NBA Trade Deadline: Winners and Losers
If you have come looking for a Woj bomb heavy piece full of insider nuggets and gossip. You have come to the wrong place. That being said if you scroll back through your timelines and news feeds. I’m not sure how helpful those actually were. Remember the Toronto Raptors were supposed to be active and the Nets had no interest in trading Kevin Durant. We know how that ended up.
So let’s commence. Just a pure fan centric logical analysis of who won and lost the deadline. I’m not going to cover all thirty teams because frankly not all thirty need to be covered. The majority of these deals were financially motivated and I’m not an accountant. The rubric is really simple. Did you make your team better or worse.
Winners
Phoenix Suns: Not much I can add to this. It’s not real complex. The Suns are a markedly better team after Thursday. Except I’ll add this Michigan centric observation. In 24 hours Mat Ishbia showed how derelict and dysfunctional Robert Sarver’s tenure was. Players want to play in the desert. It’s warm and it’s close to Los Angeles and Vegas. All they needed was an owner with a pocket book and a willingness to use it. The league moved quickly and took care of their Sterling 2.0 problem. If I was one of Ishbia’s fellow owners. I would be a little nervous about what is going on in Phoenix.
Los Angles Lakers: Typical Midwestern mid market basketball fan here. So it pains me to write this. In one three team swoop. Rob Pelinka undid the disastrous Russell Westbrook trade. No need to dive into advanced stats for this one. The mere fact that De’Angelo Russell is considered a consensus upgrade shows you bad the Westbrook fit was. It just wasn’t working. Adding a mid priced shooter in Malik Beasley. Along with a useful and cheap forward in Jared Vanderbilt in the same deal were icing on the cake.
Turning Patrick Beverley into Mo Bamba isn’t going to grab headlines. But it was an equally shrewd move. Especially after Thomas Bryant expressed displeasure in his new role. They did it all by only giving up one first round pick and not mortgaging what was left of their future. Probably not going to win the title. Heck might not even make the playoffs. But if you watched Tuesday’s game. It was certainly special to see LeBron James set the all time scoring record. That being said. It was also a lifeless performance against a Thunder team that they should be better than. As previously stated. It just wasn’t working and was only get worse if they stuck with the status quo. Made themselves better at a minimal price. That’s a big win even if the record doesn’t reflect it at the end.
Toronto Raptors: Not a typo. No sources and I have the Twitter receipts to prove what I’m about to say. I never bought the narrative that the Raptors were anxious to move any of their guys. The three players prominently mentioned in the rumor mill. Fred Van Fleet, OG Anunoby, and Gary Trent Jr. are all Klutch clients. This is a new site so I’m not going to assume that everyone knows what that means. Klutch is a sports agency essentially owned and operated by LeBron James and his associates. Technically that’s against the rules. However operationally that’s how it works. If you don’t believe me. Just do a cursory look at the Hoops Hype agency database will suffice. That’s a whole bunch of Lakers and ex Lakers on there.
The possible tip off that the rumors were inflated were the absence of Pascal Siakam. If the Raptors really wanted to tear things down and rebuild. He would have been at the top of the list. He never was. I’m sure Klutch is an excellent professional organization. However from Anthony Davis to Ben Simmons. If you hire them. There is a good chance you are angling for something from your current employer or trying to find a new home. Not that there is one scintilla of fault in that. But when three players from the same agency are plastered across trade rumors. It appears to me that it is just a trio of guys who are tired of playing in Canada.
How did the Raptors respond. The same way they always have. They ignored the noise and got better. From Kawhi Leonard, and Marc Gasol, to most recently Kyle Lowry. They have proven they are not just going to give guys away. Now should they? That is for another column. They simply got better Thursday. Picking up Jakob Poeltl for basically a first round pick was a theft. They now have his Bird rights and are in the drivers seat to re-sign him. That is how a non desirable market acquires players in today’s NBA.
