Six NBA Teams That Made A Huge Splash At The Trade Deadline
By Bryan Altman-
(CBS Local) Boy, did the flood gates ever open right around 3 p.m ET Thursday. While the trade deadline looked to be all but a bust at around 2:45 p.m., general managers started making moves as if they were a bunch of kids trading basketball cards. It was wild, crazy and has left most of us scratching our heads just waiting for new depth charts to come out.
Any way you look at it, all of the NBA teams are officially saddled up and ready to ride into the playoffs with whatever players they have on their current roster. The deadline has come and gone, and some of the deals that went down have the potential to drastically alter the landscape of the East and West.
Here are the top six teams that were heavily involved in the trade deadline and what it all means once you finally sort through this mess and discover who now plays for what team.
Phoenix Suns
Acquired from Miami: two first-round picks, Danny Granger, Justin Hamilton
Acquired from Milwaukee: Brandon Knight
Acquired from New Orleans: John Salmons
Traded: Goran Dragic, Zoran Dragic, Isaiah Thomas, Miles Plumlee, Tyler Ennis
Not a bad day for the Suns. They had to move Dragic and managed to get a pretty decent return on a guy who would have walked for nothing in a few short months. Besides that, the acquisition of Brandon Knight in addition next to Eric Bledsoe means the Suns still have a formidable back court and now have two first-round picks to work with in the future. Not bad at all.
Miami Heat
Acquired from Phoenix: Goran Dragic, Zoran Dragic,
Traded: two first-round picks, Norris Cole, Shawne Williams, Danny Granger, Justin Hamilton
The Heat must be confident that they can sign Goran Dragic to a long-term deal, as he'll be a free agent at season's end, or Pat Riley must believe that Dragic could be the missing piece for the Heat this season. The Heat gave up somewhat of a king's ransom for him, and it would be hard to imagine they would do that with a losing record for a four-month rental. Still, this does change the complexion of the East greatly and makes Miami an interesting team to watch down the stretch.
Milwaukee Bucks
Acquired from 76ers: Michael Carter-Williams
Acquire from Suns: Miles Plumlee, Tyler Ennis
While Carter-Williams hasn't exactly built upon last year's rookie of the year season, he has still been the lone bright spot in the 76ers organization and should be able to, at the very least, fill the role now vacated by Knight.
Philadelphia 76ers
Acquire from Suns: top-5 protected first-round draft pick from Lakers
Acquired from Nuggets: top-18 protected first-round pick from Thunder, JaVale McGee
Traded: Michael Carter-Williams, K.J. McDaniels
The 76ers are giving a new meaning to the word "tanking." They're stockpiling draft picks and trading away all of their assets -- even the ones that they were supposed to build around -- for the future, which conceivably will arrive in Philadelphia eventually. Michael Carter-Williams' departure is somewhat of a shock, but the focus is all on drafting well for the 76ers.
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Detroit Pistons
Acquired from Thunder: Reggie Jackson
Acquired from Celtics: Tayshaun Prince
Traded: Kyle Singler, D.J. Augustin, Jonas Jerebko, Luigi Datome
The Pistons capitalized on Reggie Jackson's desire to get out of Oklahoma and filled a gaping Brandon Jennings-sized hole in their lineup as the point guard recovers from season-ending ruptured Achilles tendon. Jackson should be able to help this team win games in the interim, but he might not mesh with Jennings if the two have to share the backcourt. This was the same problem that Jackson faced with Russell Westbrook in Oklahoma City.
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Oklahoma City Thunder
Acquired from Utah: Enes Kanter, Steve Novak
Acquired from Pistons: D.J. Augustin, Kyle Singler
Traded: Kendrick Perkins, Reggie Jackson
This was truly the deal that made all of the disgruntled superstars happy once again. Reggie Jackson got out of OKC, and Enes Kanter got out of Utah. Kanter is going to make a big impact in Oklahoma City, and he will more than fill the void of Kendrick Perkins, whose play has declined in recent years exponentially. The Thunder also have added depth with the acquisition of D.J. Augustin, Steve Novak and Kyle Singler, who can all play valuable minutes and help the Thunder make a late-season push toward the playoffs.
Other notable deals
Kevin Garnett is heading back to Minnesota, where he started his illustrious Hall of Fame career. In return, Thaddeus Young is off to Brooklyn. On the surface, this deal doesn't seem to make as much sense for the Timberwolves as it does for the Nets. The Nets dump an aging Garnett, who's making roughly $3 million more per season and is statistically a much lesser player at this point in his career than Young. The only thing the Wolves assured themselves of is that Young can't pick up his nearly $10 million player option next season and leave the Wolves holding the bill. The Nets get a solid player for a potential playoff push.
Pablo Prigioni is out of New York, as the Knicks have traded the 37-year-old point guard to the Houston Rockets for Alexey Shved and two second-round picks. That's a pretty good deal for the Knicks, who are officially doing battle with the 76ers for the NBA's worst team and the inside track for the services of Jahlil Okafor.
Isaiah Thomas has been traded from the Suns to the Celtics. Boston will send Marcus Thornton and a 2016 first-round pick via Cleveland back.