A very active deadline saw plenty of teams get better, others get worse, and some just confuse everyone.
Trade deadline week in the NBA began fairly quietly, as aside from Kyrie Irving getting moved to Dallas, there wasn’t a lot of indication that a massive flurry of deals was on the horizon.
Fast forward to 3 p.m. ET on Thursday, and the league has seen a seismic shift, as nearly every team made moves ahead of the deadline, including some truly massive trades — none bigger than Kevin Durant getting moved to Phoenix, seven months after his initial trade request.
The truth of the matter is, I think a lot of teams did perfectly fine and I fully understand what they were doing. Those teams won’t get a full mention here, but a lot of the West teams like Minnesota, Utah, Memphis, L.A. (Clippers), Golden State, and Denver made moves I understand or even like, they just weren’t moves that I think change their position dramatically — the Clippers, particularly, were very active but I’m not sure how much better they got. There are others that stayed quiet and I understand why. Teams like Sacramento and Cleveland are happy to just keep the good vibes rolling in their locker rooms, particularly given they’re a touch ahead of schedule.
We tracked who went where already, but now it’s time to grade out who did the best, whose deadline moves didn’t make much sense, and who fell behind by simply doing nothing.
When you add Kevin Durant to your team, you are a winner at the deadline. They certainly gave up some depth in the process, but they are now, pending Durant’s health, firmly back in the title contender realm. Not only were they deadline winners, but I’d expect them to be buyout market winners as well, because players who get bought out that are looking to title hunt will zero in on Phoenix now as the best place to do that. On top of what it means for this season, adding Durant is a signal from new owner Mat Ishbia that this is no longer a franchise that will be run the way Robert Sarver ran them. The Suns now have a monster luxury tax bill and he happily will eat that to have a team that can contend. That’s all fans can really ask for out of ownership — well, that and not to be a despicable human — and Suns fans have to be thrilled about the beginning of this new regime.
The Lakers did quite well at the deadline, and for all of the roster building mishaps under Rob Pelinka, he deserves some credit here for making a few solid moves. It was a problem of their own creation that they did not have shooters around LeBron James, but they at least realized that was a losing formula and addressed it in a big way. Almost everyone they brought in is a shooter, headlined by D’Angelo Russell’s return, and they also add some much needed defense and rebounding juice in the form of Jarred Vanderbilt. The center rotation is still a bit of a question mark, as I’m not much of a Mo Bamba believer, but if Thomas Bryant wanted out, they did fairly well to get a potential locker room issue out and bring in players who will at the very least want to be there and should fall in line. We’ll see what all they can do with this group, but they should be a play-in team in the West. That’s all you can ask for at this point, and with LeBron James, any shot at the postseason means you have a chance at something.
The Bucks, Sixers, and Celtics all made smaller moves, with Milwaukee’s acquisition of Jae Crowder being the splashiest of the three, but all of them are winners just by virtue of how the rest of the East failed to make any ground-shaking moves. The Bucks will hope Crowder can be this year’s PJ Tucker in a 3-and-D wing that bolsters their title hopes. The Sixers flipped Matisse Thybulle for Jalen McDaniels, who is a better offensive fit for what Philly needs. Boston adds some needed frontcourt depth in Mike Muscala, who can space the floor and provide some minutes to take the load off of Al Horford and Robert Williams in the regular season. All three got a bit better, while also seeing the Nets bow out of contender status and no one else really make a move that should threaten the status quo at the top of the East.
The Knicks made a solid move by adding Josh Hart, which had former Villanova teammate Jalen Brunson very fired up. Hart brings another versatile wing defender, which Tom Thibodeau will love, and it’s certainly an upgrade over Cam Reddish, who was not really part of the rotation.
