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The Cleveland Cavaliers entered the NBA back in 1970. Since then, the franchise has recorded 1,867 wins and 2,168 losses in the regular season and captured one NBA championship. Cleveland's lone title came in 2016 when LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love guided the Cavs to the title over the 73-9 Golden State Warriors in seven epic games.
The 2016 Cavs are still the only team in NBA history to erase a 3-1 series deficit in the NBA Finals.
For this piece, we take a look at the Cavs' front office history of pulling off trade deadline deals. As is the case with every team, Cleveland has made some great and terrible deadline trades over the years.
1970-71
The Cavs traded McCoy McLemore to the Milwaukee Bucks for Gary Freeman and a 1971 second-round pick.
1978-79
Cleveland sent Jim Brewer and future considerations to the Detroit Pistons for Earl Tatum.
1979-80
The Cavs dealt Butch Lee and a 1982 first-round pick to the Los Angeles Lakers for Don Ford and a 1980 first-round pick.
1980-81
Cleveland traded Chad Kinch and a 1985 first-round pick to the Dallas Mavericks for Geoff Huston and a 1983 third-round pick.
1981-82
The Cavs sent Reggie Johnson to the Kansas City Kings for Cliff Robinson.
Cleveland also dealt Kenny Carr and Bill Laimbeer to the Pistons for Phil Hubbard, Paul Mokeski, a 1982 first-round pick and a 1982 second-round pick.
1982-83
The Cavs traded James Edwards and a 1983 first-round pick to the Phoenix Suns for Jeff Cook, a 1983 first-round pick and a 1983 third-round pick.
1984-85
Cleveland sent Paul Thompson to the Milwaukee Bucks for a 1985 second-round pick and a 1987 second-round pick.
1985-86
The Cavs traded Johnny Davis to the Atlanta Hawks for Eddie Johnson.
1986-87
Cleveland sent Ben Poquette to the Chicago Bulls for a 1989 second-round pick.
1987-88
The Cavs dealt Tyrone Corbin, Kevin Johnson, Mark West, a 1988 first-round pick, a 1988 second-round pick and a 1989 second-round pick to the Phoenix Suns for Larry Nance, Mike Sanders and a 1988 first-round pick.
1989-90
Cleveland traded Chris Dudley to the New Jersey Nets for a 1991 second-round pick and a 1993 second-round pick.
The Cavs also sent a 1991 second-round pick, a 1992 second-round pick and a 1993 second-round pick to the Houston Rockets for Derrick Chievous.
The Wine and Gold finished their busy 1990 trade deadline by dealing Randolph Keys to the Charlotte Hornets for a 1991 second-round pick.
1998-99 lockout year
The Cavs dealt Vitaly Potapenko to the Boston Celtics for Andrew DeClercq and a 1999 first-round pick.
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2004-05
Cleveland traded a 2007 first-round pick to the Boston Celtics for Jiří Welsch.
2005-06
The Cavs sent a 2006 second-round pick to the Philadelphia 76ers for Lee Nailon and a 2006 second-round pick.
Cleveland also dealt Mike Wilks to the Seattle SuperSonics for Ronald Murray.
2007-08
The Cavs traded Donyell Marshall and Ira Newble to the Seattle SuperSonics for Wally Szczerbiak and Delonte West.
Cleveland also sent Shannon Brown, Drew Gooden, Larry Hughes and Cedric Simmons to the Chicago Bulls for Ben Wallace, Joe Smith and a 2009 second-round pick.
2009-10
The Cavs dealt Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Emir Preldžić and a 2010 first-round pick to the Washington Wizards for Antawn Jamison.
Cleveland also acquired Sebastian Telfair from the Los Angeles Clippers.
2010-11
The Cavs traded a 2013 second-round pick to the Boston Celtics for Semih Erden and Luke Harangody.
Cleveland also dealt Jamario Moon and Mo Williams to the Los Angeles Clippers for Baron Davis and a 2011 first-round pick (Kyrie Irving was later selected).
2011-12 lockout year
The Cavs sent Christian Eyenga and Ramon Sessions to the Los Angeles Lakers for Jason Kapono, Luke Walton, a 2012 first-round pick and a 2013 first-round pick.
2013-14
Cleveland traded Earl Clark, Henry Sims, a 2014 second-round pick and a 2014 second-round pick to the Philadelphia 76ers for Spencer Hawes.
2015-16
The Cavs dealt Anderson Varejao and a 2018 first-round pick to the Portland Trail Blazers. Cleveland acquired Channing Frye from the Orlando Magic as part of a three-team trade between the Cavs, Blazers and Magic.
2017-18
Cleveland traded Dwyane Wade to the Miami Heat for a 2024 second-round pick.
The Cavs also sent Channing Frye, Isaiah Thomas and a 2018 first-round pick to the Los Angeles Lakers for Jordan Clarkson and Larry Nance Jr.
Cleveland capped off its hectic 2018 trade deadline by sending Derrick Rose and Jae Crowder to the Utah Jazz for Rodney Hood. The Cavs also acquired George Hill from the Sacramento Kings for Iman Shumpert and a 2020 second-round pick.
2018-19
The Cavs dealt Rodney Hood to the Blazers for Wade Baldwin, Nik Stauskas, a 2021 second-round pick and a 2023 second-round pick.
Cleveland then traded Alec Burks to the Kings and acquired Marquese Chriss, Brandon Knight, a 2019 first-round pick and a 2022 second-round pick from the Rockets for Wade Baldwin, Nik Stauskas and a 2021 second-round pick.
2019-20
The Cavs sent John Henson, Brandon Knight and a 2023 second-round pick to the Pistons for Andre Drummond.
