Clarkson didn’t believe he’d be traded. The Lakers had given him a $50 million deal in 2016. He, Nance Jr., Brandon Ingram and Lonzo Ball were going to be the core of a new Lakers team that just needed a star player to be the spoke of the wheel.

The morning of the deadline, “I was sleeping on the couch,” Clarkson said. “They was calling me — Rob (Pelinka, the Lakers’ GM) and Magic (Johnson) and them was calling. We had shootaround; we had a game that day. So I kind of was like pushing the phone to the side. I was still trying to get some sleep. But I woke up and callled them back and they gave me the news.”

At least Clarkson is engaging in his new journey with a familiar face in Nance, Jr. Hill had to leave his 1-month old and 2-year olds to come to Cleveland.

“Living out of a suitcase right now and trying to find a place to stay, with a newborn baby, it’s kind of tough,” Hill said. “My fiance and them are back in Texas, so it kind of takes a little bit off of me, not having to wake up every two hours with the baby. I’m happy about that right now.”

But Hill is a vet who was thrilled to get out of Sacramento. The adjustment for him will be relatively quick (“the film room is going to be our friend,” Korver said). The basic stuff is on all the new players’ iPads; Lue and his coaches will have to simplify some of the rest. (Lue did run some of Clarkson’s and Hood’s favorite sets from L.A. and Utah in their first game with Cleveland. Clarkson was stunned. “I got you,” Lue said in response. “I know what’s going on.”)

Clarkson also had to adjust to a new phenomenon, one that every player does when they first get on the floor with James.

“The first two games, I was hesitating,” Clarkson said. “And I’d be open. And I’d be like, I’m not that open. And I’d take another dribble and I’d be like, ’man, I’m still open.’ Even on the kickouts and stuff, you kind of sit there for a second and you’re like, these ain’t the shots that you’re used to taking.”

Lue can throw all kinds of different lineups on the floor. Teams will play off of Hill and make Hood put the ball on the deck, to be sure. But Cleveland’s got a lot more athletic personnel to deal with teams like the Oklahoma City Thunder, Toronto Raptors, Minnesota Timberwolves and the Rockets, all of whom blew the Cavs’ doors off during their awful December and January. (Love, who broke his left hand earlier this month, said last week that he believes he’ll be out around another month before returning.)

James, per sources, wasn’t expecting huge deals by the Cavs at the deadline, maybe a small one or two, before being informed the night before the deadline that there were big possibilities in the pipeline. He obviously was, and is, very close with Wade, respected Rose’s work in getting healthy again and enjoyed Frye’s personality. He didn’t dislike Thomas, but they obvously didn’t mix well on the floor.

It’s clear that James is once again engaged. He’s vocal with his new teammates and his splits — which were awful in January — are back to their norms. But he says that was an independent decision of his, not a reaction to the work Altman did.

“I just think that I refocused myself,” he said. “Even before the deadline happened and before the trades happened, I had to refocus myself and understand that I’m the leader of this team, and I have to be mentally sharp and mentally strong throughout anything. So even before the trade, I had planned on us having that team for the rest of the season. That was just my mindset. And you saw that in the Minnesota game (when James hit the game-winning shot at the buzzer). We hadn’t made the trade then, and in the Minnesota game I just started changing my mindset. So that’s just who I am and it’s just where I am now. I think our team can be, we can be really good. We’ve got 20-plus games left to try to figure it out. I think if we can do that, continue where we are now, I think we’ll be okay.”