Indiana Pacers: Re-grading the four-team trade last season involving Caris LeVert

Indiana Pacers: How did the Cavaliers fare in last season’s blockbuster trade

Cleveland dangled away a first-round pick from Milwaukee, obviously not as lustrous as it seems and a journeyman salary filler in Dante Exum. One might surmise that the Cavaliers probably didn’t get much in return. Guess what? In return, they acquired Jarrett Allen, a young center who’s among the league’s best rim protectors and a serviceable 3-and-D cog in Taurean Prince.

Rebuilding teams are understandably conservative in handing out draft picks, but Cleveland understood that Milwaukee’s pick isn’t worth much and were rewarded for believing that first-rounders are, more often that not, more valuable in theory than in practice. Netting a future for their center in Allen is a genius move for a franchise littered with questionable moves in recent years.

While the Cavs may have erred in overpaying to keep Allen in the offseason amidst drafting Evan Mobley on top of a cornucopia of big men in the roster, for what they gave up in return, you’d be hard pressed to find anything savvier than what Cleveland did.

Grade: A+