The NBA trade deadline is behind us, and it brought massive shifts in the landscape of the NBA:
James Harden moved to team up with Joel Embiid.
Ben Simmons moved to Brooklyn where he can finally get back on the court.
CJ McCollum was taken away from his partnership with Damian Lillard.
The disappointing work dynamic between Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis was broken up.
The NBA can often undergo significant changes at the deadline.
This time around, it felt like a dramatic change to everything we thought we knew about this league a year ago.
We are looking to answer a single question; “How did the deadline treat all 30 teams?”
NBA Power Ranking: 30 Teams and Placement:
1. Phoenix Suns, 48-10.
Did they do well at the trade deadline?
Two subtle moves at the trade deadline for the Phoenix Suns, but they were two more victories for James Jones and this franchise.
Bringing back Torrey Craig as a versatile defensive option adds a lot more than what they were going to get short-term from Jalen Smith.
Maybe even long-term too.
We saw Craig have an impact last season after a trade to the desert.
Grabbing Aaron Holiday for cash considerations was also a perfect thing to build out some depth.
He’s a nice “in case of emergency” option, and he gets a chance to learn from Chris Paul.
2. Memphis Grizzlies, 41-19
Did they do well at the trade deadline?
The Memphis Grizzlies did nothing at the trade deadline, and we have to love them for that.
They didn’t overreact to any of their regular-season success so far.
They didn’t worry about anything when it came to wondering whether or not they had everything they need for the postseason.
The Grizzlies are rolling with this team that has taken a couple of leaps this season.
They’ll show up to the playoffs, see what happens and then reassess.
No chance of them panicking under the weight of new expectations based on how good they’ve been through 58 games.
3. Milwaukee Bucks, 36-24
Did they do well at the trade deadline?
The Milwaukee Bucks couldn’t have been happy about needing to trade away Donte DiVincenzo at the deadline, but getting the big man depth they need with Serge Ibaka was a big pickup.
DiVincenzo was going to be an expensive option for them moving forward after his restricted free agency this summer.
It would have plunged them even deeper into the luxury tax.
Instead, the Bucks now have an insurance policy for Brook Lopez as he isn’t able to come back.
It may not help them defend someone like Joel Embiid straight-up, but they can still throw a bunch of looks, limbs, and length at him to muck things up.
They just need Ibaka’s surgically repaired back to stay strong.
4. Miami Heat, 38-21.
Did they do well at the trade deadline?
The Miami Heat didn’t do anything other than send out KZ Okpala to OKC before the deadline.
It opened up a roster spot for them right before we saw Goran Dragic move from Toronto.
He’s expected to be bought out, and the Heat have open roster spots.
While the reporting has seemed to heavily lean toward other locations, it’s worth noting that Dragic has been close to Miami for a while.
It wouldn’t shock me if their big trade deadline move was to swoop in and get Dragic on the buyout market.
5. Golden State Warriors, 42-17.
Did they do well at the trade deadline?
The Golden State Warriors were not active enough at the trade deadline to do anything.
They made zero moves and still have some health stuff to take care of to prepare themselves for the playoff run.
They’re still waiting on a couple of big men to get healthy, and while they could have potentially made moves to upgrade spots in their rotation, doing so likely would have sacrificed some depth.
6. Philadelphia 76ers, 35-23.
Did they do well at the trade deadline?
They did, but it’s funny how many people seemed to all of a sudden take a dramatic shift on the idea of James Harden going to team up with Joel Embiid on the Philadelphia 76ers.
It felt like as soon as the deal was announced, a lot of people around the NBA (inside it and covering it) had soured on the idea.
Yes, that next contract could be crippling.
But the Sixers went from zero title window because of the Ben Simmons drama to opening up that window with Harden.
Maybe it’s not open as big or as long as you’d like it, but they have put themselves back in the mix.
Giving up Seth Curry and some picks was a lot to relinquish in addition to Simmons, but Morey got his man to put next to Embiid.
They just need to get to work and make it happen now.
7. Cleveland Cavaliers, 35-23.
Did they do well at the trade deadline?
The Cleveland Cavaliers did great with their trade deadline.
It came a little early with the acquisition of Caris LeVert, but we saw that potential presence for them when he led a comeback victory over his former Indiana teammates.
LeVert is one of the only guys on that Cavs team who can just go get his shot whenever he wants.
Darius Garland can do it regularly too, but LeVert adds another creator presence on the floor.
