Sports: Cavs and Lakers pull off blockbuster trade that sends Isaiah Thomas out of Cleveland just weeks into disastrous tenure

The Cavs-Lakers trade comes amid growing tension in Cleveland and sends Isaiah Thomas away just weeks into what was an ugly tenure.

• The Los Angeles Lakers and Cleveland Cavaliers reportedly agreed to a blockbuster trade on Thursday before the trade deadline.
• The trade will send Jordan Clarkson and Larry Nance to the Cavs in exchange for Isaiah Thomas, Channing Frye, and the Cavs' first-round pick.
• The deal comes amid growing tension on the Cavs and sends Thomas out of Cleveland just weeks into what was an ugly tenure.

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The Los Angeles Lakers and Cleveland Cavaliers reportedly agreed to a trade on Thursday hours before the deadline that will send Isaiah Thomas to Los Angeles.

The Cavs will receive guard Jordan Clarkson and big man Larry Nance while sending Thomas, center Channing Frye, and their own first-round pick to the Lakers.

The trade comes amid a disastrous implosion in Cleveland that has seen the Cavs go just 7-13 since Christmas, and go through fiery team meetings all while tension brews between LeBron James and the front office.

The deal also ends what was a short-lived and ugly tenure for Thomas on the Cavs. One of the centerpieces of the Kyrie Irving trade with the Celtics, Thomas missed the first two months of the season while recovering from a hip injury. Upon returning, Thomas has clearly been rusty, and the team has struggled to adapt to him on offense and vice versa. Additionally, Thomas' poor defense has not helped a Cavs team that already was struggling on that end.

Thomas appeared to be involved in some of the locker room conflict as well. During the aforementioned team meeting, Thomas reportedly criticized Kevin Love for leaving a game sick and not going to practice the next day. Thomas later said it wasn't an attack and that there was no bad blood between him and Love, but reports of a divided locker room continued to trickle out.

The deal helped the Lakers clear cap space this summer, when they intend to chase Paul George and other stars in free agency. In addition to giving the Cavs more athleticism and length, the deal also adds long-term money to their cap, a sign that they may be banking on LeBron James re-signing with them in free agency.

The Cavs-Lakers trade comes amid growing tension in Cleveland and sends Isaiah Thomas away just weeks into what was an ugly tenure. Read Full Story