The Cleveland Cavaliers radically reshaped their roster on Thursday, trading six players for four and becoming more athletic, defensive-minded and expensive. Long-term, it's impossible to evaluate these moves until LeBron James makes his big decision in free agency -- the organization clearly wants to show James it can provide him with a championship-level roster -- but, short-term, it is easy to see what the front office was thinking. Here's a look at how and why they will be different (and better) as the playoffs approach:

What exactly did they do?

First, the Cavaliers traded Isaiah Thomas, Channing Frye and their 2018 first-round pick to the Los Angeles Lakers for Jordan Clarkson and Larry Nance Jr. Then, they acquired George Hill from the Sacramento Kings and Rodney Hood from the Utah Jazz in a three-team trade that cost them Jae Crowder, Derrick Rose and Iman Shumpert. Finally, they gave Dwyane Wade back to the Miami Heat for essentially nothing, allowing the Future Hall of Famer to finish his career where it started.  

Quick reactions to all of these deals: The first one would have looked a lot better without including that first-round pick. The second one is an unbelievable home run, at least in terms of strengthening the roster this season. The last one was the right thing to do, considering that Cleveland would not have had many minutes left for Wade. 

What's the new starting lineup?

Coach Tyronn Lue will have options. If the Cavs want to try another version of what they were doing at the beginning of the season, they'll go with Hill, J.R. Smith, Hood, James and Kevin Love once Love is healthy. If they want to go down the two-big path they had returned to before Love's injury, then Tristan Thompson could start in place of Hood. Either way, Hill makes them much stronger and switchier defensively because he can guard multiple positions. This is a big deal for a team that has looked lost on defense for essentially this entire season.

Do these new pieces fit better than the old ones?

Absolutely. Wade and Rose just didn't make sense in Cleveland. They were liabilities on defense, couldn't stretch the floor and changed the team's identity. The Cavs' offense has been good but not incredible this season, mostly because they have been 12th in the league in 3-point percentage. It is not hard to figure out that, if you have James on your team, you want to surround him with shooters who give him room to operate and make the defense pay for sending double-teams his way.  

Hill is an ideal point guard for a James-led team. He can capably run pick-and-rolls when needed, but his real value is in spacing the floor and defending opposing guards. His usage rate has fluctuated wildly depending on how his teams have been constructed, and in this context this is a feature, not a bug. Hill functions just fine without many touches, and it shouldn't take him long to get comfortable.

Clarkson, like Hill, has played on and off the ball throughout his career. He can be the nominal point guard on the second unit, but he can also easily share the floor with Hill or even Jose Calderon. In taking on his contract -- Clarkson is owed $12.5 million next season and $13.4 million the season after that -- Cleveland is betting on him continuing to improve as a defender, a decision-maker and a shooter. He is a quick and athletic bucket-getter, but it remains to be seen if joining this team will make him more efficient. He will surely get more good looks playing next to James, but he has made only 34.6 percent of his wide-open 3s this season. 

Hood is yet another player who is comfortable on and off the ball. The Jazz loved to use him as a playmaker, but he did not wind up growing into a No. 1 option this season after Gordon Hayward's departure. That is perfectly fine for the Cavs, who needed more playmakers but desperately had to get rid of the guys who couldn't function as floor spacers. He is making 41 percent of his wide-open 3s this season, and he has good size on the wing, too. 

Nance is the kind of guy who can fit on any team. I love the idea of him playing smallball center in Cleveland, getting up and down the floor in transition and finishing alley-oops from James. The shooting isn't quite there yet, but his shot isn't broken. I'd imagine the Cavs will encourage him to fire away when open. 

Does this take some pressure off LeBron?

Definitely. Cleveland didn't acquire an elite shot creator to replace what it had with Kyrie Irving in years past, but it did get three guys who can initiate pick-and-rolls. Clarkson can get in the lane and draw defenders, which must have been the idea when Rose was signed. There is real depth on this team now, and while James is obviously the primary playmaker, there is hope that the five-man units without James won't be terrible -- the floor should be spaced better, and Lue won't have to play anybody who is completely hopeless on defense.

Are they less vulnerable against the Celtics and Raptors?

I'd say so. The Cavs got better here, and they got better in one extremely important way with these matchups in mind: point guard defense. It is hard to imagine a worse defensive trio than Thomas, Rose and Calderon, and now two of them are gone and one of them doesn't have to play a single minute once the playoffs begin. When you're trying to slow down Irving and Kyle Lowry, that matters. Hill gave Lowry fits in the playoffs just two years ago. 

Does this help them against the Warriors?

This is when the question changes from "Did Cleveland get better?" to "Did Cleveland get better enough?" In the context of a rematch with the Golden State Warriors, it helps to be rid of Wade and Rose. Frye barely played in the last two Finals, anyway. Crowder was supposed to help, but he had been a shell of himself this season. Shumpert did not scare the Warriors at all.

It is not hard to justify Thursday's wheeling and dealing from a challenging-the-champs perspective. No longer do the Cavs have to count on Jeff Green to match up with Golden State. There is room for Cedi Osman in the rotation, but only if Lue decides he wants to go there. If Thompson doesn't get back to his normal self on defense, Nance gives Cleveland another look. It is a luxury to be able to throw a guy like Hill at Stephen Curry. 

The issue, though, is that few would argue that the Cavs have closed the gap. Would you be thrilled about Clarkson chasing around Curry or Klay Thompson, even for a few minutes? Would you feel comfortable with Hood checking Kevin Durant? The Cavs can definitely switch more effectively with this new group, but their defensive gains will be more about subtraction than addition. They had a chance to acquire a game-changing defender in Paul George last summer, and they didn't get it done. No one of that caliber was available this time.