you a measure where you are at."

Nance Jr., of course, grew up a huge Cavs fan because his father, Larry Nance Sr., played for them from 1987-1994. Nance Sr.'s No. 22 hangs from the rafters at Quicken Loans Arena. Nance Jr. chose to wear No. 24 for the Cavs, even though his father offered to unretire his jersey for him.

"Obviously people texted me, 'What are you going to wear? What are you going to wear?'" Nance Jr. said. "I wanted No. 7 [retired for Bingo Smith], couldn't have that. He earned that. That's his accomplishment. I believe he deserves to keep that and it needs to stay up there."

Nance Jr. when to Revere High School in Akron, Ohio. Cavs general manager Koby Altman said the big man was so excited when he called him to tell him about the trade that Nance Jr. was nearly in tears.


"I gave him a hard time for that because that's not true," Nance Jr. retorted. "I was excited, absolutely. I was super excited. We had a good conversation. He could tell I was excited, he was excited about bringing me here. This is home. There was a little bit of extra emotion, but not teary. I'm more of a man than that."

All four of the players said they heard their name in trade rumors for about a month and finally being settled with Cleveland -- even if it means that there is the pressure of a championship run expected attached to it -- was a relief.

"Being able to be in a place that they want you here," Clarkson said. "Come here and compete. All the rumors and stuff, sometimes they just mess with your head. I'm happy to be here. Feel like it's a blessing."

"We have one of the best players in the history of the game, I'm sure he's going to dictate the tempo and things like that," said Hill. "We just got do our job, be the best role players we can possibly be. He's the Batman and we got to be all Robins. We got to figure it out."

Hmm, pretty sure that is NOT an I.T. comment?

Look, in fairness to I.T. this was a tough spot for him. Coming off injury and having to drastically change his role. George Hill just said it - Lebron is a historic player and if you are ball dominant ...well... I do think L.A. is perfect for him - a low pressure situation where he can be himself. See below:

Isaiah Thomas - G - Lakers

Isaiah Thomas scored 22 points during his Lakers debut against the Mavs in a 130-123 loss on Saturday, adding one rebound, six assists, one steal and four 3-pointer in 31 minutes.

He came off the bench and looked a lot better as a scorer, making 7-of-12 from the field and all four from the line. As Thomas has said before, he wants to be the go-to scorer he was last year and he had that opportunity off the bench. "I felt like I got my powers back with this team," Thomas said after the game


I will say this, he would be sooo much better served with a course in public relations. Or just keep quiet.

Check this out for some perspective on LA's situation and Larry Nance:

Kyle Kuzma - F - Lakers

Kyle Kuzma grabbed a career-high 15 boards with 12 points, three assists, two steals and two 3-pointers in 32 minutes against the Mavs on Saturday.

His playing time was a little inconsistent to end January, but that probably won't be the case anymore. Coach Luke Walton went away from Kuzma at times because of his defense, but that was because he had Larry Nance.

Also, more on their logjam:

Julius Randle - F/C - Lakers

Julius Randle scored 26 points with eight rebounds, seven assists and five turnovers in 37 minutes against the Mavs on Saturday.

He's really picked it up and he came through in the hometown game. Randle is a huge fantasy winner from the Larry Nance Jr. deal and he's already really picked it up even before the deadline. He should be looking at a strong finish to redeem his bad start this season.

And still more!!

Brook Lopez scored 16 points with two rebounds, five assists and one 3-pointer in 26 minutes against the Mavs on Saturday.

He was one of the biggest fantasy winners at the trade deadline because Larry Nance was taking a lot of his minutes. Lopez can be a top-50 player with minutes in the mid 20s, so his fantasy owners should consider him a must-start player again.

How's that for a logjam. So clearly the Cavs coveted Nance for his defense and the Lakers wanted them to take Clarkson's contract but also the Lakers had way too many guys at the power forward/center positions.

Win/win all around

Four things to watch as the new-look Cavs settle in

David Zavac 15 hours ago
The Cavaliers will finish the season with an entirely new look. Januarys have never been kind to the team in the past few seasons, but things went too far downhill this time. Owner Dan Gilbert and Koby Altman blew the team up, and the consensus is that the moves to add George Hill, Rodney Hood, Jordan Clarkson and Larry Nance Jr. were both necessary and positive.

