NBA News: Cavs Trade Dion Waiters To OKC, Gets JR Smith And Iman Shumpert From The Knicks In 3-Team Deal

Dion Waiters will be joining Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook and the rest of OKC Thunder.

NBA.com reported that the Cleveland Cavaliers, New York Knicks and Oklahoma City Thunder were recently involved in a three-way deal. Waiters was traded by the Cavs to OKC and got J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert from the Knicks in return. The Knicks acquired forward Lance Thomas from OKC and Lou Amundson, Alex Kirk and a 2019 second-round pick from Cleveland.

David Griffin, general manager of the Cavaliers, said about the 2012 No. 4 overall pick, "Dion is a talented player with potential ahead of him. Trades like this are always difficult to make because there are relationships and bonds built and that was the case with Dion. At the same time, we're very excited to welcome Iman and J.R. to Cleveland. With their size and versatility, we think both Iman and J.R. can help our team on both ends of the court and we look forward to them joining us."

In the same NBA.com report, Thunder also seems to be happy with the trade. General manager Sam Presti welcomed Waiters, saying, "Dion Waiters is a player that we've tracked and liked since his time at Syracuse, in the NBA, and with USA Basketball. Dion provides another proven scorer that positively impacts our roster and adds depth and flexibility. We have a lot of respect for his toughness and competitiveness, and believe that he is a physical playmaker who will enhance the versatility of our team."

MVP Kevin Durant said in an ESPN report, "I'm excited about bringing Dion aboard. A guy that has a lot of toughness. Being from the East Coast, I know a lot about Philadelphia, South Philly, where he comes from. Those guys are tough, and they play with an edge. And that's what we need here."

As for the Knicks, transferring J.R. Smith and Shumpert was mainly for financial reasons, allowing them more cap space for future acquisitions, based on an article by Yahoo Sports. The Knicks further waived center Samuel Dalembert. Unloading all three players saved the Knicks over $20 million in salary and luxury taxes. After ridding of Smith's $6.4 million player option for the following year, the Knicks will have over $30 million in cap space next summer.

Knicks president Phil Jackson said, "As our journey moves through this season, we will search for the type of players that fit the style we hope to exhibit to our fans. Our desire to improve our ability to compete. These transactions improve our flexibility to the current roster and the salary cap for future seasons."