2015 trade deadline recap
14/2/16
Hawks and Nuggets swap disgruntled role players
The first transaction that was made before the trade deadline arrived was a fairly straightforward swap of two equally unhappy role players between the Hawks and the Nuggets. JR Smith and DeJuan Blair swapped places and will hope that they can find more playing time with their new teams. It's a fairly low risk move for all involved as both players are on expiring contracts and both fill a gap in their new teams' rosters. Blair does have a $5 million team option for next season though.
The Nuggets have been relying heavily on Kenneth Faried and Paul Millsap as their frontcourt rotation due to the fact that they had no real big man depth. They will be hoping Blair can stay healthy and contribute off the bench. The Hawks on the other hand had been using young prospect Glenn Robinson III as their starting shooting guard. Now they have a veteran in Smith who can use his experience and talent to help them turn their poor form around and make a push for the playoffs.
Atlanta [22-30] are currently 11th in the eastern conference, whilst Denver [26-28] are 8th in the western conference.
Atlanta receive
JR Smith - 30 - SG - $7.00m - 1 year (78)
Projected line-up:
Al Horford - Thaddeus Young - Kawhi Leonard - JR Smith - Trey Burke
Bench:
Otto Porter, Albert Brown, Glenn Robinson III, Kevin Seraphin, Ilimane Diop, Devin Harris, Marquis Teague
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Denver receive
DeJuan Blair - 26 - C - $5.00m - 1 year (79)
Projected line-up:
Kenneth Faried - Paul Millsap - Wilson Chandler - Ben McLemore - Ty Lawson
Bench:
DeJuan Blair, Jordan Hamilton, Mo Williams, Ramon Sessions, Evan Fournier, Michael Snaer, Wang Zhelin
18/2/16
Bulls add veterans for playoff push
The Bulls were the next team to act as they sent guard Xavier Henry and their 2016 first round draft pick to Phoenix in exchange for veteran pair Pau Gasol and JJ Redick. It's a move that adds much needed scoring power to their bench and gives them a solid rotation. They have a solid defensive unit led by Joakim Noah and Taj Gibson, but Derrick Rose had been left to do much of the heavy lifting on the offensive end. They drafted Jabari Parker last season and he has quickly become Robin to Rose's Batman on offense. Now Gasol and Redick should further reduce the pressure on Chicago's superstar point guard. And Gasol will fill a gap in the short term as well with Gibson set to miss a month of basketball with a broken arm.
For the Suns this deal gives them more trade chips. Henry has two years left on his deal and at only 24 he still has time to become a good NBA player. It's a good deal for Phoenix because it was always unlikely that Gasol and Redick would have re-signed next season and perhaps they realised that they may not be able to attract top quality free agents, so they used up some cap room on Henry. At $4 million per season it's a pretty decent move. The Suns may use the draft pick they received in a future trade as it looks likely to be in the 25-30 range.
Chicago [32-21] are currently 3rd in the eastern conference, whilst Phoenix [17-36] are 14th in the western conference.
Chicago receive
Pau Gasol - 35 - C - $2.50m - 1 year (75)
JJ Redick - 31 - SG - $4.00m - 1 year (71)
Projected line-up:
Joakim Noah - Taj Gibson - Jabari Parker - Jimmy Butler - Derrick Rose
Bench:
Pau Gasol, Andrea Bargnani, Tim Hardaway Jr, JJ Redick, Jamaal Franklin, James Birsen, TyShawn Taylor
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Phoenix receive
Xavier Henry - 24 - SG - $8.00m - 2 years (81)
Bulls' 2016 first round pick
Projected line-up:
Marcin Gortat - Andrew Nicholson - Al-Farouq Aminu - Goran Dragic - Eric Bledsoe
Bench:
Xavier Henry, Isaiah Austin, Byron Mullens, DeShaun Thomas, Eric Maynor, Dwight Powell, Draymond Green
21/2/16
Spurs also add some depth to strengthen title assault
San Antonio quickly followed suit as another potential contender making a move to strengthen their title bid. They agreed a deal with Utah that saw them acquire three veteran players to improve their depth. David West, Nate Robinson and Gerald Henderson head to the Spurs with Rudy Gobert, Jonas Jerebko and a 2017 first round pick heading back to Utah in exchange. The Spurs add three experienced guys without breaking up the 'big three' or losing Nick Young. The biggest problem they have had since bringing together Chris Paul, Dwight Howard and Josh Smith has been filling out the rest of the roster. They have struggled with foul trouble and against teams with good depth recently. This trade hopefully fixes their greatest weakness.