How much of an impact will the new guys make? How much of a problem were the players discarded? Will the Cavs miss Channing Frye? Let's take a look at four things worth monitoring as the team gears up for a playoff run. ‌‌‌

How much better will the point guard play be?
In his past three seasons, George Hill has played 43, 74 and 49 regular-season games. He's played 43 of 54 possible Kings games this year, though some of those absences were healthy scratches. Player efficiency rating isn't a great stat without context. It attempts to measure a player's value, but it doesn't do much in the way of quantifying defense, and players who take more shots and use more possessions tend to have higher ratings. That being said, looking at Hill's rating during the years illustrates some of his inconsistency:

2013-14: 13.4
2014-15: 21.5
2015-16: 13.2
2016-17: 19.3
2017-18: 14.1
League average is 15, and his usage rate has fluctuated wildly in that time, as well. The Cavs have had success this year with Jose Calderon at point guard largely deferring to LeBron James. The Cavs have largely struggled when Isaiah Thomas and Derrick Rose used lots of possessions. For the Cavs to reach a higher level, they need a bit of both. Hill can't just be a spot-up shooter like he's been in Sacramento (he was making a ton of 3s, but not doing much else). He'll never be able to create like Kyrie Irving, but he's exhibited offensive versatility in the past.

If he can find the balance that Thomas couldn't, and Irving did, sometimes, the Cavs will be tough for the East to handle.

Will J.R. Smith finally find his place?
Despite some signs of life, Smith is still shooting just 39 percent from the field, 36 percent from 3, and 67 percent from the free-throw line. His defense was noticeably better Friday night against the Atlanta Hawks, but he'll have talent coming in at his position now. Hood is a better shooter than Smith, is younger, and has a higher defensive ceiling. Cedi Osman continues to emerge. Clarkson will be playing a bit of shooting guard.

In other words, the Cavs might have upgraded J.R.'s position. There's still a role for him, and he'll remain in the starting lineup for the time being, but it will be interesting to see how he handles the adjustment. The hope would be that a rising tide lifts all boats. The fear would be that he gets lost in the shuffle.

Can the Cavs play like a top-10 defense?
The Cavs were a top-10 defense in 2014-15 after the additions of Smith, Iman Shumpert and Timofey Mozgov. They were a top-10 defense for 2015-16. They fell off a cliff last year and then couldn't get stops against the Warriors in the Finals. This year … well, we all know what's happened this year. Heading into their first game with the new additions, the team is tied with the Kings for the second worst defense in the league.

Hill, Hood and Nance Jr. theoretically step in as defensive improvements. While Hood and Hill haven't lived up to that this season, they're just a season removed from being good to serviceable on that end. Nance and, potentially, Tristan Thompson give the Cavs mobile athleticism in the front court and improved switch-ability. The team seems committed to playing Osman, who has been a positive defensive presence.

There should be addition by subtraction, with Thomas, Rose and Dwyane Wade all possessing defensive limitations. If the team is in a better mood collectively, it's also fair to wonder whether the team's horrific transition defense will improve. With the offense tanking in the past month, opposing teams had more opportunities to run. The old Sasha Pavlovic truism applies: For the Cavs, an effective offense can be their defense.

What kind of player is Jordan Clarkson?
By now, you've probably heard the concerns. His defense isn't particularly good, he's a chucker, and he's not a particularly good shooter. Oh, and he's expensive, due to make more than $25 million beyond this season.

Well, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. The Cavs could likely do worse in terms of creating guards off the bench. He'll be able to play off of Hill when James sits, and it's likely he'll be a better defender if the situation requires it and the stakes are high enough. It will be interesting to see whether he can spot up off ball and knock down shots. He's still just 25, so there will be opportunity for growth. He has good size for his position and should be able to play both guard spots and defend competently. It'll just require him to do things he hasn't been doing.

Why did we get the Kyrie Irving trade so wrong?
play
A flurry of moves reshaped the present and future of the league on Thursday; make sense of them in less than a minute. (0:56)

6:50 AM ET
Kevin Pelton
ESPN Staff Writer

As the Cleveland Cavaliers visit Boston on Sunday without former Celtics Isaiah Thomas and Jae Crowder, both dealt before Thursday's trade deadline, I think it's worth investigating how the Kyrie Irving trade went so wrong in Cleveland. Crowder and Thomas, the veterans acquired for Irving, along with rookie Ante Zizic and the Brooklyn Nets' 2018 first-round pick, lasted less than six unhappy months.

