The Cleveland Cavaliers, Oklahoma City Thunder and New York Knicks agreed to a three-way deal on Monday, as confirmed by CBSSports.com's Ken Berger. The biggest of the names involved: Dion Waiters, J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert. Let's grade this trade.

Cleveland Cavaliers acquire J.R. Smith, Iman Shumpert, protected first-round pick

The Cavs drafted Waiters No. 4 overall in 2012, but that was the old regime and general manager David Griffin has already shown that he's willing to move on from investments made by his predecessor, Chris Grant. While Waiters has shown flashes of being able to thrive as a sixth man, on the whole he's had trouble this year fitting in with Kyrie Irving, LeBron James and Kevin Love needing the ball in their hands. Moving him is risking watching him fulfill the potential the organization saw in him coming out of college, but this team needed depth and defense and likely didn't see things working out with Waiters long-term.

Smith dealt with injuries and shot poorly for New York this season (40.2 percent from the field, 35.6 percent from the 3-point line, 35.6 percent from the free throw line), and he had a disappointing 2013-2014 campaign, too. Cleveland has to be hoping that the change of scene will result in him recapturing the 2012-2013 form that saw Smith earn Sixth Man of the Year honors. Opposing players respect Smith's 3-point shot, and they remember him being an extremely dangerous bench scorer. While it's far from guaranteed that the Cavs will integrate him easily, it's not impossible to imagine him thriving in the role they wanted Waiters to embrace. He'll be asked to compete defensively and to sacrifice touches and shots, however, and there's a reason that New York had to give up an asset in order to be free of his contract.

Shumpert, ideally, will be the 3-and-D guy that Cleveland needs. He's athletic, a solid defender and a capable shooter when at his best. The Cavaliers, unlike LeBron James' Miami Heat squads, have not been good at all when it comes to forcing turnovers and getting out in transition -- Shumpert can help address that, and it's a big plus that he doesn't need the ball in his hands to be effective. He's been pretty injury-prone over the course of his career, but at least he's close to returning from the dislocated shoulder that has kept him out of action since Dec. 12. When healthy, he could make a case for joining the starting lineup.

Along with saying goodbye to Waiters and role players Lou Amundson and Alex Kirk, Cleveland sent a future second-round pick to the Knicks and received a protected future first-round pick from the Thunder (details here on the protected pick). Obviously, that's a win.

The market for Waiters likely wasn't super strong, as this season hasn't been an endorsement for his ability to play on a winning team. He's arguably the most talented player in the deal, and Cleveland might look silly in a few years if he puts everything together. The flip side: this Cavaliers team, with these players around him, might not be the proper place for that to happen anyway. Griffin is trying to win now, and Shumpert-Smith combo probably makes his team better in the short-term.

GRADE: B+

Dion Waiters with some new teammates. (USATSI)
Dion Waiters with some new teammates. (USATSI)

Oklahoma City Thunder acquire Dion Waiters

Oklahoma City is taking a chance on a young player with potential, and hoping that it will provide him the proper environment in which to succeed. The Thunder gave up a protected first-round pick and reserve Lance Thomas for another dynamic offensive weapon. Waiters also gives OKC some injury insurance and someone who could potentially take over Reggie Jackson's sixth-man role if the Thunder doesn't re-sign him this coming summer.

On the court, though, it's somewhat of a strange fit right now. It would be a lot easier imagining him doing James Harden-in-OKC impression if we hadn't seen what we've seen this year. He is most comfortable having the ball in his hands, and some will see this situation as being very simple: instead of taking touches away from James, Love and Irving, Waiters will be taking them away from Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and Serge Ibaka. His skill set overlaps a bit with Jackson's, and it's bad news if the end result here is Jackson walking away with the team that drafted him getting nothing in return.

The glass-half-full view: the Thunder are getting a player who should be more than motivated to prove he can help a team win. They're also getting a guy who is capable of breaking down defenses and getting in the paint. They'll have to rein him in, but shot creation is valuable and OKC has needed more depth at various points this year. Low-risk, high-reward.

GRADE: B

New York Knicks acquire Lance Thomas, Lou Amundson, Alex Kirk, 2019 second-round pick, $5.9 million trade exception, $2.6 million trade exception

The Knicks have completely different goals than the other two teams involved. They are going nowhere, and they're trying to clear their cap sheet. They could very well waive all three of the incoming players, and that's fine. They owed J.R. Smith $6.4 million next season; now they do not. This, my friend, is a salary dump.

It hurts a bit to see New York move Shumpert, who is 24 years old and should have a long career. He's not an emerging star, though, and the trade exceptions could theoretically end up yielding a comparable player. The Knicks just really needed to clear cap space, and president Phil Jackson had to sacrifice an asset in order to make that happen. 

Reminder: New York is 5-31 on the year, which is worse than the Philadelphia 76ers' record. To turn this around, Jackson needs cap space and draft picks. The Knicks should be even worse now because of this, and if the goal is to get a good pick, that's great. Sure, this is a downer if you're a Knicks fan who saw the early reports stating Reggie Jackson was New York-bound, but it's still a sensible decision. 

GRADE: B+

>> Want more on this trade? Berger: Desperate teams