So, the trade deadline has come and gone. It was pretty eventful and now the Cavs are starting the rest of their season with a back-to-back. And I’m here with the Cup of Cavs for Feb. 8, 2019. Be sure to leave your feedback below or send your comments to christopherwmanning@gmail.com.

Take of the day

If you haven’t started already, it’s time to pay attention to the draft. And not just Zion. Start researching everyone the Cavs could possibly take in the lottery and later in the first round with the pick from the Alec Burks deal. So read FTS’ own Trevor Magnotti. Read The Stepien. Read the DraftExprress crew at ESPN. Watch game, even though college basketball can be a slog.

The players you’ll research might be the future of the Cavs. So why not start getting to know them now?

ICYMI — news and notes from yesterday

J.R. Smith won’t be bought out

Larry Nance Jr. says he trusts the Cavs’ front office; also said players are ‘pawns in the game’

The Bucks made a great move in getting Nikola Mirotic

The Grizzlies didn’t trade Mike Conley

But they did trade Marc Gasol to the Raptors. The East sure is fun!

Thibs on ESPN was, uh, something

Markelle Fultz gets a fresh start

Celtics-Lakers was a lot of fun and ended in crazy fashion

Here are this year’s All-Star teams as picked by LeBron and Giannis

What to read today

On his Patreon page, Jordan Zirm wrote about Koby Altman and why he might be good at this job after all