As someone who was on team "this is a pretty good return for Kyrie!" 6 months ago, I have another mailbag question: Has any NBA player fallen faster in perceived value than IT? ...From 5th in the MVP voting to a guy who was essentially treated as having zero trade value.

- Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) February 10, 2018

I, too, believed the package was a good return for Irving, giving the Cavaliers a much better grade on the deal (A) than the Celtics (C) initially. Those evened up to some extent when I regraded after we learned Cleveland had greater concern about the condition of Thomas' injured hip, but the Cavaliers still came out ahead (A-minus vs. B-minus).

So where did I go wrong? What happened to Crowder and Thomas?

Hip injury limited Thomas' play
A story by my former ESPN colleague Tom Haberstroh after the trade wisely raised the concern that other guards such as Michael Carter-Williams and Jonny Flynn had been less effective after hip labrum tears like Thomas' injury.

Even compared to those cautionary examples, Thomas has been disappointing. His box plus-minus (BPM) metric on Basketball-Reference.com (minus-5.9 rating per 100 possessions, putting him among the league's bottom-10 regulars so far) is worse than Carter-Williams was last season after his hip surgery (minus-2.4). Thomas has been better than Flynn was in 2010-11 (minus-7.2), but then, Flynn was coming off an up-and-down rookie campaign, not one in which he made the All-NBA second team.

In fact, if we switch to using player win percentage (the per-minute version of my wins above replacement player metric akin to BPM or PER), Thomas' decline is almost without precedent in modern NBA history. Last season, his .698 win percentage ranked 14th in the league, just behind Anthony Davis. That translated into more than 15 WARP. So far in 2017-18, Thomas' .395 win percentage puts him slightly below replacement level. Granting that Thomas' season isn't done yet, only one player since the ABA-NBA merger has seen his win percentage decline more from one year to the next.

Biggest Declines, Player Win Percentage
PLAYER SEASON YEAR 1 YEAR 2 CHANGE
Otis Smith 1991-92 .633 .319 -.315
Isaiah Thomas 2017-18 .698 .395 -.303
World B. Free 1986-87 .563 .283 -.280
Chris Copeland 2014-15 .610 .344 -.267
Troy Murphy 2010-11 .628 .365 -.263
Jason Hart 2005-06 .551 .302 -.249
Lamar Odom 2011-12 .604 .362 -.242
Minimum 250 minutes both seasons
None of the other players on this list had anywhere near Thomas' pedigree before their fall. World B. Free, a high-scoring and colorful one-time All-Star, might come the closest. But he was already 32 by the time the Cleveland Cavaliers let him go as a free agent as part of a youth movement in 1986-87. Free was unsigned until joining the Philadelphia 76ers in late December 1986 and played 20 miserable games that season, his second-to-last in the NBA.

Odom is probably the best comparison in terms of trade value. The Lakers got a first-round pick when they sent an unhappy Odom to the Dallas Mavericks days after a package sending him and other players for Chris Paul was rejected by the league. Joining the defending NBA champions the year after winning the Sixth Man Award, Odom shot 35.2 percent from the field. He, too, played only one more season in the NBA.

Rapid declines in trade value
Setting this list aside, a few other examples come to mind. The Detroit Pistons inexplicably gave up Chauncey Billups and Antonio McDyess (plus little-used Cheikh Samb) for 33-year-old Allen Iverson early in the 2008-09 season. While Billups helped the Denver Nuggets to the Western Conference finals, Iverson saw his true shooting percentage decline from .567 to .504 as the Pistons were swept in the opening round after six consecutive trips to the conference finals.

Unsigned until September, Iverson signed a one-year deal worth $3.1 million with the Memphis Grizzlies. He lasted three whole games in Memphis before the two sides agreed to part ways. Iverson was waived later in the season after returning to the 76ers, ending his Hall of Fame career.

