CLEVELAND -- The Cleveland Cavaliers started the afternoon by swinging a four-player deal with the Los Angeles Lakers, but they were far from finished as the 3 p.m. deadline drew near.
An hour after trading away point guard Isaiah Thomas, power forward Channing Frye and their own first-round pick in the 2018 NBA Draft to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for guard Jordan Clarkson and forward Larry Nance, Jr., reports emerged of two other deals.
First, the Cavaliers struck a three-team deal with the Sacramento Kings and Utah Jazz.
The Cavaliers sent shooting guard Iman Shumpert to Sacramento as well as point guard Derrick Rose and small forward Jae Crowder to Utah in exchange for shooting guard Rodney Hood and point guard George Hill.
To complete the deal, the Jazz sent Joe Johnson to Sacramento.
In his fourth season out of Duke University, the 6-foot-8 Hood is averaging a career-best 16.8 points, 2.8 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 0.8 steals over 27.8 minutes in 39 games while shooting 42.4 percent from the field, 38.9 percent from three-point range and 87.6 percent from the free-throw line.
Despite playing in a career-low 39 games thus far this season, Hood, 25, is shooting career-best percentages from the field, three-point range and the charity stripe.
Hill was the subject of many reports and rumors over the last four weeks, and he brings nearly 10 years of NBA experience to Cleveland.
In his first season with the Kings, Hill is averaging 10.3 points, 2.7 rebounds and 2.8 assists over 26.6 minutes in 43 games. He shot 46.9 percent from the field, 45.3 percent from three-point range and 77.8 percent from the free-throw line with the Kings.
While his points, rebounds and assists averages were lower than any of the last six seasons, Hill’s shooting percentage from the field is the third-highest of his career, and he has never shot better from three-point range.
Then, the Cavaliers traded guard Dwyane Wade to the Miami Heat for a heavily-protected second-round pick in the NBA Draft, which they turned around and sent to the Kings.
After trading away Frye and Shumpert, the Cavaliers were left with just five players remaining on the roster from last year’s NBA Finals run: small forward LeBron James, power forward Kevin Love, shooting guards J.R. Smith and Kyle Korver and center Tristan Thompson.
Some even used the Cavaliers’ deadline deals to poke a little fun at former Cleveland Browns decision-maker Sashi Brown.
In what proved to be a final straw before his dismissal in early December, Brown failed to submit the required paperwork to the NFL offices at the deadline to consummate a deal with the Cincinnati Bengals. Brown’s inability submit the paperwork cost the Browns a trade for quarterback A.J. McCarron.
Brown was dismissed with five games remaining in the 2017 season, one in which the Browns finished off with only the second 0-16 record in NFL history.