5 biggest surprises of the 2017-18 NBA season

3. Cleveland’s trade-deadline demolition

Give first-year Cavaliers general manager Koby Altman credit: He isn’t afraid to take a sledgehammer to his roster when need be.

A few weeks after Kyrie Irving met with Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert in July to request a trade, Altman shipped him to the Boston Celtics for Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder, Ante Zizic and the Brooklyn Nets’ unprotected 2018 first-round pick. When the new-look Cavs sputtered upon Thomas’ return from a hip injury in January, Altman knew he’d need to undertake even more drastic measures to give Cleveland a chance to return to the NBA Finals for the fourth straight season.

On the day of the trade deadline, Altman thus took a stick of dynamite to his roster.

He sent Thomas, Channing Frye and the Cavs’ 2018 first-round pick to the Los Angeles Lakers for Larry Nance Jr. and Jordan Clarkson. He then flipped Crowder and Derrick Rose to the Utah Jazz and Iman Shumpert to the Sacramento Kings in a three-team trade to net George Hill and Rodney Hood, and he shipped Dwyane Wade back to Miami for a heavily protected second-round pick.

Injuries to Hood, Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson haven’t allowed the post-trade deadline Cavs to develop much chemistry heading into the playoffs, which makes Cleveland the ultimate wild card. On paper, the Cavaliers appear to be the Raptors’ biggest obstacle en route to their first-ever NBA Finals berth, but they’ll need herculean efforts from LeBron James to thwart their neighbors to the north.

If nothing else, Altman’s willingness to radically shake up his roster sent a strong message to James ahead of his upcoming foray into free agency this summer. Whether that’s enough to keep the King in Cleveland likely comes down to how the Cavaliers fare in the playoffs over the coming weeks.

Next: 2. The Blake Griffin trade