At this point of the season there is only one agenda for the Jazz; tank. They won't admit it publicly for obvious reasons, but this deal for them is all about shedding contracts and gaining valuable trade pieces as they look to continue their rebuild. It's a potentially nice haul for them as Gobert has the size and potential to be a solid NBA player. Also the draft pick they get from the Spurs could be handy if any of the big three opt out at the end of the season and become unrestricted free agents. This deal also gives them more cap room to re-sign Enes Kanter, who is an unrestricted free agent.
San Antonio [36-16] are currently 2nd in the western conference, whilst Utah [16-39] are 15th in the western conference.
Utah receive
Rudy Gobert - 23 - C - $1.57mm - 1 year (77)
Jonas Jerebko - 28 - PF - $3.00m - 1 year (72)
Spurs' 2017 first round pick
Projected line-up:
Enes Kanter - Dario Saric - Gerald Green - Eric Gordon - Dante Exum
Bench:
Rudy Gobert, Jonas Jerebko, Bismack Biyombo, Mario Hezonja, Deonte Burton, Alex Burks, Dion Wilkins
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San Antonio receive
David West - 35 - PF - $4.14m - 2 years (76)
Nate Robinson - 31 - PG - $3.75m - 2 years (74)
Gerald Henderson - 28 - SG - $8.00m - 2 years (73)
Projected line-up:
Dwight Howard - Josh Smith - Nick Young - Gerald Henderson - Chris Paul
Bench:
David West, Nate Robinson, John Jenkins, Dorell Wright, Brandon Rush, Luke Ridnour, Andrei Kirilenko
25/2/16
Hornets cash in on expiring Davis after failing to agree extension
The biggest deal of the trade period happened only a few hours before the deadline passed. The Hornets bit the bullet and traded their superstar Anthony Davis after both parties failed to agree on a mutually beneficial contract extension. It's never a good look for a team to be trading it's franchise player, but to be fair to them they got a great selection of young pieces for in return for him. The deal saw them send Davis and veteran duo Luol Deng and Tony Allen to the LA Clippers in exchange for Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Noah Vonleh, Milan Ivanovic and Gary Harris.
This is a huge deal for the Clippers. They pair up two of the most athletically dominant young big men in the league in Anthony Davis and Blake Griffin without completely gutting their roster. They also get Luol Deng; a guy who will be a good contributor on both ends of the court and a great veteran locker room presence. Basketball in Los Angeles has been turned on it's head in recent years with the power shift between the Lakers and Clippers. This move by the Clippers is also a signal to their cross-town rivals that they intend to be the dominant team in LA for the foreseeable future. It's hard to argue with that given that Kobe is retiring soon and Kevin Love the only ace card in the Laker's pack.
The Hornets will be sad to have lost Davis, but in return they get four extremely talented young players. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist was taken the pick after Davis in 2012 and has proved a solid NBA player with the Bobcats and Clippers. He is on an expiring contract, but the Hornets will be able to match any offer sheets he receives. Noah Vonleh and Gary Harris are highly touted prospects that slipped a bit in their respective drafts. Both are hugely talented and have great personalities and should be solid team players for the Hornets for the best part of the next decade.
Easily the most exciting part of this trade for the Hornets fans is 2015 number one pick Milan Ivanovic. The 224cm tall Serbian has the potential to be one of the best players in the league someday if he works hard enough. He is extremely raw at the moment though. With the right coaching he could become the next Yao Ming or Shaquille O'Neal, such is his physical dominance and court presence.
Los Angeles [34-22] are currently 4th in the western conference, whilst New Orleans [35-19] are 3rd in the western conference.
LA Clippers receive
Anthony Davis - 22 - C - $7.07m - 1 year (93)
Luol Deng - 30 - SF - $16.00m - 2 years (82)
Tony Allen - 34 - SG - $700k - 1 year (67)
Projected line-up:
Anthony Davis - Blake Griffin - Luol Deng - Alexey Shved - Kemba Walker
Bench:
Alex Poythress, Zach LaVine, Rakeem Christmas, Allen Crabbe, Greg Smith, Tony Allen, Jared Dudley
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New Orleans receive
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist - 22 - SF - $6.33m - 1 year (84)
Noah Vonleh - 21 - PF - $1.48m - 1 year (83)
Milan Ivanovic - 21 - C - $2.85m - 2 years (78)
Gary Harris - 21 - SG - $3.88m - 2 years (74)
Projected line-up:
Milan Ivanovic - Noah Vonleh - Michael Kidd-Gilchrist - Tyreke Evans - Mario Chalmers
Bench:
Ryan Anderson, DJ Augustin, Myck Kabongo, Darius Miller, Gary Harris, Brandan Wright, Adreian Payne