EDITOR'S PICKS

Trade deadline winners and losers: Lakers, Warriors, Isaiah and more
The Cavs' moves might help, but did they do enough to challenge the Warriors? Kevin Pelton highlights seven winners and losers at the trade deadline.


NBA trade grades for every deadline deal
ESPN Insider Kevin Pelton grades every deal that went down leading up to the NBA trade deadline. You can find all of his analysis on the Cavs, Lakers, Blake Griffin and more here.

Andrew Bynum is another interesting case. Philadelphia gave up an incredible haul to get Bynum as part of the four-team Dwight Howard trade: star Andre Iguodala, recent first-round picks Maurice Harkless and Nikola Vucevic, plus a future first-rounder. (The Sixers also took on the onerous contract of Jason Richardson in the process.) Yet Bynum never played a game in Philadelphia due to a knee injury, amid reports that the injury might have been exacerbated by bowling.

Nonetheless, as a free agent the following summer, Bynum was still able to command an incentive-laden, two-year deal worth up to $12 million annually from the Cavaliers. It wasn't until Bynum washed out in Cleveland that his market value went to nil. (Like Thomas, Bynum was traded as part of a cap-clearing move.)

The other names readers submitted, including Thomas' former Cavaliers teammate Derrick Rose, Gilbert Arenas and Penny Hardaway, all saw their value erode more gradually due to repeated injuries. What makes Thomas' change from fringe MVP candidate to expiring contract so shocking is just how quickly it happened. One day, you're getting traded for Irving. The next day, Jordan Clarkson.

Crowder disappointed in Cleveland, too
The magnitude of Thomas' decline helped obscure the fact that his fellow former Celtic also struggled with the Cavaliers. Crowder, who had provided valuable 3-and-D play in Boston, offered neither skill on a consistent basis in Cleveland.

I've gotten a few mailbag questions about whether Crowder's decline is evidence that ESPN's real plus-minus (RPM) doesn't predict well when players change teams, given he ranked 20th in the league in RPM last season. That's true, to a point -- RPM is less predictive when players change teams, or roles within the same team -- but in this case, no advanced stat would have seen Crowder's drop-off coming. Compare his RPM and his BPM over the course of his career.

Jae Crowder Adjusted Plus-Minus
SEASON TEAM BPM RPM
2012-13 DAL -0.5 -0.9
2013-14 DAL 0.6 1.9
2014-15 DAL/BOS 1.1 -0.4
2015-16 BOS 2.8 3.0
2016-17 BOS 1.6 3.9
2017-18 CLE -2.0 -2.1
While Crowder has generally rated better by RPM, which factors in lineup data in addition to the box score prior that is similar to BPM, he rated well in both metrics with the Celtics, and his decline with the Cavaliers has been nearly as pronounced. By any measure, Crowder has been a worse player in Cleveland, worse even than during his two-plus seasons with the Dallas Mavericks out of college.

Though not historic like Thomas' underperformance, Crowder's is notable in its own right. My SCHOENE projection system uses the development of the 50 most similar players at the same age to forecast a range of possible outcomes the following season in terms of player win percentage. Crowder's mean projection using this method was for a .533 win percentage, slightly better than league average (.500, naturally). His actual .388 win percentage so far would be a larger decline than any of those 50 comparable players experienced.


Kevin Pelton
There isn't an injury to explain why Crowder has been so ineffective with the Cavaliers. One possible explanation is that Crowder wasn't in shape to start the season after spending the time between the trade and training camp dealing with his mother's death from cancer, which happened the same day he was traded.

After struggling with his shot early in the season, Crowder has made 35.0 percent of his 3-point attempts since the start of 2018, a little better than his career mark of 34.4 percent. Yet Crowder's defensive stats have not bounced back. His steal, block and defensive-rebound rates are all the lowest of his career. It's possible Crowder is no longer the same athlete he was in his early 20s. His steal rate first declined last year, and David Locke of Locked on Jazz pointed out that Crowded doesn't have a single dunk this season. (Crowder has never been a prolific dunker but had 13 in 2016-17, per Basketball-Reference.com.)

