NBA Trade Deadline Breakdown 2018

We just experienced a trade deadline for the ages. Not just hours before the clock hit zero (on Thursday February 8th at 3:00 PM), but there were a couple other big moves made before it. In this article, I'm going to break down multiple moves made before the trade deadline occurred this year.

Blake Griffin to the Pistons

Pistons Receive: Blake Griffin, Willie Reed (traded to Pelicans for Jameer Nelson), Brice Johnson (traded to the Grizzlies)

Clippers Receive: Boban Marjanovic, Tobias Harris, Avery Bradley, DET 2018 1st Round Pick, DET 2nd Round Pic

     Now this one came out of left field. Everyone had predicted that the Clippers would trade the likes of DeAndre Jordan and Lou Williams because they were expiring contracts and would hold on to Blake because they had just re-signed him the prior year to a max deal, but in fact the exact opposite happened: DJ and Lou are still Clippers (with Sweet Lou just recently signing a 3 year $24 million deal which I thought was a little low for how he has been playing recently), while Blake was ousted. This trade seemed similar to what happened with Chris Paul. Both players agreed to their player-option when they could have just left in free agency. I don't know about Blake Griffin, but Chris Paul did it specifically so the Clippers could at least get something out of him leaving, and it really helped them (acquiring Lou Will, Pat Bev, Sam Dekker, and Montrezl Harrell). This trade could help the Clippers out in the long run. Although Avery Bradely has not looked like his former self recently and Boban isn't particularly great, Tobias Harris has been on a tear and the picks they receive could be decent. 

     For the Pistons, this trade has been wonderful so far. Up until when I'm writing this, the Pistons are 5-0 with Blake. The pairing of Blake and Drummond has worked really well so far, with Drummond averaging 18.4 ppg and 20.2 rpg while Blake has been averaging 21.5 ppg and 7.75 rpg. With Blake starting to be able to stretch the floor more and Drummond becoming more of a passer, it's not out of the usual seeing these types of players flourishing next to each other. Getting rid of Boban and Bradley wasn't that hard for the Pistons, but Tobias and the picks could be hard for them. After getting rid of Tobias Harris, Stanley Johnson is their starting small forward (although he did start before Harris was traded, Harris would still play small forward a lot since he's a tweener). Of course, the first game after the trade, Johnson went off for 26 points and 10 rebounds against the Cavs (of course it was the Cavs). Since then, he's scored 14, 13, 8, and 19 in about 34 minutes per game, so I guess he doesn't look as horrendous as he has previously, but you still would never want to say your team starts Stanley Johnson at small forward and plays him up to 34 minutes a game.

IT4 To The Lakers After 15 Games

Cleveland Receives: Larry Nance Jr., Jordan Clarkson

Los Angeles Receives: Isaiah Thomas, Channing Frye, CLE 2018 1st Round Pick

     Call this the end of an era. A whole 15 games into Isaiah Thomas' career as a Cav, and he's been traded. It seems like the Cavs are blowing it up, whether it be because they think LeBron is leaving next year or in fact to entice LeBron to stay because they were dysfunctional before the trades and now this is a new start. Whichever way you look at it, it seems like a weird trade for the Lakers. Sure they clear up a log jam at the 4 by trading Nance and save around $11 mil per year with Clarkson, but Isaiah Thomas plays the same position as Lonzo, has looked pretty bad after coming off his injury, and Channing Frye... well it's Channing Frye. You can't really expect much from him anymore except a 3 here and there. Supposedly it's to free up cap space to sign max players like LeBron and Paul George next summer, but didn't they just say they were waiting for 2019? And 2019 has the likes of Kawhi Leonard, Klay Thompson, and Jimmy Butler: all players who seem like they are loyal and would stay with their team. Also, IT4's agent has said they would demand a buyout if he comes off the bench, to which Magic Johnson responded by saying Lonzo is the starter. So basically, they got Channing Frye and a pretty trash 1st round pick for Clarkson and Nance. Not exactly a great deal for them in my mind.

     For the Cavs, I was really disappointed in them for trading a player who came in 4th in MVP voting last year and has only played 15 games with them this soon, but the more you think of it, the more this trade makes sense. They wanted to blow up the team because of all the chaos that has been happening recently, and what better way to do it then trading the biggest problem and getting younger. Jordan Clarkson has been one of the better players on the Lakers so far this year coming off the bench and Nance has been very solid coming off an injury, usually igniting the team after a dazzling slam. Call this the return, because a Nance is back in Cleveland. Look for him to continue his father's legacy.

George Hill Finally in Cleveland

Cleveland Receives: George Hill, Rodney Hood

Sacramento Receives: Joe Johnson, Iman Shumpert, MIA 2020 2nd Round Pick

Utah Receives: Jae Crowder, Derrick Rose

     After many speculations, George Hill is finally heading to Cleveland. Although he has not been as good this year as his contract may say he is (3 years $57 million), George Hill could be a good fit on the Cleveland Cavaliers. With IT4 gone, they needed another veteran point guard to lead the team (Clarkson will most likely come off the bench again which is where he is best utilized). Hill showed he still had flashes of greatness in him the year before in Utah averaging a career high in points with 16.9 to go along with 4.2 assists and 3.4 boards. His teammate in Utah, Rodney Hood, was also included in this deal. Although being a shadow behind Donovan Mitchell, Hood has still been able to put up the best numbers of his 3 year career. The question mark on this all is how he can remain healthy, having only played 39 of the total 54 games. 

