The Cavaliers tried to speed up their timeline by selling the entire farm for Donovan Mitchell, but it didn't work. They had to give up 3 firts, two swaps, Collin Sexton and Lauri Markkanen for DMitch. Now, Lauri alone is worth nearly as much as Mitchell in a trade, and the Cavs are stuck right where they were pre-trade as a first or second round exit, but now they have no more assets to upgrade the team.

This trade basically resets the deal for the Cavs. They get three unprotected firsts and one swap, restocking their war chest to look for a better fit. Melton essentially replaces Collin Sexton, but is a much better fit who can let Garland resume lead ballhandling duties while covering for him on the other end, and is still only 25. The Cavs want Rubio gone, perhaps in part due to the roster crunch at guard in Cleveland. Maxey and Mitchell will still commandeer most of the minutes on his new team, similar to Garland and Mitchell on the Cavs; however, competing with only Pat Bev for backup guard minutes is easier than having to contend with Caris LeVert, Isaac Okoro, and Ty Jerome. The Cavs do lose Dean Wade here, but get two arguably better forwards in Batum and Morris, both of whom are expiring and should open up cap space for the Cavs in the offseason (or can get sent out in a new trade if they want to sell off further). Jaden Springer has shown crazy flashes in limited minutes, and is still somehow only 21, so getting him is probably worth a low first or high second, especially for a team that wants to make a turnaround somewhat sooner than later. In short, this deal sets them back to their pre-Mitchell trade, and gives them flexibility to forge a new path to being a true contender.

For the 76ers, this is a gamble on offense winning championships, or Embiid's ability to continue to carry this squad to a top-10 defense regardless of who is on the perimeter. Mitchell pushing Maxey down the hierarchy slightly might be annoying to any Maxey stans, but the leap he took is legitimate, and all those added skills won't disappear if he's playing less. The 76ers like potential Finals contenders last year with a worse 2nd star than Mitchell, a significantly worse coach, a pre-leap Maxey, and a worse bench than this year; an Embiid injury de-railed them, but they were still a game away from their first ECF (and possibly farther) in the Embiid era. With all of those improvements, it's not unreasonable to think subbing in Mitchell for Harden can make them much better than last year, as well as better than they've already been this year.

Again, they'll definitely be sacrificing defense. Mitchell and Maxey might be the best offensive backcourt in the NBA outside of perhaps Luka and Kyrie, but they're definitely not a great defensive duo either. Wade would probably start at the forward spot next to Tobias, and even though he's nothing too special, he's well-rounded and rarely shoots, which makes him a solid 5th starter. If he and Tobias can really lock down some opposing forwards (which isn't a given) then that could help, but there will certainly be a lot of dribble penetration at the point of attack that Embiid will need to clean up regardless. The main bench foursome of Pat Bev, Kelly Oubre, Robert Covington, and Paul Reed remains mostly unchanged. Springer didn't play much, but he and Marcus Morris did bring some toughness and intensity that Rubio doesn't replace, but having a pure playmaker on the bench that can be brought in when a steady hand is needed isn't a bad thing either. A deal like this might open up more minutes for young forward K.J. Martin too, which wouldn't be a bad thing if he's ready to play.

In the big picture though, Maxey and Mitchell should be an improved version of Garland and Mitchell. But instead of having a "good" frontcourt of Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen, they'll be playing with the reigning MVP, who is favored to repeat again this year and win his 3rd straight scoring title. Having three 26+ ppg scorers together, who complement each other well with an inside-out game and who are all averaging 5+ assists could make them unstoppable.