The NBA trade deadline, typically a very hectic day with rumors abound ultimately culminating in a rush of trades all being released to the public at 3:00 pm. Today not so much. Rarely has a trade deadline passed with this little activity transpiring. Some blame the new CBA (agents), some blame teams not willing to part with their sought after players (Celtics), some blame Dwight Howard (Kobe), either way very few players had to call Uhaul today to book a truck. Were there deals that should have been done, perhaps a few, but there really wasn’t anything that was a no-brainer. Let’s take a look at some of the teams and figure out what they did do, didn’t do, or should have done.
Boston Celtics: WIll they or won’t they? There were quite a few rumors revolving around KG and Pierce, but in the end nothing happened. This was a good decision in my book, KG was never going to waive his no trade clause, and the only widely reported offer for Pierce was Kris Humphries and Marshon Brooks plus a pick from the Nets and that trade is beyond putrid. Had the rumored Dwight Howard for Rajon Rondo trade had any chance of happening this is a deal that Boston would have had to do, painful though it would have been for Celtic’s fans everywhere. They also managed to Jordan Crawford for almost nothing.
Atlanta Hawks: How is Josh Smith still a member of the Atlanta Hawks? He wanted out, the team wanted him gone, yet there he is ready to begrudgingly suit up for them against the Kings tomorrow. Perhaps they were low-balled by teams (that tends to happen when you make it publicly known how much you want to trade one of your best players), but you have to think they could have found a willing partner and a deal they liked somewhere right? Monta Ellis could have been a good fit and the salaries are a very close match. Kiss Smith goodbye in the offseason, or not actually, who in their right mind would actually give him a max contract?
Toronto Raptors: Sure nothing major today, sorry Sebastian Telfair, oh how the meager have… remained meager, but the NBA’s most Canadian team did pull off a deal for the best player traded all season. The Rudy Gay acquisition was an absolute steal, any time you can get the best player involved in a trade and give up almost nothing, well you just win don’t you? The Raptors would have loved to move Andrea Bargnani today, but apparently not as much as every other team in the league would prefer for him to stay there. The Rudy Gay trade does bring us to our next team to look at under the microscope…
Memphis Grizzlies: You should be ashamed of yourself. The Memphis Grizzlies gave up a very legitimate shot at a deep playoff run and perhaps even being a title contender for salary cap tax relief. Good job being a competitive franchise. Grizzlies fans, I shed a tear for thee.
Los Angeles Lakers: The Lakers could have traded Dwight Howard today. That would have been a bad idea. Best center in the NBA, check, Kobe, check, Gasol (soon), check. Yeah, I’ll run with that squad. Now the coach… that’s another story. Rest assured Laker’s fans the reports of your teams demise have been grossly exaggerated, there will be playoff games at the Staples Center this year, and not just for the…
Los Angeles Clippers: Deandre Jordan and Eric Bledsoe for Kevin Garnett would have been interesting, it might even have been what it took to push the Clippers over the top but as I said before, KG was never going to waive that no trade clause. I guess we’ll never know what could have been, at least we can all sleep easy knowing lob city will live to dunk another day.
Houston Rockets: There should be wanted posters with Daryl Morey’s picture on them in Sacramento. The Rockets fleeced the Kings by somehow convincing them to trade Thomas Robinson (The 5th pick in the draft!) for very little. Watch out NBA when Houston wants someone, they usually get what they want, it’s probably in your best interest just to let Morey’s calls go to voicemail from here on out.
Orlando Magic: The Magic gave traded JJ Redick to the Bucks for pretty much nothing. It’s no secret the Magic are looking to rebuild, I just don’t see how this facilitates that. Sometimes trades are made for trades sake, this deal reeks of a GM with an itchy trigger finger, I don’t see what was gained by todays transaction. Now on to the…
Milwaukee Bucks: As mentioned above the Bucks stole Redick away from the Magic Kingdom today (Just picture Mickey trying to console a despondent Goofy as he weeps uncontrollably into his giant oversized gloves). Reportedly the Bucks wanted to trade Monta Ellis since they fear he will leave when he becomes a free agent this summer, and trust me he will. Does anyone willingly play for the Bucks? If Josh Smith was there only option I can understand their hesitance since he too would have left as soon as he could have made a run for that Wisconsin border.
Brooklyn Nets: The Nets did nothing today. Had they been able to pull of the Paul Pierce deal they would be a lot better today, but Danny Ainge would have had to have been drunk and in a coma to have accepted that trade. This team is obviously going to make the playoffs, but I don’t think a very deep run is in the cards for Brooklyn’s one and only team.
Utah Jazz: How long now have we been hearing that the Jazz want to trade either Jefferson or Millsap? It seems like every year it is a lock that one of them will have to leave Utah, the birthplace of Jazz (hahahahaha) behind as they set sail for brighter shores. Perhaps no offers were all that enticing to the Jazz, but if they really want to part with one of them at some point the Jazz are going to have to bite the bullet and lower their asking price before it’s too late.
New York Knicks: The Knicks did nothing today. There weren’t really a lot of rumors surrounding the Knicks coming up to the deadline today and I don’t have a problem with them staying as they are. However, if their not hitting their threes, just how dangerous of a team are they? Indiana didn’t think very much of them last night.
Sacramento Kings: As mentioned before the Kings gave up the fifth round pick in the draft last year for not nearly enough. Demarcus Cousins and Tyreke Evans were rumored to be on the block to varying degrees but Sacramento chose to hold on to their two young players, a good choice if you ask me, they were never going to be offered fair value, particularly in Cousins’ case.
That’s about as far as I’m going to go, the rest of the NBA either did nothing or did something so small it’s not really worth commenting on. The trade deadline may have passed but now we’ve entered buy-out season, your favorite team could still change! Depending on who you root for, today was either a relief or a disappointment but look on the bright side, only 364 days to go until the next trade deadline!
