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Boston Celtics: Cavaliers Lakers Trade Changes A Lot

By Joshua Bateman

CLEVELAND, OH - FEBRUARY 7: Isaiah Thomas #3 of the Cleveland Cavaliers gets introduced before the game against the Minnesota Timberwolves on February 7, 2018 at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by David Liam Kyle/NBAE via Getty Images)
CLEVELAND, OH - FEBRUARY 7: Isaiah Thomas #3 of the Cleveland Cavaliers gets introduced before the game against the Minnesota Timberwolves on February 7, 2018 at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by David Liam Kyle/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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The Boston Celtics will feel the impact of the Cavaliers Lakers trade

The Cleveland Cavaliers and the Los Angeles Lakers have delivered a blockbuster trade, with Isaiah Thomas and Channing Frye going to the Lakers with a first round pick for Larry Nance Jr. and Jordan Clarkson. Considering the Cavaliers are the team to beat in the East, and the Boston Celtics have the Lakers pick, you could not make a more impactful trade that did not involve the Celtics themselves.

First of all, there are a lot of different directions this trade could go. Maybe the Cavaliers will rally together and turn it around with the new pieces. Both Nance and Clarkson are going to be good contributors, but with Kevin Love out, this is as alone LeBron James has ever been in Cleveland.

It is possible that the Cavaliers will not be quite as bad, but there is no way their ceiling is anywhere near as high as it could be with Thomas. The Cavaliers never gave Thomas a real chance to bounce back from his injury, and if he would have been able to turn it around, then the Cavaliers would be immediate favourites in the East.

Without Thomas there, we are reinforcing the possibility that this is the changing of the guard in the East. The Cavaliers are looking less and less like a team that is going to reach the Finals, and you know every Celtics fan is happy that they are not going to have to beat Thomas in order to get to the Finals.

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This does not take the Cavaliers out of contention, because they got two solid players in return. That being said, it feels a lot like this move was done in order to prepare for something beyond just this season, reinforcing their young core to go along with that Nets pick. If that is the case, this very well could be the move that really ends James’ reign over the East, and leads to his eventual departure (which probably would have happened anyways).

On the Lakers side, it gets really interesting for the Celtics. Obviously, they want the Lakers to do as poorly as possible, and Thomas should be given the freedom to carry them like he did when he first came to Boston. The Celtics did not give up as much, but they traded for Thomas in the middle of a season when they were a fringe playoff team, and you know Thomas will have his mind set on getting the Lakers to the playoffs, as he did with the Celtics.

That being said, there is no Brad Stevens in Los Angeles, it is a lot harder to get into the playoffs in this situation, and the Lakers gutted a solid portion of their team in this trade. Both Nance and Clarkson were vital pieces to this current team, and they could be in shambles for a while.

The Lakers need to figure out how to make these pieces work together now, and they have to figure out how the Lonzo Ball/Thomas dynamic is going to work. On top of all that, we still cannot take Thomas’ play for granted. Who knows how long it could take for him to start getting back to the way he played last year. Even if he will never be quite as good, he can still be the best player on this Lakers team by a wide margin.

If Thomas is great again, then this hurts the Celtics, because he could easily keep them out of that 2-5 range in the lottery. On the other hand, if Thomas still needs time to get back to himself, and the Lakers have trouble filling those other positions, there could be a long a detrimental transition period, that could send the Lakers into a free fall down the standings, leading to another top pick for the Celtics.

There are other factors for the Lakers, who got another draft pick and helped free up cap space to sign two max contract free agents. On top of that, they could be thinking about trying to keeping Thomas and build around a backcourt of him and Ball, but that will certainly come down to how much money Thomas is looking for.

Next: Boston Celtics Better off with Smart or Evans?

The Celtics were not involved, but the Cavaliers and the Lakers just changed their season in multiple ways, and the ramifications of this trade could have a huge impact on this season, and the future for Boston.

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