It would have been fun to see this team at full strength all year with Collin Sexton and Ricky Rubio, but pivoting to acquire LeVert when those two went down with injuries was another fantastic move by Koby Altman.
8. Utah Jazz, 36-22
Did they do well at the trade deadline?
Utah Jazz did a good job, considering the Joe Ingles injury hit them right before it.
They flipped his expiring deal for Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Juancho Hernangomez.
They’ll get a chance to develop Alexander-Walker, and they’ve got an incredible coaching staff to do just that.
Hernangomez can contribute right away, but he’s a little limited compared to the perimeter defensive presence they need.
It wasn’t exactly what they needed, but they upgraded their situation.
9. Chicago Bulls, 38-21.
Did they do well at the trade deadline?
The Chicago Bulls sat out the trade deadline.
People wonder what they might have done if they were still in the same battle for the top seed in the East but didn’t have the big injuries they have to Lonzo Ball and Alex Caruso.
Not necessarily that they would have moved either player or even consider it.
10. Boston Celtics, 34-26.
Did they do well at the trade deadline?
The Boston Celtics might have had our favorite deadline push.
They grabbed interior depth with Daniel Theis coming back to the team.
All they had to give up with Enes Freedom, Dennis Schröder, and Bruno Fernando.
That’s a no-brainer for the Celtics, and now they don’t have any truly weak options for big man depth unless they have to play Grant Williams at the five because of injuries.
More importantly, they grabbed Derrick White from San Antonio and now get to have him join one of the top defensive teams in the NBA.
It will be hell going against him, Marcus Smart, and Jaylen Brown on the court all at the same time.
11. Toronto Raptors 32-25.
Did they do well at the trade deadline?
The Toronto Raptors flipping Goran Dragic for Thaddeus Young was a great play by Masai Ujiri.
Sure, they gave up a first-round draft pick in the process.
But bringing in Young just adds to their versatility and their defensive potential.
I’m still a little shocked, even with all of the injuries and absences the Raptors have had this season, that they’re still only ranked 13th in defensive rating.
Young is so smart off the ball and knowing when to rotate that he shouldn’t have a problem doing his part in Toronto.
It won’t be nearly the intensive lifting he had to do in San Antonio at times.
12. Dallas Mavericks, 35-24.
Did they do well at the trade deadline?
Admittedly, we are confused by what the Dallas Mavericks did at the deadline.
Getting rid of Kristaps Porzingis? Understandable.
Getting rid of him for Spencer Dinwiddie and Davis Bertans? That’s the head-scratcher.
Jalen Brunson has been brilliant for them, and even though he’s a free agent this summer, we still wouldn’t want to eat up any minutes he could potentially play by having Dinwiddie in there instead.
Their hope is Bertans catching passes from Luka Doncic will bring back his shooting stroke.
13. Denver Nuggets, 33-25.
Did they do well at the trade deadline?
The Denver Nuggets didn’t do anything at the trade deadline, and of course, they didn’t.
What are they supposed to do? Their second-and third-best players are injured.
Denver’s only action during this past week was signing DeMarcus Cousins to another 10-day deal.
Maybe the Nuggets could have explored some deals, but that would’ve meant dealing Will Barton most likely, and that just wouldn’t make any sense.
The Nuggets are stuck, but they’ll be fine when they get healthy at some point.
14. Brooklyn Nets, 31-28.
Did they do well at the trade deadline?
The Brooklyn Nets did well for themselves.
Considering the dramatic drop in James Harden wanting to remain in Brooklyn and how bad things got, managing to get Ben Simmons, Seth Curry, Andre Drummond, and two first-round picks for him is about as good of a haul as Sean Marks could have expected.
Assuming Kevin Durant can come back at full strength at some point this season, they still keep chances of being a problem for opponents in the postseason.
Maybe they can even still win it all, although that seems like a lot of stuff has to fall into place in a short amount of time.
For now, the Nets can feel confident that things will be well-rounded and deadly going into next season.
15. Minnesota Timberwolves, 31-28.
Did they do well at the trade deadline?
The Minnesota Timberwolves did nothing at the trade deadline.
They decided to stick with their rotation and see if it can keep things together to grab the No. 7 slot in the Play-In Tournament.
That’s probably the correct move because they’ve believed in keeping this core together since their brief flash of success last season, and it’s mostly paying off.
To get true depth added, the Wolves probably would’ve needed to disrupt that core.
No need to overreact and make a panic trade like that.
