The dust has officially settled on the three team trade that included OKC, New York and Cleveland. The Cavs got the now former Knicks JR Smith and Iman Shumpert while losing Dion Waiters to OKC. But I think they needed to get rid of Waiters. They broke his spirit and it was clear. But the Cavs players liked him regardless of the circumstances. Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com got the thoughts of the trade from Kevin Love. Talking about losing Waiters and the prospect of having Smith and Iman on their squad.
“I was a fan of Dion,” Love said. “I sat next to him on the plane. Good laughs. I enjoyed having him as a teammate, but Shump and J.R. coming in, I think they’ll give us some different looks on both sides of the ball. So, we’re excited about them.”
He said that Shumpert, who will wear No. 4 for the Cavs, brings defense while Smith, who will wear No. 5, brings offense.
“Shump, I think when he gets healthy, he can give us a different dynamic, especially on the defensive end,” Love said. “He’s a guy that has size and we can match him up against several different players out there on the perimeter. J.R., he can put up points in a hurry. He’s a guy that can be supplemented into the lineup, whether it’s the starting lineup or coming in off the bench and just gives us tremendous fire power and something that we need. So we kind of have the best of both worlds with those guys.“
Kevin Love is right. JR can help on offense (when he feels like it) and Iman can help on defense (when he’s healthy). The Cavs are looking good. Hopefully they can actually get moving up to the top 4 in the East like they should be.
