NBA Trade: Winners and Losers of the Sacramento Kings-Cleveland Cavaliers Trade

Last week the Sacramento Kings and Cleveland Cavaliers pulled off the final trade before the lockout. Omri Casspi is headed to Cleveland along with a first round pick, and J.J. Hickson is on his way out west.

This is a low profile deal with no premier players involved. But there is still enough material to assess the quality of the deal for the teams and players.

Here are the winners and losers.

Cavaliers: Winner

The Cavaliers definitely won this trade. And for a number of reasons too.

For starters, they rid themselves of J.J. Hickson. They had a serious logjam with him, Anderson Varejeo, Antawn Jamison and rookie Tristan Thompson. This deal will allow Thompson to get more playing time, which is the most important moving forward.

The Cavs also gain Omri Casspi. He will help in at small forward, a position they are pretty shallow at. He is a versatile forward who can hit jumpers.

The Kings' first rounder will definitely bring some value in the future; if they end up keeping him that is.

Omri Casspi: Winner

Omri Casspi had a pretty good rookie season in Sacramento. Last season, however, his production dropped off a little.

The Kings brought in even more players who need the ball in their hands. In Cleveland, Casspi will get away from the clutter on the Kings roster, and a fresh start. A player getting a change of scenery can help out a lot. With the Cavaliers, he will most likely get the starting job at small forward, so that's a good start.

Jimmer Fredette: Winner

The Sacramento Kings are loaded with perimeter players who need the ball in their hands. They cut down on it slightly by shipping out Casspi.

Even though it is not a big change, it does help. This move will allow Jimmer Fredette to be that much more involved in his rookie season.

Kings: Loser

The Kings got the short end of the stick in this swap. It's not a horrible deal, but they probably could have done better.

J.J. Hickson is not worth giving up a player of similar caliber and a first rounder. They also already have DeMarcus Cousins and Jason Thompson holding down the power forward slot.

J.J. Hickson: Loser

J.J. Hickson goes from being one of the cornerstones of a Cavaliers franchise that seemed to be on it's way back to relevancy, to being the newest member of a team that hasn't been making smart moves lately.

With the Kings, Hickson will probably have to come off the bench, after he started majority of his games last year. He will have to fight for minutes with DeMarcus Cousins and Jason Thompson.