Trades occurred, and the Atlanta Hawks dominated this week in the NBA. Let’s take a look back.
With LeBron James out of action and the team still struggling to cope with the absence of Anderson Varajao, the Cavaliers took decisive action to bolster their roster this week.
Cleveland dealt guard Dion Waiters, Lou Amundson, Alex Kirk and a 2019 second-round pick to the Oklahoma City Thunder as part of a three-team trade that netted the Cavs J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert from the New York Knicks along with a protected first round pick from the Thunder.
Dion Waiters was exiled from a Cavs team that had grown tired of his give and take with budding superstar Kyrie Irving. The Thunder hope that Waiters can regain his shooting touch and play the part that James Harden played for them a few years back.
The Knicks were able to dump salary by parting with Smith and Shumpert and acquiring Admunson and Kirk from the Cavs, while also getting Lance Thomas from the Thunder and then promptly releasing all three.
The Cavs acquisition of Smith and Shumpert did not do much to cover the gap that appeared in their front line when Varajao went down.
But Cleveland was not done. The Cavs dealt their pick from OKC along with another first-round pick acquired via Memphis to Denver for center Timofey Mozgov.
Mozgov’s acquisition gives the Cavs the rim defender they desperately needed and a big who can share the rebounding load with Kevin Love. J.R. Smith may find new life in Cleveland returning to his sixth man role, and Shumpert is playing for a contract.
Both players will certainly beef up the Cleveland bench, but the big addition is Mozgov, who gives the Cavs a legitimate starting center with upside for the future.
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Don’t look now, but the Atlanta Hawks are tops in the Eastern Conference, and it’s not even close anymore. Atlanta has won eight in a row, including victories over Portland, Washington, Memphis and the suddenly scorching Detroit Pistons.
The Hawks have gone 20-2 since Thanksgiving. Five of their eight losses this season came in their first 10 games. Atlanta owns a three-and-a-half game lead over the Raptors and Bulls and, coincidentally, will face off against Toronto and Chicago later this week.
Jeff Teague has taken over the reins of coach Mike Budenholzer's offense, and is averaging 22 points and eight assists per game over the last week while shooting better than 53 percent from the field.
Despite the gaudy numbers and the impressive team achievement thus far in the season, it is entirely possible that no Atlanta Hawk will be invited to New York for the 2015 All Star Game.
Atlanta coach Mike Budenholzer spent 18 seasons on Greg Popovich’s staff in San Antonio and has found success employing his mentor’s methods with the Hawks.
Budenhozer has his team playing the same fundamental, team oriented basketball style featured over so many seasons in San Antonio. Given the chaos looming over the Hawks ownership, the team’s recent winning ways are all that more impressive.
