Cleveland Rebuilt Its Wing Rotation in One Move
Cleveland entered January 2015 with a talented roster that still had obvious fit problems around LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love. The three-team deal sent Dion Waiters to Oklahoma City and brought J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert from New York to the Cavaliers, along with Oklahoma City's protected first-round pick. Smith immediately supplied high-volume perimeter shooting, while Shumpert gave Cleveland a bigger defensive guard and wing option. Both became regular postseason pieces as the Cavaliers reached the Finals in 2015 and then won the 2016 championship.
The First-Round Pick Became Trade Currency for Mozgov
The protected Oklahoma City first was not simply a distant bonus. Two days after this trade, Cleveland sent that pick and another first-rounder to Denver for Timofey Mozgov. The Oklahoma City selection eventually conveyed in 2016 and became No. 26, Furkan Korkmaz, after moving through later transactions. Cleveland never drafted Korkmaz, so his career should not be credited to the Cavaliers. The value Cleveland actually realized was the ability to use the incoming first as part of the price for Mozgov, another starter-level piece in the club's immediate title push.
Oklahoma City Got a Useful Scorer but Not the Best Outcome
The Thunder acquired Waiters and gave up the protected first that went to Cleveland. Waiters became a genuine rotation player in Oklahoma City, appearing in 78 games in 2015-16 and averaging double figures while helping the Thunder reach the Western Conference finals. That supports the canonical C rather than treating Oklahoma City's side as empty. The issue is comparative value: one useful guard season and a half did not match the combination of Smith, Shumpert and the first-round asset Cleveland immediately repurposed for another win-now acquisition.
New York's Salary Reset Came at a Severe Basketball Cost
New York's motivation was financial. Moving Smith and Shumpert helped clear future salary and opened room in a season that had already collapsed, but the basketball return was thin: Lou Amundson, Alex Kirk and a 2019 second-round pick from Cleveland, with partner-only routing handled separately in the canonical ledger. Amundson gave the Knicks some frontcourt minutes, Kirk was waived, and the later second eventually became the No. 33 selection associated with Carsen Edwards after further transactions. Against the championship-level value Cleveland extracted from Smith and Shumpert, the Knicks' realized return supports the canonical F.
The Championship Context Makes Cleveland's A Easy to Defend
Smith and Shumpert were not temporary rentals that disappeared before the Cavaliers' window opened. Smith remained a major floor-spacing guard through four straight Finals trips and started throughout the 2016 championship postseason. Shumpert stayed through the 2018 season and supplied defense across multiple playoff runs. Add the first-round pick that helped acquire Mozgov, and Cleveland turned one difficult backcourt fit in Waiters plus ancillary assets into three pieces that directly supported a title contender. That combination of role fit, postseason longevity and asset conversion is why the Cavaliers clearly won the completed trade.
Final Verdict
Cavaliers Win — Cleveland A, New York F, Oklahoma City C. Cleveland turned Dion Waiters and ancillary outgoing assets into J.R. Smith, Iman Shumpert and a protected first-round pick, then used that pick as part of the Timofey Mozgov trade. Smith and Shumpert became multi-year playoff contributors and both were part of the 2016 championship team. Oklahoma City received useful production from Waiters, so its return was defensible. New York gained salary relief but little comparable basketball value. The completed results give Cleveland the strongest package by a wide margin.