(Cleveland) - The Cleveland Cavaliers have acquired center Jarrett Allen and forward Taurean Prince from the Brooklyn Nets as part of a three-team trade that also includes the Houston Rockets, Cavaliers General Manager Koby Altman announced from Cleveland Clinic Courts. In exchange, Cleveland is sending guard Danté Exum and a 2022 unprotected first round draft pick via Milwaukee to Houston, and the lesser of Utah and Cleveland’s 2024 second round draft picks to Brooklyn. The Cavaliers have also acquired from Brooklyn the draft rights to Aleksandar Vezenkov, whowas selected by the Nets with the 57th overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft.
As part of the three-team trade, the Nets are receiving guard James Harden from the Rockets. In exchange, Houston is receiving forward Caris LeVert, forward Rodions Kurucs, three first round draft picks and the rights to swap four first round draft picks from Brooklyn.
Allen (6-11, 243) has appeared in 12 games (five starts) for Brooklyn this season, averaging career highs of 11.2 points on .677 shooting from the field, 10.4 rebounds and 1.6 blocks in 26.7 minutes. He ranks third in the NBA this season in field goal percentage (.677), ninth in offensive rebounds per game (3.2), 11th in blocks per game (1.6), 11th in rebounds per game (10.4) and tied-11th in double-doubles (five). Over four seasons with the Nets, Allen has played in 234 games (180 starts), owning career averages of 10.1 points on .612 shooting, 7.9 rebounds and 1.4 blocks in 24.4 minutes. Allen leaves Brooklyn as the franchise’s all-time leader in field goal percentage (.612) and finished third in the league in that category in the 2019-20 season by shooting a Nets single-season record .649 from the field. He also converted 177 dunks last season, which marked the most by a Nets player since the first season that data was available (1997-98). Allen made two postseason berths with Brooklyn, playing in nine games (all starts) through the 2019 and 2020 Playoffs with averages of 10.7 points on .589 shooting, 10.3 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.1 blocks in 26.9 minutes. He played one year collegiately at the University of Texas in 2016-17 and was selected by Brooklyn with the 22nd overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft.
Prince (6-7, 218) has played in 12 games (four starts) this season with the Nets, averaging 8.1 points and 2.8 rebounds in 18.2 minutes. Over five NBA seasons, he has played in 272 games (204 starts) for Atlanta and Brooklyn, owning career averages of 11.4 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 26.0 minutes. Prince has made over 120 three-pointers in each of the last three seasons and registered a single-season career-high eight double-doubles in 2019-20 after tallying five double-doubles in his first three seasons combined. In the 2017 Playoffs with Atlanta, he appeared in six games (all starts), posting averages of 11.2 points on .558 shooting from the field and 5.3 rebounds in 31.2 minutes. Prince, who played four years collegiately at Baylor University from 2013-16, was selected by the Utah Jazz with the 12th overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft and was traded to the Hawks before the start of his rookie campaign.
Exum (6-5, 214) appeared in six games (three starts) this season for the Cavaliers, averaging 3.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 19.3 minutes. He was acquired by Cleveland in a trade with the Utah Jazz on Dec. 24, 2019. Exum played in 30 total games (four starts) for the Cavaliers over parts of 2019-20 and 2020-21, averaging 5.3 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 17.3 minutes.
In related moves, the Cavaliers have waived center Thon Maker and released guard Yogi Ferrell. Maker (7-0, 221) played in eight games with Cleveland this season, averaging 3.8 points and 2.3 rebounds in 9.5 minutes. He joined the Cavaliers in the 2020 Preseason. Ferrell (6-0, 178) was signed to a 10-day contract by Cleveland on Jan. 11 and appeared in two games for the Cavaliers this season, averaging 9.5 points, 3.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.5 steals in 20.0 minutes.
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