On Friday's post-deadline episode of the Lowe Post podcast, ESPN's Brian Windhorst offered an alternative theory that Crowder's defensive effort might have suffered because he was unhappy with his limited opportunities in the Cleveland offense. Indeed, in addition to using plays at the lowest rate (15.1 percent of the time) since 2013-14, Crowder also saw his frontcourt touches per minute and average seconds per touch decline according to Second Spectrum data on NBA Advanced Stats. As a result, Crowder went from handling the ball 4.4 percent of the time he spent on the court last season in Boston to 3.6 percent so far this year.

Crowder's Touches
SEASON TOUCHES/MIN SECONDS/TOUCH TOP
2016-17 1.0 1.7 4.4
2017-18 0.8 1.5 3.6
Source: Second Spectrum data on NBA Advanced Stats
If Windhorst's theory is true, Crowder should be a good fit for the Utah Jazz, whose offense is predicated on sharing the ball. Every non-center on the Utah roster has handled the ball at least 4.4 percent of the time they've spent on the court this season.

Some of the Cavaliers' underperformance was predictable, but much was not
In reviewing my analysis of the trade from Cleveland's side, I see two big mistakes. First, I underestimated the possibility that Thomas would return from his hip injury a different player, focusing in my revised trade grade mostly on the time he would likely miss during the regular season -- not as important for a team like the Cavaliers, who are relatively unconcerned with seeding.

Second, in playing up Crowder's value in the trade, I screwed up in playing up that his RPM was better than that of Irving and Thomas, which made it sound like I thought he was the best player in the trade. As valuable as his 3-and-D play was for the Celtics, Crowder is not in their class as a player.

Taking those facts into account, I should have had more questions about whether Cleveland might drop off without Irving. Still, even the biggest skeptics of the deal never predicted a scenario in which both Crowder and Thomas offered the Cavaliers sub-replacement performance.

It's easy to fall victim to hindsight bias and believe the signs were there all along that Crowder and Thomas would disappoint. But those were balanced and outweighed by the indications that Cleveland had gotten two good players for its disgruntled superstar. The Cavaliers made a reasonable trade but got burned anyway.

The good news is they still have the Nets pick and salvaged some value in trades. Indeed Thomas and Crowder were such problems that it forced the Cavs to.....get better!

On Friday's post-deadline episode of the Lowe Post podcast, ESPN's Brian Windhorst offered an alternative theory that Crowder's defensive effort might have suffered because he was unhappy with his limited opportunities in the Cleveland offense.

By the way, the whole concept of using analytics for this situation makes me chuckle.

DUH - IT and Crowder did not like it here so their performance sucked. They tanked and so did the team. And you want to quantify that with numbers?

To me, in retrospect, the Cavs in this trade missed something essential. It was entirely a human issue. How would the new pieces fit with Lebron - both their games and personalities?? Kyrie and Love went through this and eventually (definitely not immediately) made it work to the tune of a Cavs title.

And also how much of Crowder/IT's value was artificially inflated by playing for genius coach Brad Stevens in a system where he maximized them and covered for IT's weaknesses??

Lessons learned there. They still have the pick and hope for the future now with the young influx. Isiah Thomas will never be anything but a high end volume scorer in this league which has value but his over-inflated view of himself will always, always be an issue.

It has to be hard for guys with egos to simply follow Lebron's game and personality. But face facts, the guy is a historic talent as George Hill stated. He is an exception to pretty much every rule.

Quote from today's broadcast by Mark Jackson:

"If you are fighting the pecking order on this team (Cavs) you're delusional".

Jeff Van Gundy, "There's a lot of delusional players in the league".

How come the posts ended before today's game? I bought a couple batteries for my remote and watched [part of] a Cavs game for the first time in many years. [I'm an audio, not a video guy] They sure overwhelmed the Celtics! I thought it would take some time for the guys to figure each other out, but maybe basketball is just basketball? For a couple minutes it looked like the New Look was going to lose Lebron, but he came back on fire in the 2nd quarter, and all the new "kids" did fine.

Hey now you know we weren't lying about the guys they brought in.

And Clarkson obviously liked playing with Lebron who set him up time after time.

Hood? What a talent. This team went from starving for playmakers to flooded with them.

And I would add Tristan and JR were new guys. Swept up in the positive atmosphere now and JR needs that.

But of course best of all is that they played with energy, confidence, and played defense. Hard. They know how good they are now.

Been a long time coming.