Five takeaways from the new
LeBron James
It’s all smiles for  LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers  after  their  roster makeover at the NBA’s trade deadline. (Adam Glanzman/Getty)
The decision to trade Kyrie Irving to the Celtics was the obvious thing people pointed to in talking about Cleveland’s offseason overhaul when this regular season began in October. But the larger issue for the Cavaliers wasn’t the departure of Irving (though it obviously hurt). It was Cleveland deciding to go away from the very thing that made the Cavaliers into the team that dominated the Eastern Conference over the past three years and won a championship in 2016: Surrounding  LeBron James  with shooters  giving  him  the ball and letting  him  go to work.
3.  LeBron James  is happy again
It only took watching the Cavaliers for a few minutes in January to see that  James  was miserable.  His  stats were down across the board  the team was getting drilled repeatedly  and  his  frustration with the whole situation was clear — to say nothing of the very obvious off-court chemistry issues that were repeatedly bubbling to the surface.
That was what made  James ’s performance — and  his  attitude — Sunday against the Celtics so striking.  He  was flying off the bench to celebrate the performances of  his  teammates — most notably on some late three-pointers by Jordan Clarkson to put the game out of reach.  He  followed up recording triple-doubles in  his  previous two games with 24 points  eight rebounds and 10 assists in 28 minutes as Cleveland won handily and allowed  him  to rest in the fourth quarter.
And when asked about  his  new teammates after the game on ABC’s telecast   he  was effusive in what they can bring to  his  team.
That’s just slightly different than the mood  James  had about  his  teammates a few days ago — and that  his  teammates had about  him . For as much as Cleveland needed to change its mix on the court  it needed to change it off the court as well. In doing so  the Cavaliers have gotten  James  back to being happy and motivated again — and succeeding in that gives Cleveland a bigger win than any other team in the NBA at the deadline.
While the Cavaliers now have a roster and rotation that makes sense in the context of what works best for  James   the moves they made also gave this team a desperately needed shot in the arm of youth and athleticism.
It’s all smiles for  [TGT]after  [TGT]  roster makeover at the NBA’s trade deadline. (Adam Glanzman/Getty)
The decision to trade Kyrie Irving to the Celtics was the obvious thing people pointed to in talking about Cleveland’s offseason overhaul when this regular season began in October. But the larger issue for the Cavaliers wasn’t the departure of Irving (though it obviously hurt). It was Cleveland deciding to go away from the very thing that made the Cavaliers into the team that dominated the Eastern Conference over the past three years and won a championship in 2016: Surrounding  [TGT]with shooters  giving  [TGT]  the ball and letting  [TGT]  go to work.
3.  [TGT]is happy again
It only took watching the Cavaliers for a few minutes in January to see that  [TGT]was miserable.  [TGT]  stats were down across the board  the team was getting drilled repeatedly  and  [TGT]  frustration with the whole situation was clear — to say nothing of the very obvious off-court chemistry issues that were repeatedly bubbling to the surface.
That was what made  [TGT] ’s performance — and  [TGT]  attitude — Sunday against the Celtics so striking.  [TGT]  was flying off the bench to celebrate the performances of  [TGT]  teammates — most notably on some late three-pointers by Jordan Clarkson to put the game out of reach.  [TGT]  followed up recording triple-doubles in  [TGT]  previous two games with 24 points  eight rebounds and 10 assists in 28 minutes as Cleveland won handily and allowed  [TGT]  to rest in the fourth quarter.
And when asked about  [TGT]  new teammates after the game on ABC’s telecast   [TGT]  was effusive in what they can bring to  [TGT]  team.
That’s just slightly different than the mood  James  had about  his  teammates a few days ago — and that  his  teammates had about  him . For as much as Cleveland needed to change its mix on the court  it needed to change it off the court as well. In doing so  the Cavaliers have gotten  James  back to being happy and motivated again — and succeeding in that gives Cleveland a bigger win than any other team in the NBA at the deadline.
While the Cavaliers now have a roster and rotation that makes sense in the context of what works best for  James   the moves they made also gave this team a desperately needed shot in the arm of youth and athleticism.