The deal
Rockets get: Iman Shumpert, Nik Stauskas and Wade Baldwin
Cavaliers get: Brandon Knight, Marquese Chriss and a lottery-protected 2019 first-round pick
Kings get: Alec Burks, second-round pick
Get more trade grades for every deal here
Houston Rockets: B+
This deal fits what has become an established template for deadline trades, in which a team both sheds future salary and gets a contributor for the rest of the season. In this case, the balance tends to tilt more toward financial benefit, as the Rockets both substantially cut into their 2018-19 luxury-tax bill and gained more flexibility for next season.
Let's start, however, on the court. A year removed from being salary dumped by the Cavaliers at the deadline, Shumpert has enjoyed an improbable resurgence in Sacramento. Healthy after sitting out the entire second half of last season due to plantar fasciitis and the lingering effects of December meniscus surgery, Shumpert has started 40 of the 42 games he has played for the Kings.
Still a quality defender, Shumpert has shot well enough from beyond the 3-point arc (37 percent) to once again be considered a 3-and-D contributor. He'll join James Ennis III and Austin Rivers in the mix for wing minutes and might become Houston's best defensive option against point guards when Chris Paul is unavailable.
Consider Shumpert's contributions a bonus on top of the Rockets' savings in this trade, which start with cutting their luxury-tax bill this season. Having started with the seemingly immovable $41 million-plus remaining on Ryan Anderson's contract -- oddly, also traded Wednesday, by Phoenix -- Houston used a first-round pick, a second-round pick and the rights to 2018 second-rounder De'Anthony Melton to get down all the way to the $14 million owed Shumpert, Baldwin and Stauskas this season.
This deal specifically translates into an additional $6.3 million in luxury-tax savings this season, plus clearing Knight's $15.6 million 2019-20 salary off the books. The Rockets may yet be able to save more if they can find a taker for either Baldwin or Stauskas before the deadline, though they're limited to about the value of their remaining salary in cash to send in a trade this season.
For next season, Houston will now start off below the tax line despite Harden's salary jumping up $8 million as his supermax extension kicks in. Avoiding the tax entirely would be a challenge, but the Rockets should be able to keep it at manageable levels.
If this were strictly a financial trade, giving up a first-round pick most likely to fall around 20th or 21st might be a tough sell in Houston. Add Shumpert, however, and it's a solid move.
Cleveland Cavaliers: B
Operation: Stockpile Draft Picks continues apace for the Cavaliers, who add another first-rounder to the one they got from the Milwaukee Bucks in the George Hill deal plus six second-round picks accumulated during the season.
This is how a team rebuilding after LeBron James' departures should operate, though it's complicated to some extent by Cleveland dealing with its own luxury-tax concerns. The Cavaliers had to send Baldwin and Stauskas, acquired in Sunday's trade with the Portland Trail Blazers, to the Rockets in order to avoid going into the tax this season -- when they have an 11-43 record. And after adding Knight, Cleveland currently projects in the tax in 2019-20, though waiving J.R. Smith (whose salary is guaranteed for just $3.9 million) would get the Cavaliers back below the projected tax line.
Knight's contract lines up with the others Cleveland has taken on this season, which conclude next season. The two veterans signed beyond 2019-20 on the Cavaliers roster are All-Star forward Kevin Love and center Larry Nance Jr. By then, Cleveland's rebuilding project should have taken on greater direction. For now, the Cavaliers' roster is a mishmash of holdovers from the LeBron era and newly acquired veterans.
As for the players in this deal, the Rockets publicly hoped Knight could give them some backup minutes this season. He wasn't able to stay healthy after missing all of 2017-18 with an ACL tear and ended up playing just 118 ineffective minutes there. Knight shot 5-of-32 on 3s in that span. Given Knight's defense was already a liability before the injury, I think it's unlikely he'll ever be a rotation player on a competitive team despite being just 27.
The Rockets gave Chriss a chance to get his career back on track after two disappointing seasons in Phoenix. The No. 8 overall pick of the 2016 draft couldn't take advantage, playing even less than Knight (104 minutes) although Houston was in desperate need of center help with Capela's injury. If Chriss' athleticism was going to translate anywhere, the Rockets' system looked like the right place. So I doubt Chriss factors into Cleveland's plans as anything but an expiring contract.
Sacramento Kings: C
The Kings' portion of this deal is perhaps most interesting because it suggests something else afoot before the deadline. Shumpert started and played nearly 35 minutes as recently as Monday night in an impressive win over the San Antonio Spurs, so I don't think Sacramento would give him up for another expiring contract and a second-round pick without some kind of replacement lined up.
You'll recall that the Kings are the only NBA team with appreciable cap space remaining -- about $10.6 million. They could combine that with any of a number of expiring contracts (Burks' $11.5 million, Zach Randolph's $11.7 million, Kosta Koufos' $8.7 million or Ben McLemore's $5.4 million) to take back a highly-paid player from a team looking to shed salary. Ideally, that player would be a small forward, filling the role Shumpert had played this season but offering more size and long-term potential at the position. We'll see what Sacramento comes up with by Thursday's deadline.