ANTHONY GETTINO
Special to The Leader
This past Thursday marked the end of the NBA trade deadline for this season.
While this doesn’t end the movement of players from team to team, it marks the end of the movement of bigger names and starters.
As with any trades, there are winners and losers. But a team doesn’t have to make a move to win or lose at this deadline. Sometimes not making a move is the worst (or best) move a team can make.
Three Winners:
Philadelphia 76ers
The 76ers pulled off the biggest trade of the deadline this season by acquiring Tobias Harris from the Los Angeles Clippers. They also received Boban Marjanovic and Mike Scott in the deal, and they gave up Wilson Chandler, rookie Landry Shamet, Mike Muscala, two first round picks and two second round picks.
While it was a steep price, it was well worth the cost. They made the best starting lineup in the Eastern Conference and arguably the second best starting lineup behind Golden States in the entire NBA.
This wasn’t the only deal they made at the deadline. They shipped off disgraced 2017 first overall pick Markelle Fultz to the Orlando Magic for bench help in the form of Jonathon Simmons, a first round pick and a second overall pick.
The problem that was going to occur for this team was the lack of a bench. With Fultz being sidelined another two to three weeks, there was no choice but to go and get someone that could help now. They were also able to recoup some of the draft capita they gave up in order to get Harris.
Dallas Mavericks
The Kristaps Porzingis trade feels as though it happened ages ago. Alas, it still fits into this year’s deadline deals, and that is more than enough to make the Mavericks a winner.
They are getting a young player to pair with their star, Luka Doncic, for years to come. Getting the unicorn out of New York wasn’t easy. They had to give up two first round picks, last year’s first round pick Dennis Smith Jr., (who was on the trade block already), and take on major cap hits with Tim Hardaway Jr. and Courtney Lee. If they can sign Porzingis to a long term deal at the end of this season, this may edge out the Tobias Harris deal as the best of this deadline.
Boston Celtics
Why are the Celtics on here when they didn’t make any deals like the other top teams in the Eastern Conference?
Because they still have a chance for Anthony Davis in the summer. The Los Angeles Lakers were pushing hard for Davis, but to no surprise, the Pelicans held on to him to try to make a larger bidding war in the summer. The Celtics weren’t allowed to trade for Davis, since they already had Kyrie Irving on their roster, and the stupid rule saying that a team cannot trade for two players who signed under the “Rose Rule.” That is when a player is eligible for a 30 percent hit of a teams salary cap at the time of their first extension rather than 25 percent of the cap. The Celtics President of Basketball Operations Danny Ainge did call the Pelicans frequently over the last week, however, but only to plead with them to hold on to Davis until the summer so he could trade for him.
As of right now, he has gotten his wish.
Three Losers:
Toronto Raptors
While the Raptors may have made a large move before the deadline passed, was it the right move? They traded for the Memphis Grizzlies center Marc Gasol for Jonas Valanciunas, Delon Wright, CJ Miles and a second-round pick.
While that doesn’t sound like a bad trade for an all star caliber center, the move didn’t really make much sense.
The Raptors have been playing well with Serge Ibaka starting at the center position and Paschal Siakam at the four. Do they move Ibaka to the power forward spot and Siakam to the small forward spot? Do they put Ibaka on the bench as the sixth man? If the play all three, the Raptors lose all the speed they have on the court and add size. If they put Ibaka on the bench, they lose that chemistry and flow they had with him as the starter.
While they did need to make a move, this move seems to have just made things more difficult for the rest of the Raptors season.
Washington Wizards
What are the Wizards doing? This offseason, they matched an offer sheet for Otto Porter Jr. to keep him on the team and said that it was a move they were more than happy to make. Just months later and they trade Porter Jr. to the Bulls for Jabari Parker, Bobby Portis and a second round pick.
Why?
The Wizards are trying to fix their cap situation without fully tanking and are not doing it very effectively. Earlier in the season they traded Kelly Oubre Jr. to the Phoenix Suns for Trevor Ariza. This was doing the exact opposite of fixing the cap. Oubre Jr. was on a rookie salary and Ariza has a cap hit of $15 million for this season. Why would you make that move to signal that you are going for the playoffs this season, then trade your third best player when your team is healthy? The Wizards have to choose which side of the NBA they are going to be on instead of playing on a teeter totter of tank and contend.
Los Angeles Lakers
The moves that the Lakers made weren’t awful. Getting Reggie Bullock was a pretty good move while only giving up a second-round pick and rookie Svi Mykhailiuk. The trade of Michael Beasley and Ivica Zubac for Mike Muscala of the Clippers wasn’t as good of a trade, but sometimes you have to overpay for bench help at the deadline.
These aren’t the reasons why the Lakers are losers at the deadline. It’s because they couldn’t get Anthony Davis.
The proposed deals were made very public the entire time, which has really thrown the team chemistry for a loop. They offered all the young core and four total picks, while taking a salary dump along with Davis, but were rejected. When a young player hears these things, it really does throw them off and fill them with doubt. If the Lakers do not make the playoffs, a large reason behind this could be the lack of confidence expressed by the young core after the deadline.