The NBA Trade Deadline passed on Thursday afternoon.
This was an extremely productive deadline for the league. Although there were not many splashes, plenty of teams made smaller moves. However, some teams made better moves than others.
Here are the winners and losers from the days leading up to the trade deadline.
NBA Trade Deadline Winners
New York Knicks
Is anyone surprised? Even though the move they made did not include any flashy players, it still improved their depth and potential.
Big man heading to the Big Apple!#Knicks acquire:
Bojan Bogdanovic
Alec Burks #Pistons acquire:
Quentin Grimes
Malachi Flynn
Evan Fournier
Two second-round picks pic.twitter.com/tEOJpneVRg— Prime Time Sports Talk (@TalkPrimeTime) February 8, 2024
Here is what the Knicks’ depth chart looks like after the trade:
PG – Jalen Brunson, Miles McBride
SG – Donte DiVincenzo, Alec Burks
SF – OG Anunoby, Josh Hart
PF – Julius Randle,Bojan Bogdanovic, Precious Achiuwa
C – Isaiah Hartenstein, Jericho Sims, Mitchell Robinson
In my opinion, this team is debatably the second-best in the East and has the potential to make noise in the Conference Finals.
Oklahoma City Thunder
Hayward is heading to OKC.#Thunder acquire:
Gordon Hayward#Hornets acquire:
Tre Mann
Davis Bertans pic.twitter.com/KomZikPCro— Prime Time Sports Talk (@TalkPrimeTime) February 8, 2024
Here’s a look at the updated depth chart in Oklahoma City:
PG – Shai Gilgeous Alexander, Carson Wallace
SG – Josh Giddey, Isaiah Joe
SF – Luguentz Dort, Gordon Hayward
PF – Jalen Williams, Aaron Wiggins, Kenrich Williams
C – Chet Holmgren, Jaylin Williams
While Hayward does not completely revamp the rotation, he is a fantastic depth piece, especially on such a young team that lacks experience. The Thunder are currently neck-and-neck with the Clippers, Timberwolves, and Nuggets for the top of the West. This trade makes the Thunder more well-rounded and a bigger threat down the stretch.
Dallas Mavericks
The Mavericks are still not in a great situation, but they dug themselves out of a deep hole ahead of Thursday’s trade deadline.
Charlotte lands a haul for Washington, per @wojespn.#Mavericks acquire:
PJ Washington #Hornets acquire:
Grant Williams
Seth Curry
2027 first-round pick pic.twitter.com/Z71D2EAHfD— Prime Time Sports Talk (@TalkPrimeTime) February 8, 2024
Both Williams and Curry were big-time disappointments for the Mavs this year. Dallas wasted no time in turning the page. Williams still has a good amount of money left on his contract and Curry is not as great of a shooter as he used to be. Therefore, trading two negative players for someone who might have a positive impact will be a huge difference-maker.
NBA Trade Deadline Losers
Los Angeles Lakers
The Lakers stayed put ahead of the deadline, hoping to save some of their current assets, including draft picks.
While this certainly is not a terrible idea, LeBron James is 39 and will be in his 22nd season next year. The fact that he is still playing at this high of a level is one of the most impressive storylines of all-time, but Los Angeles cannot rely on him to continue this pace every year. When you have two top-12 players in the league, you should try your best to buy in for the present.
But who knows? Maybe they’ll make a big move over the summer and become one of the best teams in the West next season.
Chicago Bulls
Does anyone see the vision for the Bulls’ future? Zach LaVine is now out for the season, ruining the Bulls’ chances of trading him. They were also unable to trade DeMar DeRozan and Nikola Vucevic. Both of these guys are players who are making a lot of money and will not help the Bulls’ future. Sure, they can win their team regular-season games, but playoff games? I highly doubt it. The market for both of them was probably not too strong, but Chicago should have hit the reset button a long time ago.
Golden State Warriors
It’s not that I was expecting the Warriors to make any big moves, but more so that there were rumors of them shedding expensive contracts. Instead, they sat on their hands. Chris Paul and Andrew Wiggins are likely not part of the Warriors’ future but will remain on the team for the rest of the year. Golden State is not a contender this year and will eventually have to shift their focus to next year. By staying put on Thursday, they made next summer’s roster construction process a little more difficult.
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