The NBA trade deadline brought a lot of interesting moves around the league. Some have even labeled it as the most exciting deadline in the past few years. We are going to cover every single trade that went down on the day of the deadline. Starting with probably the biggest one.
Most Important Deadline Trades
The largest news was that the Brooklyn Nets decided to ship James Harden over to the Philadelphia 76ers. Brooklyn lost both Harden and Paul Millsap in the deal. However, they netted Ben Simmons, Seth Curry, Andre Drummond, a 2022 and 2027 first round pick. That is quite the haul for a team that badly needed to shake some things up. Philadelphia also got a star guard to partner up with Joel Embiid and got rid of the drama that Simmons was bringing.
The next biggest move of the day was that Kristaps Porzingis was traded. There weren’t any rumors of the Dallas Mavericks looking to trade the big man at the deadline but apparently, they saw an offer they couldn’t refuse. Porzingis and a second-round pick were thrown towards the Washington Wizards in exchange for Spencer Dinwiddie and Davis Bertans.
Moving on, we have a four-team trade involving the Detroit Pistons, the Sacramento Kings, the Los Angeles Clippers and the Milwaukee Bucks. Detroit received Marvin Bagley from the Kings in this deal. The Clippers brought in Semi Ojeleye and Rodney Hood. The Bucks nabbed Serge Ibaka, cash considerations and two future second round draft picks. Then finally, the Kings grabbed Donte DiVincenzo, Josh Jackson and Trey Lyles.
Smaller Deadline Deals
Goran Dragic finally got to switch teams. It was clear that he didn’t want to be on the Toronto Raptors when he got there. This made trading him away a lot easier. Toronto sent him and a first-round pick that was lottery protected over to the San Antonio Spurs. They got Thaddeus Young, Drew Eubanks and a second-round pick in exchange.
Bol Bol can’t catch a break. The center with high potential was just shipped away from the Boston Celtics to the Orlando Magic. Orlando also received PJ Dozier while the Celtics only got a second-round pick in return. Each of these players are out for the season with different injuries.
Boston continued to be active. They shipped away Josh Richardson, a first-round pick that was 1-4 protected and Romeo Langford to the Spurs. In exchange, they were given Derrick White. The deal should hopefully upgrade their guard position that has been lacking.
Jalen Smith was in fact moved in a questionable deal. The Phoenix Suns sent him to the Indiana Pacers along with a second-round pick just to reacquire Torrey Craig.
Trades That You May Have Missed
Washington knew that the Porzingis trade would help their center position, so they traded Montrezl Harrell to the Charlotte Hornets. The Wizards brought back Ish Smith and Vernon Carey Jr in return.
Washington also sent away Aaron Holiday. Holiday was swapped over to the Phoenix Suns in exchange for a trade exception and some cash considerations. That was all.
The final move that was reported was another Boston trade. This time, the Celtics sent away Dennis Schroder, Enes Freedom and Bruno Fernando all in one package. The three players were thrown to the Houston Rockets for Daniel Theis, a player that they literally just got rid of. Reports also say that Enes Freedom will almost certainly be waived once the deal goes through so he will hit the open market.
It was a weird day for trades. A lot of teams got better. There weren’t many decisions that really looked like one team lost. Arguably the most surprising thing was that the Los Angeles Lakers didn’t budge. Despite so many rumors of change coming. They didn’t make a single move. Apparently, they are looking towards the buyout market.
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