Opposing fans hit LeBron and the Cavs with a savage chant after big trades
The Cleveland Cavaliers dressed only 10 players last night for their win against the Atlanta Hawks, because, well, pretty much half the team was dealt away at Thursday’s NBA trade deadline.
Hawks fans, during the Cavs’ visit to Atlanta on Friday night, had a warning for all nine of those Cavs players not named LeBron James.
“He will trade you” and “LeBron will leave you,” they chanted, while Tristan Thompson and Jeff Green took free throws.
Thompson missed two free throws as the chant rang through the arena.
James was obviously not happy with the way the team was playing — and how could he be? Cleveland has been awful since mid-December.
On Dec. 18, the Cavs were 23-8. Coming into Friday night’s game against the Hawks, they were 8-14 since then.
But the team was not just losing, it was getting blown out of the water — by 28 against the Timberwolves, by 34 against the Raptors, by 24 versus the Thunder and by 32 against the Rockets.
Not to mention internal strife that played out in the media like a soap opera.
James reportedly was upset that the GM Koby Altman hadn’t gotten him more help.
Well, Thursday, he did. The Cavs traded six players from that dysfunctional roster: Isaiah Thomas, Dwyane Wade, Derrick Rose, Jae Crowder, Channing Frye and Iman Shumpert.
In return, the Cavs got back Rodney Hood, George Hill, Jordan Clarkson and Larry Nance Jr.
None of the new players played Friday night, but they are likely to make their debut Sunday in Boston on “Paul Pierce Day,” when the Celtics hang his No. 34 from the rafters.
James asks and he receives, prompting many to believe that he called the shots in overturning the roster.
But it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize that Cleveland’s roster, as it was constituted, was not working. The most glaring problem was its defense, which was ranked 31st in the NBA.
And it looks like, on paper, at least, that the Cavs have improved. While they did give up the best player in the trade in Thomas, he was a defensive liability and was not working out playing alongside James.
Hill is a good defensive point guard, and both Clarkson and Hood will add some scoring punch. Nance will provide some good front-court depth behind Kevin Love, once Love returns from his hand injury.
Whether or not these moves will translate into the Cavs actually winning games again remains to be seen. But it really can’t get much worse in Cleveland than it has been of late.
Undeterred — or inspired — by the savage fan chants, the Cavaliers beat Atlanta 123-107 to drop the Hawks to 17-39 on the year.
James dished out a career-high 19 assists in the win, which improved Cleveland’s record to 32-22.
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