At the close of the National Basketball Association trade deadline on Thursday afternoon (Friday morning in Manila), NBA teams, particularly those who still have shots of making it into the playoffs, made necessary adjustments to their rosters.
NBA playoffs contenders could have taken a cue from defending champions Toronto Raptors, which boosted its roster during the trade deadline a year ago with the acquisition of Marc Gasol from the Memphis Grizzlies.
Miami Heat boosted its frontline with the acquisition of three-time champion Andre Iguodala, Jae Crowder, and Solomon Hill from the Grizzlies.
Aside from getting rid of Iguodala, the No. 8 ranked in Western Conference Grizzlies, also added young blood Justise Winslow, Dion Waiters, Jordan Bell (from Houston Rockets) and Gorgui Dieng (from Minnesota Timberwolves).
Los Angeles Clippers (No.2 in the West) have also upgraded its frontline by taking Marcus Morris from the New York Knicks and Isaiah Thomas from the Washington Wizards.
For getting Morris and Thomas, the Clippers have traded away three-point specialist Maurice Harkless and Jerome Robinson to the Knicks and Wizards, respectively.
The Rockets (No. 4 in the West) made the boldest move as it traded away its starting center Clint Capela to Atlanta Hawks in a 12-player, four-team trade that netted them forward Robert Covington from the Timberwolves. They also got Bruno Caboclo in another negotiation with the Grizzlies.
In the same trade, the Denver Nuggets (No. 3 in the West) have also upgraded their bench with the acquisitions of Keita Bates Diop and Noah Vonleh. They also got Gerald Green in the deal, as well as Jordan McRae (from Wizards) in a separate trade.
The Hawks are already far from playoffs contention, but keeping Capela will be huge in the seasons to come due to their young core of Trae Young, Kevin Huerter, John Collins and Deandre Hunter. Atlanta also got Nene in the said trade while also netting Derrick Walton Jr. (from Clippers) and Skal Labissiere (from Portland Trail Blazers) in other deals.
Atlanta have also acquired back their former center Dewayne Dedmon while giving up Jabari Parker and Alex Len to the Sacramento Kings, who is hoping for last playoffs push despite its banged up lineup.
Same with the Hawks, the Minnesota Timberwolves also got players who can be part of their future in three-point gunner Malik Beasley, big man Juancho Hernangomez and Jarred Vanderbilt. Minnesota also acquired veterans Evan Turner and James Johnson in separate deals.
Also part of Timberwolves’ facelift for the upcoming season were acquisitions D’Angelo Russell, Omari Spellman and Jacob Evans from the Golden State Warriors for former No. 1 pick Andrew Wiggins.
The Warriors also let go Alec Burks and Glenn Robinson III to the Eastern Conference sixth placer Philadelphia 76ers as well as starting center Willie Cauley-Stein to the playoffs contender Dallas Mavericks.
Burks and Robinson were key additions off the bench for the 76ers who are aiming to go up in the standings, while the Cauley-Stein is also a good addition to the Dallas frontline (No. 7 in West) due to the season-ending injury of Dwight Powell.
The Warriors, currently at the 15th and last place in the West, have totally gave up on their playoffs hopes, and they will turn its sights on the player development of rookies Eric Paschall, Jordan Poole, Ky Bowman, Alen Smailagic and Juan Toscano-Anderson.
Despite already being out of playoff contention, the Cleveland Cavaliers (No. 15 in the East) still made a huge move in the trade deadline by acquiring center Andre Drummond from the Detroit Pistons for Brandon Knight and John Henson.
The Pistons is still in the running for a post season spot as they are now at the 10th place in the East, but reaching it could be far-fetch following the season-ending injury of star forward Blake Griffin.
Orlando Magic, currently at 8th place in the Eastern Conference, made minimal changes with the addition of defensive guard James Ennis from the 76ers, while Wizards also acquired Shabazz Napier from the Nuggets./
Top teams from the Eastern Conference – Milwaukee Bucks (No. 1), Raptors (No. 2), Boston Celtics (No. 3), Indiana Pacers (No. 5) and Brooklyn Nets (No. 7) – did not make their trade moves.
Meanwhile, in the Western Conference, the playoffs contenders Los Angeles Lakers (No. 1) and the Utah Jazz (No. 6) did not exchange deals in the deadline, although Utah traded for Filipino-American Jordan Clarkson from the Cavaliers for Dante Exum last December./PN
