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The NBA trade deadline was rather exciting with a lot of star power being moved around that has shifted the power back out west. As always we look for the winners and losers at these deadlines, so here are my winners and losers from last Thursday’s events.
Winners
Phoenix Suns- I will start with the obvious winner of the trade deadline being the Phoenix Suns. Under new governorship (Ownership) they swung for the fences and landed a top tier level superstar in Kevin Durant from the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, Jae Crowder (who was moved again to Milwaukee later on), and bounty of draft picks that clearly has the Suns in complete win now mode.
Despite a rocky season thus far with some friction and injuries this move puts them in an outstanding position to represent the west in the NBA finals. Although Devin Booker and Kevin Durant are currently out with injuries the prospect of them playing together along with Chris Paul and DeAndre Ayton is simply dangerous for everyone else but let’s see it first before we commit to that idea.
KD & Kyrie- If winning means completely making a mess and leaving it for others to clean up while bettering their situations then without question Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving won at the deadline. With Irving being traded Sunday to Mavericks and Durant going to Phoenix later in the week meant the horrible and embarrassing end of this chapter of Nets history. However, both Irving and Durant went to better basketball situations, with Irving going to Dallas to be more for Luka Doncic and Durant going to Phoenix to potentially be the savoir that helps the Suns finally win championship, don’t worry this polarizing duo will come up again in the loser’s segment.
The LA Lakers- As much as I want to give any more attention to the circus that is Lakers, but they finally did a good and logical thing by getting some good quality supporting talent to hopefully help LeBron make some sort of a playoff surge this season. Bringing in D’Angelo Russell, Jarred Vanderbilt, Malik Beasley, Mo Bamba and draft picks to send out Russell Westbrook, Patrick Beverley, Thomas Bryant, Juan Toscano-Anderson and that cultivated 2027 1st pick (protected) was the much-needed upgrade this team and their season had to do.
Yes, there was no big-name star power coming like Laker nation is used to, but they did acquire the proper role player support and depth to help LeBron James make a playoff push, have some Anthony Davis (Day to Davis for me), and create some flexibility this offseason has the Lakers in a better place than they have been this season.
Mike Conley & The T’Wolves- Just when I thought there was no hope in salvaging this season for the Wolves, they somehow stumbled into a lifeline by getting seasoned veteran, proper floor general, and much needed adult to be on this team and in the locker room in Mike Conley via the Westbrook trade. Conley will do nothing but positive things being on this team that desperately needs direction.
Conley will instantly be a plus by being the only player in the NBA that willing wants to and can get Rudy Gobert the ball on offense despite Gobert’s limitations. But most importantly Conley will be the steady hand, backcourt sidekick, and mentor their young superstar Anthony Edwards continuing his rise to the elite in the league but maybe this season is fixable in Minnesota at all with Conley on their roster.
Cam Reddish- Now I had a few more possible winners (The Clippers replenishing their roster depth, Crowder to the Bucks, and the Warriors) but my final winner of the trade deadline for me is Cam Reddish who has buried on the Knicks bench since he traded there because the old, salty coach Tom Thibodeau who can be a taskmaster on young talent soured on Reddish from day one.
Yes being traded to two teams very early in his career is not the best thing but going Portland can be and hopefully will be ideal for Reddish and his potential considering the Blazers are a team in flux whether they want to make a playoff run or simply develop their young talents like Reddish, Shaedon Sharpe, and Anfernee Simons wouldn’t be a bad thing to do, but please trade Dame Lillard if that is the case. Maybe the young and fresh coaching of Chauncey Billups hopefully will tap into the talent we have not fully seen in Reddish thus far.
Now we move on to our beloved losers on last week’s deadline that are well deserving of it, unfortunately involved in the situation, or potentially can be damaged by the activity or lack thereof at the deadline.
Losers
The Brooklyn Nets- Since I started with the Suns in the winner’s section, I have to begin with Nets here. Getting right to it, the KD & Kyrie era for the Nets was an absolute disappointment, failure, and damaging lesson this franchise endured. Choosing to go to Brooklyn in 2019 Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving handpicked each other to team up and bring championship success to Brooklyn, but that simply did not happen.