Losers
Detroit Pistons: I really don’t want to write this about my home state team. But it feels like we are already at the “throw anything against the wall” stage of the rebuild. The good—they got excellent value in the James Wiseman trade. Getting a former #2 overall pick for Kevin Knox and Saddiq Bey is something. However it begs the question. Why was he available at that price? If you take Golden St at their word— I don’t. They simply couldn’t provide enough playing time for Wiseman to develop. The bad— if true, what about the Pistons roster makes one think he will get that opportunity in Detroit?
James Wiseman is a center. It’s 2023 so I feel the need to highlight what this endangered species actually looks like. It’s a really big guy who usually stays near the basket on both sides of the court. Defends the rim, rebounds, and looks mean. I hope the sarcasm is evident in those last few sentences. All joking aside it is a under utilized position in 21st century basketball. However even at the apex of the position (the dear sweet 90’s) You could only play one at a time. The Pistons already have one… no make that…. no make that…. Never mind depending on your definition they already have multiple centers on the roster.
We can split hairs and argue about Marvin Bagely Jr and Isiah Stewart’s positions. Jalen Duren is a no doubt about it center. He is also really young and really good. What is the endgame here? Stunt Duren’s growth just see if Wiseman is any good? I’m pulling for Wiseman. I think NCAA did him dirty at Memphis. If Wiseman turns out to be good. What then do the Pistons have? They would have a logjam at a position that no longer commands premium value. In a year or two Wiseman or Duren will probably fetch a similar player to Kevin Knox. I wish that wasn’t the case but as Thursday showed. That is just the market. Does the possible benefit of Wiseman outweigh the negative of slowing Duren’s growth? I think you know where I stand.
Speaking of market. Westbrook netted the Lakers three useful pieces. A mid rotation player like Jae Crowder went for FIVE second round picks. Crowder wasn’t even playing for the Suns. I would really like to know what the Pistons were offered for Bojan Bogdanovic. Maybe it wasn’t much. I would think a player with his contract and 3 and D credentials could have extracted a first round pick from someone. At least multiple seconds. Maybe it’s above me. I’m just failing to see the plan.
Utah Jazz: In a macro sense those who ascribe to the philosophy of tanking get what the Jazz are doing. In micro sense. Even within that construct. I don’t get the point of what they did Thursday. They were the facilitator of a three team trade that made the other two teams better. Meaning that both the Lakers and Timberwolves needed them to complete the deal. Victor Wembanyama is a generational talent. Utah wants to stink blah blah. Trust me I get it.
However if getting Wembanyama was the goal. This trade actually lowers the odds. Utah has been surprisingly good. If they are even in the lottery they will have a very long shot at the top pick. Similarly the Timberwolves are on the cusp of the play in as well. Utah owns Minnesota’s pick totally unprotected (thank you Rudy) If Minnesota makes it in to the playoffs. Utah would have dramatically lowered their own odds by completely removing the Timberwolves pick from the lottery. Giving them a play making veteran point guard like Mike Conley makes that eminently possible. Whatever the goal is. Tanking for Victor or building a better team. This trade accomplishes neither.
Furthermore why help out the Lakers in the process? If you want to say it’s all about tanking and allowing the Lakers to jump Utah in standings. If I squint I guess I could see it. However I can’t imagine Danny Ainge wakes up in the morning thinking of how to help the Lakers. What did they get out of it? A 2027 first round pick. Thanks to the Gobert and Donovan Mitchell deals they already have a million of those. They even allowed the Lakers to put some clever protections on the pick. It’s not going to be a top four pick. Save some money? They have a new owner. If that is already a concern they are in trouble.
It’s almost like Ainge took a deep breath and said “man I fleeced Minnesota so bad, I need to make amends or no one is going trade with me again”. That’s the only thing I can think of. If it’s all about stinking. Just “rest” or “load manage” Conley, Beasley, and the ilk. Why give them to Minnesota and LA? Confusing to say the least.
On the whole I covered five teams. With the exception of the teams that sat it out. I’m looking at you Chicago and Cleveland. Most teams did well and improved on the margins. I have a feeling things are going to get weird this summer. If it happens I’ll be here for you.
