NBA Trades: Was Baron Davis to Cleveland Cavaliers the Steal of the Deadline?
All it takes is one trade—just one—that not only changes the chemistry and makeup of a team, but can also lead down the path to a bright future.
Yes, two-time All-Star Deron Williams shocked the NBA world when Utah traded him to New Jersey.
The best trade of the NBA trade deadline, though, should go to the worst team in the NBA: the Cleveland Cavaliers.
For the Cavaliers, things have been anything but normal since a certain someone packed his bags and left for the warmer, sunny beaches of Miami.
That part you know.
What you don't know, is that by making a trade with the Los Angeles Clippers for Baron Davis, Cleveland may have essentially punched their ticket and booked a flight back to NBA stardom.
Now, what is so special about a player who averages 12.8 points and seven assists per game, turns 32 years old in about a month and is owed $28 million over the next two seasons?
Well, other than being a former two-time All-Star and a veteran presence on the team, not much.
Instead, when Cleveland traded Mo Williams and Jamario Moon to L.A., the Cavaliers not only received Davis, but the Clippers' 2011 first-round draft pick as well—a pick projected to be in the top 10 overall.
With the Cavs (10-47) already having the projected No. 1 overall pick in the upcoming draft, this move gives them the potential to have two draft picks within the top 10; something that could give a rebuilding team like Cleveland a quick jump start towards the future.
It has definitely been a while since the Cavaliers even had a lottery pick—let alone have two in the same draft. You would have to go back seven years, to when Cleveland chose Oregon forward Luke Jackson with the 10th overall pick in 2004.
Wait; who exactly?
Yes, Jackson played just 16 career games in Cleveland—becoming a major top 10 bust. We all know who they drafted the year before with the first pick in 2003; at least Cleveland got that pick right—or so they thought.
The Cavaliers must get this upcoming draft right if they want to have any chance of contending in the next few years.
Both picks could realistically become the new faces of the Cavs' franchise for the next decade.
If everything goes right, February 24, 2011 may in fact go down in history as the day the Cavaliers and the city of Cleveland finally changed the course of their losing ways and climbed back into becoming one of the NBA's best teams once again.
Could Cleveland fans next season be sporting new Cavalier jerseys with the name "Sullinger" on the back?
Well, we'll have to wait and see.