From major injuries, certain people’s selfishness about vaccination requirements, to make completely knee jerk and damaging trades/firings to please their unique stars resulted in quite the disappointing resume for this particular era for the Nets. Durant and Irving in their time in Brooklyn played a shocking total of 87 games together (16 games with the duo and James Harden) along with making the second round of the playoffs being the farthest they got during the time in Brooklyn, not 1 but 2 coaches fired will rightfully leave a negative taste, look and stain on both Irving and Durant’s career.
Yes the Nets future is a bit promising and can start over again doing it their way and maybe just maybe can be blessing in disguise for troubled young star Ben Simmons to regain his confidence to be a promising talent surrounded by great support players in Bridges, Johnson, and Finney-Smith should give Nets some form of hope but does not wash away the complete failing nightmare that was the KD/Kyrie era.
The Bulls & Raptors- This is a two for one subject with the Chicago Bulls and Toronto Raptors who were heavily considered to be active at the trade deadline ended up doing absolutely nothing that leaves some questions to be answered. Are the Raptors and Bulls waiting until the off season to make changes? Was there no market or demand for Zach Lavine? Did the OG Anunoby buzz actually hurt moving him and other potential Raptors? A lot to be answered with both teams going forward who will have to decide what direction their teams will go to finish the season and enter the summer.
No Grizzled Vet- Playing on words here but the one big letdown I had from the deadline was the Memphis Grizzlies NOT getting a well-respected, grown-up veteran to teach the Grizzlies how to be a professional team and not an overgrown AAU team. The obvious thing this talented team needs is a steady and respectable veteran that will have credibility with this young core to get them to the next level.
Also being a part of the going to the next level is finally admitting that swingman Dillon Brooks is problematic for their title aspirations. Brooks is reputable defender but is becoming an undeniable troublemaker on the court being the center of the incidents on the court will the team from the Shannon Sharpe incident in LA to giving a low blow to Donovan Mitchell is more than enough to reason to finally wash your hands of Brooks and move him for just about anything that will help them reach the finals.
Luka Doncic- This one is a big thing for me as Luka Doncic is the future face and talent of the NBA who is advanced in his basketball skills and can do/has done great thing to date but the potential partnership with the unpredictable Kyrie Irving can be a good thing for Doncic and the Mavs or be a lastly negative effect on Doncic going forward.
Of course on paper, in NBA 2K, and logically this pairing should be completely positive all around but once again Kyrie Irving plays a pivotal part in this which leaves me and others with an unsettling feeling of trouble. Irving and his track record fairly validates the doubts and concerns along with the unexplained admiration players have for Irving leaves the possibility of Irving to be a negative influence on the young mega star but for now we will have to wait, see, and hope this turns out to be a good thing for everyone involved.
Westbrook’s Harsh Reality- The final and probably personal subject for the losers at the trade deadline is good old Russell Westbrook. Now I have never been the biggest fan of him as a basketball player, but I have patiently waited for this day to come because it is long overdue. Westbrook going home to LA was a complete failure, harsh lesson and eye opening moment hopefully for him to finally accept his new reality in the NBA.
Almost every great player or star in NBA faces this moment in their career and for the most part transition well but Westbrook and more specifically his pride and ego will be the thing that will kill his existence in this league if he does not embrace and accept this new phase of his career as jolt of energy/intensity off the bench leading the second unit on a contender and that he no longer the ultimate alpha superstar that everything runs through.
Until we see anything of humbleness, humility and acceptance on Westbrook’s part don’t expect much to change but sadly there will desperate teams that will go for Westbrook and sell themselves that he can be the piece that get them over the hump when that simply is not the case. I expect the Clippers, Bulls, and my wild card choice the 76ers to the situation with Westbrook and the Jazz who will probably buy him out and let him go home or elsewhere very soon.
The harsh reality that Westbrook and fans don’t want to accept is many teams truly do not need or want Russell to be their point guard. Either contending teams like the Clippers, Bulls, and 76ers will take the gamble on him or the teams in the middle, currently tanking or lose nothing in bringing him in like the Hornets, Wizards, possibly Spurs or Thunder who would sell some tickets at the end of the season bringing in Westbrook, but the next move will be interesting in the Russell Westbrook experience.