The Wolves need to add outside shooting at some point, but their offense has picked up lately without that being consistent.
16. Atlanta Hawks, 28-30.
Did they do well at the trade deadline?
The Atlanta Hawks didn’t do anything at the trade deadline.
We don’t know how much they truly geared up for a Ben Simmons deal at any point.
Once the Harden stuff broke, it became hard to imagine the Hawks having a shoot, if they were even still interested at that point.
It looked like the Hawks had turned things around anyway, so their only contribution to the trade season was weeks ago when they moved Cam Reddish to New York in exchange for a draft pick and Kevin Knox.
17. LA Clippers, 30-31.
Did they do well at the trade deadline?
The LA Clippers picked up Rodney Hood and Semi Ojeleye in the deal that sent Serge Ibaka to Milwaukee.
That trade didn’t do anything for them. It felt a little odd after the Norman Powell-Robert Covington deal from the prior week, but apparently, they just wanted to do right by Ibaka and send him to a contender to finish out this contract.
It’s noble, but we’re not here for noble acts when it comes to getting ready for the playoffs.
18. Charlotte Hornets, 29-31.
Did they do well at the trade deadline?
The Montrezl Harrell pickup for the Charlotte Hornets can work, but they’re going to need the guy we saw with Washington.
That’s the most engaged we’ve ever seen Harrell on the defensive end of the floor, and the Hornets’ biggest problem right now is having an interior presence defensively.
Mason Plumlee does a good job, but he can’t play 48 minutes.
The scoring of Harrell will be nice, but that’s air conditioning in a Bugatti for that offense.
19. Los Angeles Lakers, 27-31.
Did they do well at the trade deadline?
Los Angeles Lakers didn’t do anything at the trade deadline.
They didn’t have opportunities to move Russell Westbrook and his tricky back tightness in a way that improves the team.
Also, whenever they bench him during the fourth quarter, it doesn’t lead to them winning.
The Lakers also weren’t able to find a deal with Talen Horton-Tucker and a future pick for a difference-maker, although it’s a wonder if that was ever a serious play for them.
So the Lakers are just left with whatever they had before.
20. San Antonio Spurs, 23-36.
Did they do well at the trade deadline?
For the future of this team, we think so.
They moved Thaddeus Young and Derrick White in separate deals that should end up giving them two more picks in the top 20 in the 2022 draft.
That will give them three picks in the top 20 if that happens.
The San Antonio Spurs dealing with the absence of White will be tough.
He’s so good defensively, especially next to someone like Dejounte Murray.
And he’s a good playmaker.
Someone is going to have to step up for them in all of this.
Maybe they can make something out of Romeo Langford, and the addition of Josh Richardson is helpful, but this team needs a boost from within to make the Play-In.
21. New Orleans Pelicans, 23-36.
Did they do well at the trade deadline?
We love what the New Orleans Pelicans did at the deadline.
We too often get caught up in a young core having like seven or eight young players and trying to grow them all together.
That’s rarely realistic, if ever, so they consolidated some of that talent by sending out Josh Hart and Nickeil Alexander-Walker in exchange for CJ McCollum.
They’ll have lineups out there hopefully at some point that include McCollum, Brandon Ingram, Zion Williamson, and Jonas Valanciunas.
That’s so much firepower to defend against.
At some point, they’ll need to be better defensively, but let’s get them to enjoy before we belabor the point.
Love the Larry Nance Jr. pickup as well, but he needs to get healthy.
22. New York Knicks, 25-34.
Did they do well at the trade deadline?
The New York Knicks did nothing at the trade deadline, and now we’ve got to see how this potential battle between the front office and Tom Thibodeau goes.
The front office wants him to play Cam Reddish more.
Thibodeau hasn’t been interested in doing that.
He hasn’t been thrilled about a lot of the moves the Knicks have made since their foray back into the postseason.
There has to be a middle ground between what the front office wants and how Thibodeau wants to coach, but at least right now they’re struggling to find common ground on all facets of the rotation.
23. Indiana Pacers, 20-40.
Did they do well at the trade deadline?
The Indiana Pacers made some of the right moves in trying to shake things up.
They sent away from their best player in Domantas Sabonis, and they sent a pretty talented perimeter player in Caris LeVert out of there as well.
But looking at what the Pacers have left with Malcolm Brogdon, Tyrese Haliburton, Buddy Hield, and Myles Turner as a core, it feels a lot more modern than what they were trotting out there.
