The NBA Trade Deadline for the 2016-2017 NBA Season has come and gone but the biggest stars still remain in their old ball clubs. Although there were a slew of minor trades that happened, the biggest one came in days before the deadline – DeMarcus Cousins to New Orleans Pelicans.
Here is a short recap of the biggest winners and losers after the 2017 NBA Trade Deadline.
Winners
#1 New Orleans Pelicans
Sacramento’s DeMarcus Cousins and Omri Casspi for New Orleans’ Buddy Hield, Tyreke Evans, Langston Galloway, 2017 first–round pick, 2017 second–round pick (via Philadelphia).
The Pelicans are clearly the biggest winners in this year’s deadline after they acquired mercurial big man DeMarcus Cousins to pair with their current franchise player Anthony Davis in exchange for three mediocre players (Tyreke used to be a Rookie of the Year but is yet to come back to his old form after multiple injuries) and two future draft choices.
Rookie, Buddy Hield might be the best asset that the Kings receive but his potential is relatively low compared to what Cousins has become in his six years in the NBA. Now it is up to the Pelicans to find a way to get their twin towers gelling together without one overshadowing the other.
Point guard Jrue Holiday will also play a huge role to make this work for the Pelicans but they seriously need some help in the wings and they can easily do this with their frontcourt logjam. They still have multiple big men on the roster such as Ajinca, Asik, Montiejunas and Terrence Jones.
#2 Toronto Raptors
Orlando’s Serge Ibaka for Toronto’s Terrence Ross and the less favourable of Clippers and Raptors’ 2017 picks.
Phoenix’s PJ Tucker for Toronto’s Jared Sullinger and Raptors’ 2nd round picks for 2017 and 2018 plus cash.
The Raptors are clearly eyeing the defending champions Cleveland Cavaliers with their recent moves in the deadline. They added a rim protector in Serge Ibaka to correct their defensive issues and added another body in PJ Tucker who can potentially guard Lebron James in the playoffs.
Raptors lost Sullinger and Ross in the process but the former never really got going this year due to his injury while dynamic duo Derozan & Lowry can easily make up for Ross’ offensive contributions. Although they gave up a handful of picks for these trades, the message is clear – the Raptors want to win it now!
Losers
#1 Sacramento Kings
Not only did they lose their franchise cornerstone and their prime ticket seller but they are now poised for another rebuilding phase. They did get some decent players from the trade but none of them are good enough to rebuild a squad with.
Sacramento should be bound to the lottery in the coming couple of years unless they pull off an excellent trade out of their injured swingman Rudy Gay. They currently do not have assets except for young players, Buddy Hield and the often-used Willie Cauley-Stein.
#2 Boston Celtics
You might be surprised why the Celts are on this list when in fact they did not pull off any transactions in the deadline. Just like the Raptors, the Celtics also want to win this season and they know that the only team standing in its way is Lebron and the Cavaliers.
Boston Celtics GM Danny Ainge has been actively pursuing offers and trades in the deadline, involving big names such as Paul George and Jimmy Butler, but they ended up having no one after the deadline.
Ainge said that all of the offers that they got were not good enough but that is clearly just a denial because it was clear that he did not want to give up Jae Crowder in any of the trades. The main purpose was to acquire a superstar wing player so that they can move Crowder up to the 4 for small ball competition.
However, due to the fact that none of the trades materialised, they will have to settle for their current lineup with Amir Johnson or Kelly Oubre manning the 4 position and Crowder filling up his natural position on the wings.
Guess the Lakers players!
