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New York Knicks Get Upper-Hand in Blockbuster 3-Team Trade

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By @Pat_Ralph

J.R. Smith New York Knicks

Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY Sports

A three-team blockbuster trade shook the NBA landscape on Monday night, highlighted by the New York Knicks sending guards J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert to the Cleveland Cavaliers while Cavaliers’ guard Dion Waiters was sent to the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Cavaliers also received a protected first-round draft pick from the Thunder, while the Knicks received a plethora of non-guaranteed contract players and a protected second-round pick from the Cavaliers. Despite the Knicks having to give away two key players on their roster and getting no immediate impact in return, New York without question won this trade long-term.

The trade brought about two important things the Knicks desperately needed: cap space and cultural change. By dumping off the player option of $6.4 million owed to Smith next season and Shumpert’s contract, the Knicks will have close to $28 million in cap space entering the summer of 2015 when New York is expected to pursue potential free agents such as Marc Gasol and Rajon Rondo, just to name a couple. Along with big man Samuel Dalembert, the Knicks plan on waiving the three non-guaranteed contract players in order to create more cap space for the upcoming offseason. The trade now gives the Knicks’ front office more resources to further rebuild and improve this team around franchise player Carmelo Anthony.

Most importantly, Knicks president Phil Jackson and head coach Derek Fisher are continuing with their goal to drastically change the culture of this franchise. Smith, notoriously known as a headcase throughout his entire career, had become a bane in the Knicks’ locker room and even began suggesting that New York play an alternate system to that of the triangle offense. While Shumpert was a fan favorite, frequent injuries and inconsistent production on the offensive end curtailed the Knicks’ high aspirations for the young guard.

For Cleveland, the addition of Shumpert finally gives this team another strong perimeter defender. However, simply adding just Shumpert will not overhaul the defensive culture of the Cavaliers. The necessity to acquire a rim-protecting big man is still pertinent for this team if Cleveland wants to be a serious championship contender. While Smith will be counted on for offensive production, there is little to no difference between the way he and Waiters play. The only difference between the two happens to be that Smith is an older version of Waiters.

As crazy as this may sound, Smith is actually a slight upgrade over Waiters at the shooting guard position. Smith’s points per game, three-point shooting percentage, rebounds per game and assists per game averages are all higher than those of Waiters this season. However, as the Cavaliers may come to know, Smith will bring just as much baggage to Northeast Ohio as Waiters is leaving with. Smith will be an offensive spark for Cleveland, but in no way will he help solve the Cavaliers’ defensive woes.

Like what Smith did to the Knicks, Waiters absolutely wore out LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and the Cavaliers’ organization because of his poor play on the floor and selfish attitude off the floor. As a result, the Cavaliers sent him packing to Oklahoma City. While the Thunder are luckily giving up pretty much nothing for Waiters, the move is a huge risk to Oklahoma City’s chemistry. Waiters clashed frequently with his teammates in Cleveland for not being a starter or team player, and a recurrence of these habits will not end well with a team that has arguably the best team chemistry in the NBA.

If Waiters could not get along with James and Irving, it is hard to imagine Waiters working cohesively with Kevin Durant and, especially, Russell Westbrook, who has one of the most strong-minded personalities in the league. Waiters should be an offensive spark off of the bench for Oklahoma City despite his struggles this season, but it would be unwise for the Thunder to count on him for defensive help. Furthermore, Waiters is still under contract through next season, so Oklahoma City is hoping Waiters can blossom into the potential star he can be.

While there will be lots of criticism and potential controversy in Cleveland and Oklahoma City over this trade, the Knicks are breaking from their tradition of causing conflict and hopefully bringing the city of New York closer to an NBA championship in the future.

Patrick Ralph is a writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @Pat_Ralph, like him on Facebook, or add him to your network on Google.

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