NBA Trade Deadline Madness

With the Nba trade deadline coming to an end (Thursday Feb10) at 3:00pm, we have seen a good mix of superstars and role players being dealt around. We have also seen teams make pushes to improve their roster to try and have a better chance to win now and potentially sacrifice their future.

 

Some trades were certainly more impactful than others. Our first shock was when we got news on February 8th that CJ McCollum was being traded from the Portland Trail Blazers to the New Orleans Pelicans. This caught a lot of fans off guard as we knew the Trail Blazers were looking to blow the team up and build around their superstar Damian Lillard, but we were not ready to see McCollum leave and let alone get dealt to a non contention team being the Pelicans.

 

Larry Nance Jr, and Tony Snell were also involved in that deal. Portland received Josh Hart, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Tomas Satoranski and a first round and two second round draft picks.

 

Another trade that changed the dynamic was Domantas Sabonis of the Indiana Pacers to the Sacramento Kings in exchange for Tyrese Haliburton who is a promising and upcoming young star, Buddy Heild who is a proven role player and veteran Tristan Thompson. Kings also got back Justin Holiday and Jeremy Lamb along with Sabonis.

 

This was a necessary move for the Kings and Pacers as both franchises were at a stand still with their current roster and needed a change up.

 

The Toronto Raptors finally ended up dealing Goran Dragic after multiple trade rumours surrounding his name and the fan base wanting him gone. Dragic went to the San Antonio Spurs who are intending on buying him out and releasing him to become a free agent. In exchange for Thaddeus Young and Drew Eubanks who the Raptors will waive.

 

Thaddeus Young is a nice veteran to have come off the bench and provide some experience for the younger players like Scottie Barnes, Chris Boucher etc.

 

Just before the trade deadline expired, the Dallas Mavericks made a last minute move and decided to deal former all star, Kristaps Porzingis to the Washington Wizards in exchange for a solid sharpshooter in Davis Bertans and Spencer Dinwiddie who will help out their superstar Luka Doncic with the ball handling duties.

 

This was a good move for the Mavs as Porzingis is a very injury prone player who can never seem to stay on the court for a full season. They now have a little more stability in their roster knowing the guys they have out there will be good to go and are more durable.

 

With the last trade of the deadline being far the biggest and most anticipated trade and rumoured about for weeks now. Brooklyn Nets Superstar and former MVP James Harden was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for Ben Simmons, Seth Curry, and Andre Drummond. Paul Millsap was also involved in the trade going to the 76ers.

 

James Harden was no longer happy in Brooklyn as he was frustrated with teammate Kyrie Irving’s “part time” role within the team and didn’t feel the team were on the same page as him altogether. He then said to the press he was “open to relocation” and mentioned he wouldn’t mind Philadelphia as the destination.

 

The two teams were in talks for a while and going back and forth before finally pulling the trigger and making the deal. This is a good trade for both teams as Ben Simmons was not going to play at all this season if he remained a 76er, and Harden was believed to leave the Nets in the off season as his contract would expire. Ben brings a lot of defence to the team which is what they were lacking with Harden and Seth Curry will be a great shooter to have to space the floor out. Harden brings a lot of shot creation and 3 point shooting to the 76ers and is a great duo with Joel Embiid.

 

We were certainly entertained by all the trades and different roster changes going on around the league.