With the pressure that the trade deadline brings to NBA front offices gone for the next year, it is time to evaluate which teams dealt with it the best this time around. Whether it is acquiring unnecessary players, giving up too much, or getting back too little, there has been quite a bit of shoddy decision making in the past week or so, but a couple teams won big.
With big names, draft picks, and possible future stars being thrown across the USA and Toronto, the stretch run to the playoffs will heat up, especially with top teams in the East getting stronger.
The deadline was surprisingly quiet, with the only superstar being traded a few days before in a puzzling deal for the selling team. Otherwise, it was just playoff contenders adding role players and bad teams getting worse in order to get a better draft pick.
Anyway, here are the winners and losers of a rather disappointing 2017 NBA trade deadline.
Winner: New Orleans Pelicans
Obviously, the Pelicans were the big winners of this year’s trade deadline, as they picked up DeMarcus Cousins, who is arguably the best big man in the league in exchange for a first-round pick, Tyreke Evans, and Buddy Hield. It’s a decent bet that Evans and Hield will be out of the NBA in a few years, and the first rounder will not amount to much if the Pelicans’ plan works out as they hope. In his first game in New Orleans, Boogie dropped 27 points, 14 rebounds, 5 assists, 5 steals, and 4 blocks. If he keeps that level of production up, the Pelicans will immediately be contenders, but the question is whether or not taking the man out of Sacramento will take the Sacramento out of the man.
Loser: Sacramento Kings
The Kings got absolutely fleeced in the Cousins trade, and to make matters worse, the Kings GM went out and said that the team had a better deal in place two days before the trade was made. That’s questionable business, to say the least, and Sacramento may have officially passed the Brooklyn Nets as the worst-run franchise in the NBA.
Winner: Houston Rockets
Only God and Mike D’Antoni know how James Harden, Lou Williams, and Eric Gordon will share touches, but it definitely will be fun to watch. Add the fact that Houston got Lou Williams for a small price of Corey Brewer and a 2017 first-round pick. Williams will likely play next to Eric Gordon in an exciting second unit backcourt that will put up a lot of points. Additionally, the acquisition of Williams will allow Harden more rest, which could prove vital as it gets closer to the playoffs.
Loser: Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum
The Trail Blazers were not good at defense before they traded for Jusuf Nurkic. Now, somehow, they are even worse at defense after they traded for Jusuf Nurkic. They needed a defensive center, so they got a mammoth of a man who does not like playing defense and who does not move well. The reason why Lillard and McCollum are the real losers here is because they will be relied on more on the defensive end, which is bad because they are not good at defense.
Winner: Toronto Raptors
The Raptors had a great few days leading up to the deadline, getting Serge Ibaka in exchange for Terrence Ross and a first-round pick and then grabbing PJ Tucker from the Suns in exchange for Jared Sullinger and two second-round picks. Ibaka adds a rim protecting presence behind strong perimeter defenders in Kyle Lowry, DeMar Derozan, and Demarre Carrol, and Tucker will be a valuable veteran off the bench who is good for solid defense and a few buckets each night. These trades put Toronto in prime position to challenge Cleveland for the Eastern Conference.
Loser: Buddy Hield
Buddy Hield could have had a quiet, decent career in New Orleans, making for a potentially exciting duo with Anthony Davis, with maybe a few high-scoring games per season. Now, he is the face of the future in Sacramento, a hopeless franchise with no direction. Immediately after the deal that shipped him to California and DeMarcus Cousins to New Orleans was officially announced, Kings owner Vivek Ranadive immediately appointed Hield as the next Steph Curry. That’s a lot of pressure for an unproven rookie on a bad team.
Winner: Jahlil Okafor and Dario Saric
Okafor didn’t get the deal he wanted, but with Joel Embiid out until March 3rd, Okafor gets to be the top scoring option in Philly for about a week, which will give him a chance to show off his skill set. Once Embiid gets back, Okafor will be the best second-unit center in the league, and he will be a great source of offense. Saric, on the other hand, is the only power forward on the Sixers for this season after Ersan Ilyasova was dealt to Atlanta and Ben Simmons was ruled out for the season. The Croatian big man will probably have to play 40 minutes a game for the rest of the season, but he will be happy to showcase his scoring and passing skills each night and develop as a player.
Loser: Danny Ainge
Danny Ainge has so many assets. Danny Ainge also has no two-way superstars on his team, and two of them were available at the deadline in the forms of Jimmy Butler and Paul George. It’s apparent that Ainge does not want to take risks when his team needs it most; they are on the cusp of being an elite team in the NBA, and a superstar to pair with Isaiah Thomas would have vaulted them into the highest echelon of NBA teams in time for the playoffs, but Ainge just didn’t want to go for it by having to give up replaceable players or a valuable draft pick. This lack of movement from Boston will likely come back to bite them when they bounce out of the playoffs before the Finals, but maybe Ainge thinks whoever they have their eyes on with the Nets’ pick will prove to be better than Butler or George.