Cavaliers trade six players, including Isaiah Thomas and Dwyane Wade

With their NBA title hopes fading fast, the Cavaliers got aggressive at the trading deadline — they swapped teams.

Cleveland completely changed its look Thursday with a stunning sequence of deals. Cavs General Manager Koby Altman traded six players, including Isaiah Thomas, Dwyane Wade and Derrick Rose, and two future draft picks in moves designed to not only help them in the short term but to potentially help keep LeBron James beyond this season.

Altman said his main objective in making the deals was to alter the chemistry of a team.

"We were really worried that what was going on the floor and sort of our culture in the building that we were marching a slow death and we didn't want to be a part of that," he said. "So with the window we have with LeBron and with this team, we figured it was time to do something to re-energize the group but also to have sustainability going into the future."

The Cavs began their shocking overhaul by sending Thomas along with forward Channing Frye and one of their two first-round picks to the Lakers for point guard Jordan Clarkson and forward Larry Nance Jr. Thomas, who came over in last summer's blockbuster trade with Boston for Kyrie Irving, played in only 15 games and wasn't fitting in with Cleveland after he returned from a hip injury.

Then the Cavs completed a three-team deal with Utah and Sacramento. The Cavs sent Rose, who has also been slowed by injury, and forward Jae Crowder to the Jazz for forward Rodney Hood, a 25-year-old averaging a career-high 16.8 points. Cleveland is also getting steady veteran guard George Hill from the Kings in exchange for guard Iman Shumpert.

And finally, the Cavs dealt Wade to Miami for a protected 2024 second-round pick. It's a homecoming for the 36-year-old Wade, who played 13 seasons in Miami, winning three NBA titles.