This Haliburton acquisition isn’t the outright thievery the internet made it sound like, but it’s a great pickup by this front office as they sacrificed their best player to the trade gods.
24. Washington Wizards, 27-31.
Did they do well at the trade deadline?
We don’t know what to feel about the moves the Washington Wizards made at the trade deadline.
It all happens with news hanging over the rest of the season that Bradley Beal is out with wrist surgery.
So the Wizards ended up doing this for the current roster:
Players they got rid of:
- Spencer Dinwiddie
- Montrezl Harrell
- Aaron Holiday
- Davis Bertans
Players they brought in:
- Kristaps Porzingis
- Ish Smith
- Vernon Carey Jr.
Is that better? It could be, but we’re once again going to go through the dance of trying to see if Beal wants to remain with this franchise past this season.
He can become a free agent this summer, and he’s spent 10 years in the league.
That means he’s up for some major pay bumps, and we’ll see if he wants the maximum by staying with the Wizards or seeking less money but still max money elsewhere.
If he stays, these moves feel better. If he leaves, everyone will be left shrugging.
25. Sacramento Kings, 22-38.
Did they do well at the trade deadline?
Ultimately, The Sacramento Kings did well at the deadline.
Everybody on the internet freaked out over them giving up Tyrese Haliburton.
He’s really good, but he can’t be a dealbreaker in a trade where you got the best player by a mile.
Now if you don’t believe in Domantas Sabonis as a top guy, that’s completely fair and a different conversation.
But they did well for themselves in trying to grab a true direction that isn’t just pretending De’Aaron Fox can be the top guy on a good team.
The Kings still have a ton of work to do, and they do need to find a way to replace someone like Haliburton.
26. Portland Trail Blazers, 25-34.
Did they do well at the trade deadline?
The Portland Trail Blazers gave away a chance to develop Nickeil Alexander-Walker so they could hold Joe Ingles’ expiring contract, get Elijah Hughes and bring in a second-round pick that is unlikely to have as much potential as NAW.
We’re going to have to wait and see what the true fallout is of this mass exodus in Portland.
Did they get enough in return for Norman Powell, Robert Covington, and CJ McCollum?
Is that enough to reset the roster to build around Damian Lillard?
Or is this the kind of thing that ultimately helps him decide he wants a new team?
The Blazers made some of the right moves, but it’s fair to question if they received enough in return.
27. Oklahoma City Thunder, 18-40.
Did they do well at the trade deadline?
The Oklahoma City Thunder were surprisingly uninvolved with the action leading up to the deadline on Thursday.
They sat there with oodles of cap space and managed to just make the one move — KZ Okpala for a future second-round pick.
Other than that, they didn’t attach themselves to deals as an extra team plucking draft picks.
Maybe that’s because they’ve already acquired all of the drafts picks they’re allowed to possess.
28. Orlando Magic, 13-47.
Did they do well at the trade deadline?
The Orlando Magic ended up sending a future second-round pick for the rights to have Bol Bol’s restricted free agency this coming summer.
I’d rather they have kept PJ Dozier to rehab his injury and keep him long-term compared to Bol.
They couldn’t find a home for Gary Harris Jr. (if they even shopped him that hard) or Terrence Ross (not a ton of interest around the league).
Harris’ deal will expire this summer.
Ross has one more season under contract.
29. Houston Rockets, 15-43.
Did they do well at the trade deadline?
The Houston Rockets could have found a home for Eric Gordon, but instead, they opted to keep him in tow until what they feel is a better deal presents itself.
He has at least one more year under contract, so they don’t have urgency yet.
They acquired Dennis Schröder and Bruno Fernando (and waived Enes Freedom), but it didn’t do anything for them unless you’re a big believer in Fernando.
30. Detroit Pistons, 13-45.
Did they do well at the trade deadline?
The moves that Detroit Pistons did at the deadline.
The reclamation of Josh Jackson has been really good, so it was unexpected that they let him go in a trade, but getting a chance to be the one to resurrect Marvin Bagley III’s career is a great play by Troy Weaver.
The Pistons need a big man to put next to Cade Cunningham.
I don’t know if we should count Jerami Grant in for the future of this team’s vision, but we know guys like Cunningham, Saddiq Bey, and Isaiah Stewart will be here.
Stewart is a good lunchpail guy, but they needed someone with a glimmer of star potential, but hopefully, that’s still there in Bagley.
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