According to Chris Haynes from the Cleveland Plain-Dealer, the Cavaliers have traded rookie Rakeem Christmas to the Indiana Pacers in exchange for a second-round draft pick in 2019.
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The Indiana Pacers had looked at Christmas during their pre-draft workouts but the Minnesota Timberwolves selected him with the No. 36 overall pick before trading him to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The pick acquired by the Cavs will come from the Los Angeles Lakers, who sent the second-rounder to Indiana in a swap for Roy Hibbert earlier this offseason.
Pacers President Larry Bird said the team liked the 6-foot-9 Christmas when he worked out for them before the draft. He played in 142 games during his four years at Syracuse averaging 7.4 points on.
With Christmas, the Pacers now have six bigs (players who could fulfill the power forward and/or center positions) on the roster, including Lavoy Allen, Jordan Hill, Ian Mahinmi, Myles Turner and Shayne Whittington. He’s a project, so it’s unlikely he’ll be able to establish himself as a standard league asset during his rookie season. He appeared in four games, averaging 8.0 points and 4.5 rebounds. After the team’s final game in Vegas, Cavaliers general manager David Griffin hinted at the possibility of Christmas spending some time with the team’s D-League affiliate in Canton.
Christmas didn’t start playing basketball until he was in the eighth grade.
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Butler averaged 5.9 points, 2.5 rebounds and 20.8 minutes with Detroit last season.