     This was most likely done by the Kings to get Hill out of town (he showed how angry he was that he was no allowed to play so younger players like De'Aaron Fox could develop) and free up some cap space. Joe Johnson is going to be waved, and although Iman Shumpert was somehow able to get a deal worth $10 million per year, he is still payed almost half of what George Hill was receiving. Also, he still has potential in him, while George Hill is on the decline at the age of 31 (oh how old!). The second round pick was thrown on as a cherry on top.

     The most confusing part of this was for the Jazz. Rodney Hood is a good young talent. Why would you take only the skeleton of Jae Crowder and "depressed" D Rose (who will also be waived)? Jae Crowder has been a shell of himself playing for the Cavs. He was known for his elite defense and 3 point shooting, neither of which have shown up in Cleveland. Are they banking on him coming back to Celtic form? I feel like that is a lot to hope for. 

Minor Deals

Elfrid Payton to the Suns

     Less than two days after stating this, Elfrid Payton was traded to the Phoenix Suns for a measly 2nd round pick. This trade makes absolutely no sense to me. He's a good enough point guard to garner more than just a second round pick and it's not like the Magic really need to move on from him (their other players who could play the point include Thunder, Piston, Bull, Nugget, and Bobcat legend D.J. Augustin, Shelvin Mack, and maybe Jonathon Simmons). This was a great pick up for the Suns because Tyler Ulis, their current starting point guard, has not been playing as well as he looked last year when he was able to get solid minutes and all they gave up was a second round pick. There is a clear winner and a clear loser to this trade.

#The Return 2.0

     You really got to appreciate what Cleveland did for Wade with this. They knew he wasn't going to like the diminished role he would have to take after acquiring players like Clarkson and Hood and wanting to develop the next MJ in Cedi Osman, so they sent him back to Miami. The whole point of the trade was really just for nostalgia and just to make Wade happy. He won't do much back in Miami and him leaving doesn't make Cleveland any worse, but it makes everyone happy to see him back. Good on Cleveland for doing this.

Mudiay to the Knicks, McBuckets to the Mavs

     

     With the emergence of Jamal Murray and with just how mediocre he is, you can't blame the Nuggets for already giving up on Mudiay. I guess the Knicks took him on because why not have two very young point guards who can not shoot when you're in command of an M1 Abrams. Dougie McBuckets has been playing pretty well for the Knicks this year (well at least for his standards), so I'm not entirely sure why they went out and traded him for another young, very mediocre (not saying Frank is very mediocre, it's just that he is majorly a defender and really needs to progress right now) point guard. How dare they give up on Net legend Jarrett Jack like that! Who was the one who had a triple double in an NBA basketball game this season? Yeah I thought so. Maybe Phil Jackson wasn't so bad. 

     For the Nuggets, I guess it kind of makes sense. Mudiay has just not been good for them, and they do get a veteran point guard in Devin Harris in return who can help develop Murray, but what really annoys me is seeing people say that Devin Harris is still a legit back up point guard in todays league. No. It's either playing Devin Harris legit minutes at the backup point who will garner around 8 points and that's about it in 20 or so minutes, or giving the primary ball handling to Will "I Wanna Be Like Kobe" "The Thrill" Barton. Sure they get rid of trash Mudiay and get veteran presence, but I'm sure they could have gotten a better actual player.

     Now for the Mavericks. All they had to give up was Devin Harris (who was their 3rd string point guard behind JJ Barea) and in return got Doug. McDermott should be a nice 3-point threat off the bench behind Finals legend Harrison Barnes. He's been playing alright so far this year so I expect him to continue that in Dallas.

Final Thoughts

     My best guess is that the Cavs are blowing everything up. Why would they trade for younger players who have not fully developed if they are in win now mode? No matter what, their chemistry is god awful and I doubt they even make the finals this year, especially since they're keeping mint legend Tyronn Lue.

     Most surprising to me are the players who were not traded. DeAndre Jordan was almost literally held at gunpoint to sign with the Clippers, and now the people who held him at gunpoint are not there anymore and he's the last one remaining. With him being on a contract year and still performing decently, it comes as a surprise to me that no one got the deal done to acquire him. Another Clipper, Lou Williams has been playing out of his mind and was also in a contract year. It would have been smart for the Clippers to capitalize on that, but they decided to re-up his contract for 3 years worth $8 million per year. Sure that's a great deal for what Lou has been putting up, but there's no way he continues this being that he is 31. With the Clippers in rebuild mode, they should've traded him for something that would help them in the future.

     Now, the ugly. What the hell were the Jazz thinking. Sure Rodney Hood has his deal coming up and the qualifying offer for him during the offseason, but they could have gotten much more for him and if nobody offered a contract at him, the qualifying offer is only $3.5 million. Jae Crowder is an awful haul for Rodney Hood. He has been able to do nothing this season with the Cavs, and the Jazz even took on Derrick Rose just to waive him. The Jazz are easily the biggest losers of this trade deadline. Wait a second. Nevermind. The Raptors traded away 2 years away from being 2 years away legend Bruno Caboclo and Jerry Bayless is still a Sixer. Utah got lucky there.