Cleveland Cavaliers Trade Completed With Charlotte Hornets [Breaking]

Cleveland Cavaliers trade rumors have finally led to the front office making another move. Earlier this season, the Cavs made a trade with the Atlanta Hawks to acquire All-Star Kyle Korver, giving LeBron James another shooter to work with. Now the team has cleared another roster spot in order to add another playmaker before the February 23 NBA trade deadline.

A report by NBA analyst Chris Fedor states that the Cavs have come to terms on a deal with the Charlotte Hornets. The Cavs will trade big man Chris Andersen and cash to the Hornets in exchange for a 2017 second-round draft pick. That pick is top-55 protected for the Hornets, making it very unlikely that the Cavs will ever retain possession of the second-round selection.

Chris Andersen has only played 12 games for the Cleveland Cavaliers off the bench this season. He averaged 9.5 minutes a night, putting up 2.3 points and 2.6 rebounds per game. The 38-year-old veteran may be on the last legs of his career and it appears that he won’t be taking the court for the Charlotte Hornets either.

There are already NBA fans debating why the Hornets would want any part of this deal. The team is receiving cash from the Cavs and won’t have to give up any assets. The Hornets are waiving Andersen to immediately get him off the payroll, with the hopes that he could get claimed by another team as well.

For the Cavs, this is nothing more than an easy way to clear up a roster slot. The team doesn’t expect to get a second-round pick from the Hornets, as it would mean that Charlotte finished with one of the top five records in the entire NBA. That isn’t going to happen, meaning the draft pick will simply not change hands before the NBA trade deadline.

So what do these Cleveland Cavaliers trade rumors mean is coming next? The team now has an open roster slot that it can use to sign a free agent or to acquire an asset from another franchise. The most likely scenario is a free agent signing, but there have been many NBA rumors linking the Cavs to players like point guard Jose Calderon of the Los Angeles Lakers. He could certainly be a nice piece for the second unit on the Cavs.

The Cavs have been slipping a bit, and the latest NBA standings reflect that fact. The team still has a 37-16 record to lead the Eastern Conference, but the Cavs are now just two-and-a-half games ahead of the Boston Celtics for the No. 1 seed. Getting another player to come off the bench could certainly help the team rest its star players as well.

One of the most persistent Cleveland Cavaliers rumors is that the team is playing its star players too often and needs to start resting them. This includes LeBron James, Kevin Love, and Kyrie Irving getting more rest in the final two months of the NBA regular season. The plan for the Cavs is to go deep into the NBA Playoffs again but do so with a healthy and rested roster. In order to do that, James needs to not rank among the league-leaders in minutes every night.

This isn’t one of those NBA trades that will make a huge splash around the league, but it is a deal that helps both teams that are involved in it. The Charlotte Hornets get some cash out of the deal, though the amount has not been revealed yet. That helps the team without having to give up any assets. As for the Cleveland Cavaliers, this trade might cost a little money to get it completed, but now the team has the freedom to sign any free agent or to trade a draft pick to acquire another roster piece before the NBA trade deadline.

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