The final hours before the 2017 trade deadline may not have produced any blockbusters, but they didn’t lack for excitement. Eight deals were completed today involving 11 teams, and rumors involving Paul George, Jimmy Butler, Derrick Rose and others kept the intensity level high right up until 3 p.m. Eastern time.
This year’s biggest deal came four days before the deadline when the Kings agreed to send DeMarcus Cousins to the Pelicans. Several other significant trades were completed in the past 10 days as some teams got their roster work out of the way early.
Apart from New Orleans, Toronto looks like a major winner, picking up Serge Ibaka and P.J. Tucker in separate deals. Both should see plenty of playing time as the Raptors hope to challenge for Eastern Conference supremacy.
Some teams decided their best strategy was to stand still. The Pacers turned down all offers for George, and the Bulls elected to hold onto Butler. Both teams may revisit those decisions in the offseason, but for today neither one moved. The Celtics let the deadline pass without a deal, holding on to Brooklyn’s first-rounders in the next two drafts along with a collection of young talent.
Some teams turned their focus to buyout season, which started this afternoon when the Mavericks waived Deron Williams. He seems certain to wind up with the Cavaliers, who are also interested in Andrew Bogut if he agrees to a buyout with the Sixers. However, the Cavs will face competition from the Rockets, who have $3.54MM in cap space, along with the Spurs and maybe others.
Now that the teams have made their decisions, we want to hear yours. Who were the winners and losers from this year’s deadline? Who made the best deal, who made the worst and who should have been more active?
Please share your thoughts in the comments section below. We look forward to what you have to say.
I think the Raptors getting Tucker is huge.
Seems to me makes sense for the cavaliers to go after jones, bogut, deron and solidify their bench serviceable backups if anyone is to go down or something happens to love in recovery. All those guys want to play for a contender and it’s pretty much going to be cavs and warriors, no other teams really got better to contend with those two teams.
The Spurs say Hi. They can absolutely contend with GS and Cle
Wow, the Cavs already have Derrick Williams, and will probably get Deron Williams. Unless their middle initials are different, the Cavs may need to put their complete FIRST names on their jerseys too! If we would’ve kept Mo, it could’ve been even more convoluted for announcers calling their games…lol!
Play all three of them at once!
Tough to say anyone is an outright loser, at least in deadline terms. I mean, the Kings, obviously, but it’s not like it’s a new problem there. Raptors made exactly the kinds of moves they should have, the Nets and Mavs both made smart trades to grab young talent. Really, just about every non-Cousins move made sense for both sides, and the teams that didn’t make trades did so for completely valid reasons. A perfectly reasonable deadline, especially in a league where two teams are so clearly dominant.
The Kings look like losers on paper, but they got 2 quality guards and Will-Cauley Stein is beasting already. They’re smarter than people think, and they’re cancer survivors.
Raptors won with tucker and I Ibaka, and the pelicans wil push into the playoffs now with boogie, Mavericks also got a center to build around, while the thunder got players to help them in the playoffs. But the team who will win for giving up nothing is the Cavs, who will win the buyout market after the deadline. If your strictly talking trade pelicans won for sure, but the cavs will win the overall by experienced good players for dirt cheap.
The only loser at the deadline is Boston. They had enough assets to make some kind of deal, but did nothing. This isn’t based on not getting Butler or George, but they didn’t ever make a move to shore up the bench. They could have gotten Lou Williams or PJ Tucker, both of which would have helped in the 2nd unit. They’ll have to make some moves around the draft time because they don’t have the roster spots for all the picks and guys currently overseas that might come over next year.
Celtics could have used a big too. Gibson or Bogut would have a been decent additions. Really a lost opportunity to compete for a title this year.
Jazz have plenty of cap space, were interested in D-Will but not at whatever trade price the Mavs wanted, and have higher waiver claim than the Cavs.
That said, I know the Jazz and Nuggets have room; on waivers, is a player’s cap hit for the claiming team the full season value, or is it prorated?
Cavs, if they can pull off both Bogut and Deron Williams would be a major coup. For next to nothing they’ve added Korver, Derrick and Deron Williams plus Bogut. That helps that bench and would give the ability to rest James and Kyrie for the rest of the reg. Season.
Celtics fans are definitely losers at the deadline. I appreciate Ainge’s careful manner to building a team, but when you’ve had multiple opportunities to trade for difference making players and you decide to firmly wrap your arms around assets like Scrooge McDuck, it’s got to be frustrating for C’s nation.
Also, throw in my Knicks as losers for doing nothing. If what was reported was true, to have the gall to ask the Wolves for an additional asset to go along with taking Rubio for Rose is ridiculous. Phil wants to keep his cap space for the offseason??? What good does it do you when you won’t be able to attract FA’s anyways! A first for O’Quinn, not being able to turn Lee or Jennings into anything! The Knicks walk out of the deadline where they walked in, a team who will have too many wins to have a realistic shot at pick number one, but bad enough to not make a serious playoff push. Thanks Phil for keeping this garbage barge afloat. To quote Shea Hillebrand whilst he was a Blue Jay, “this is a sinking ship”.
Don’t like the trades made by OKC or Sacramento. OKC cause they suck anyway and are better off rebuilding. They just wasted young assets just to make a first round exit against the Spurs.
Sacramento is Sacramento.
I kind of agree and disagree about OKC. They’re probably not making it far in the playoffs, second round at best (unless Westbrook somehow kicks it up another notch and someone else plays out of their mind). However, I don’t think they’re better off rebuilding. The obvious reason is Russ. If the Thunder tried to rebuild, then they might as well start shopping him because I don’t see him wanting to stick around for a rebuild. Oladipo and Adams are still relatively young enough that they could try to build around them, but those two might prevent them from going full-on tank mode (or at least Oladipo would).
They could power their entire rebuild alone just by trading Russ. He’d bring so much stuff back they’d probably end up looking like Boston.
Lakers did what was expected, got another 1st, Clippers slept and didn’t do a thing big error they can’t beat GSW or Spurs as contracted. Raptors did improve and will need to to dent Cavs hold. Houston came up with Lou big. Time