How will this new Cavaliers rotation shake out?

In terms of action, drama and suspense, the NBA trade deadline rarely disappoints. This year was no exception, with LeBron James getting his Michael Corleone-at-the-baptism moment — all family business got settled and the culprits to Cleveland’s woes were eradicated. Dwyane Wade even fits as Moe Greene, in all likelihood peering up from the massage table to look down the barrel of a one-way ticket to Miami.

Opinions varied on their dealings, but I LOVE what the Cavaliers did. They got rid of guys who were either actively bad/washed (Derrick Rose, Iman Shumpert, Wade), bad fits in Cleveland (Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder) or declining role players (Channing Frye), and still held on to the Brooklyn pick.

Taking on Jordan Clarkson and his contract got widely panned, but he fills a large void as a bench scorer. His points come more through volume than efficiency, but he was already coming off the pine for the Lakers and knows his place with his new team.

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George Hill’s mired in a subpar season, but surely some (or most) of that can be attributed to being stuck in the rut that is being on the Kings franchise. Never underestimate a veteran getting a new lease on life when going to a contender from a bottom-dweller. Oh, and he’s shooting 45 percent from 3-point range. That’ll help.

Larry Nance Jr. does all the little things and provides energy. He’ll get to slide up as a small-ball 5 and take the honor of catching lobs from LeBron.

Rodney Hood’s entire career has been defined by flashes of greatness one game, then fading into the background the next. The enigmatic frustration gets exacerbated on a team who needs you to consistently carry the load. That won’t be the case in Cleveland, where Hood will probably play 20-25 minutes per game as a reserve and his contributions won’t be as critical to their success.

Overall, the Cavaliers got younger, more athletic, better defensively (because they couldn’t really get worse) and improved their shooting. Maybe they don’t have a big three, but they now have a much better-fitting support system of secondary players.

The trades also cleared out the evident toxicity enveloping the team. J.R. Smith looks reinvigorated. Kevin Love’s been celebrating on the sidelines with sheer elation. Sure, maybe it’s because the locker room was one step away from turning into Lord of the Flies and he knew he’d be Piggy. Regardless, morale is clearly improved in The Land.

They’ve gone 3-0 since tilling their roster, with all three wins coming on the road. The first doesn’t totally count since A) the reinforcements didn’t arrive in time to be active so LeBron won with some randomly–generated players from NBA2K (and still managed a triple-double) and B) it was against the Hawks. The second and third wins were higher difficulties, at Boston and Oklahoma City. The new-look Cavs exerted dominance in those with an average margin of victory of 15 points.

Over the past two games, their starters and most-used 5-man lineup has been LeBron, Cedi Osman, Tristan Thompson, Hill and Smith. In a total of 33 minutes, they have a net rating of 14.6. Their second-most used quintet was a bench mob of Kyle Korver, Jeff Green, Clarkson, Hood and Nance Jr. In their 19 minutes together, they’ve posted an astronomical net rating of 36.9.

This comes with the glaring caveat of extremely small sample size, but the ideal outline should be clear: Both lineups are contemporary, featuring shooters, switchability, one big and at least two playmakers.

The addition of so many new moving pieces will necessitate experimentation. They’ll undoubtedly tinker to find the best combinations and figuring those out will be tantamount to getting back in the finals. The big question looming — as it has so often before — is what do they do with Love?

He’s due back from his broken hand at the beginning of April. That gives the Cavaliers roughly two weeks to get him assimilated before the playoffs start. The most likely scenario is him replacing Osman with the starters and staggering his minutes with Thompson so they can go smaller in stretches. The less obvious plan would be sliding Love into Green’s spot and give him heavy minutes with the bench unit. Sure, maybe the mix of Love, Korver, Clarkson, Hood and Nance Jr. would hemorrhage points, but they’d spread the floor and shoot the lights out.

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The Cavs are at their peak when they surround LeBron with shooters, one pick-and-roll partner and versatility. The latter is what the Cavaliers gave themselves above all else with their trades at the deadline. It is perhaps the most important attribute outside of talent for winning in today’s NBA. Hats off to Koby Altman for not shrug emoji-ing and pulling a blanket of complacency over his head just because Cleveland employs the league’s best player. Their house was on fire and they realized it was not fine.