Iman Shumpert to Cavaliers: Latest Trade Details, Comments and Reaction
After plenty of speculation, the New York Knicks have finally decided to trade Iman Shumpert.
According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports, New York has agreed to trade Shumpert to the Cleveland Cavaliers:
"The Cleveland Cavaliers have reached an agreement in principle to acquire New York Knicks guards J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert in amulti-team trade that also sends guard Dion Waiters to the Oklahoma City Thunder, league sources told Yahoo Sports.
Oklahoma City will give the Cavaliers a protected future first-round draft pick and send guard Lance Thomas to the Knicks, league sources said. As part of the trade, the Cavaliers will send rookie center Alex Kirk, forward Lou Amundson and a 2019 second-round pick to the Knicks, sources said.
For New York, the deal is a salary dump to clear cap space. The Knicks unload the $6.4 million owed to Smith next season.
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The Cavs would later confirm the trade:
This season, Shumpert, who has missed the team's last 11 games with a shoulder injury, is averaging 9.3 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.3 steals in 26 minutes of action a night. He has played in 24 games for a Knicks team that entered Monday with a 5-31 record.
He finished the 2013-14 NBA season with an average of 6.7 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game in 26.5 minutes a night.
Though he does not put up superstar numbers, he helps out in a lot of ways on the court.
With his strength, length and athleticism, he is an excellent on-ball defender who does a good job of shutting down opposing players on the perimeter. He knows how to force turnovers, although he sometimes gets into foul trouble when he is too aggressive.
Meanwhile, that athleticism is also seen on the offensive end, where he can drive to the lane and finish at or above the rim.
Shumpert did have a down year from a shooting perspective last season, but he nailed 40.2 percent of his shots from behind the arc in the 2012-13 season. If he can get hot, he can be a legitimate weapon from deep.
Unfortunately, Shumpert's overall level of play was down in 2013-14, especially on the offensive end. One possible explanation is that he had to deal with the distraction of various trade rumors throughout the season.
ESPN.com's Chris Broussard reported during the regular season that both the Oklahoma City Thunder and Los Angeles Clippers were interested in making a deal. When the talk first picked up in November of 2013, he seemed to be able to avoid letting it be a distraction, according to Scott Cacciola of The New York Times:
"I just want to play, man. I just want to win. I know I can’t predict the future. I can’t say what anybody’s going to do, with all the trade rumors that are going on. There’s nothing I can do about it. All I can do is play hard."
However, the continued uncertainty—not to mention the overall team struggles—led to continued struggles for the former first-round pick.
In early February, Carmelo Anthony had this to say about his teammate's inability to score, via Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com:
"It’s something that he has to figure out. We’ve got to help him figure it out too. If we have to do a better job of getting him the ball in his spots, then we have to do that. I don’t think it’s just on him ... Does he have to be more aggressive? I think so. But for the most part, we have to help him out in that category.
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With other players taking away minutes, it is easy to understand why Shumpert was made expendable. On the other hand, perhaps a change of scenery is exactly what will be needed to get the 24-year-old player back on track. Having LeBron James to help guide him certainly can't hurt.
When playing at his best, Shumpert is an elite defender who can guard multiple positions as well as become a solid secondary scorer on offense. He also played mostly point guard at Georgia Tech and could be used in that role on a part-time basis to help ease the burden on Kyrie Irving.
Cleveland will hope to get the better version of Shumpert as someone who can make a positive impact this year and in the future. He's still young and has potential to develop his game further.
If he does, this could be a savvy move for the Cavs. For Shumpert, hopefully this move helps him regain his focus and serves as a long-term destination moving forward.
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