Noteworthy NBA Trades

By David Balzac

The trade deadline is a big time for NBA general managers. Seeing players suit up for new teams after playing for one for their entire career is astonishing. The 2022 NBA trade deadline saw some of the biggest names in basketball shipped off to new cities, closing on February 10th at 3 pm EST. Here are a few of the biggest trades.

Portland Trail-Blazers / New Orleans Pelicans

With the ending of star point-guard Damian Lillard’s prime coming soon, the Blazers needed to make some moves to put support around him and clinch a playoff spot. They do have their young star Anfernee Simons, but some of their trades are just plain questionable. Their first trade saw some of their better players, Norman Powell and Robert Covington, arriving at the L.A. Clippers in exchange for a mediocre Eric Bledsoe and some trade assets. Blazers’ core guard CJ McCollum was sent to the Pelicans for Josh Hart, three bench pieces, and three draft picks. C.J. has proven that he can play without Lillard and has been putting up an efficient 29 points per game, averaged over his last five games (as of February 27th). Josh Hart has averaged 19 points per game over his previous five games, with the Blazers on the other side of the deal. So, downgrading to a slightly younger team has not been too hurtful to the Blazers, as they are 4-2 in games after the Mccollum trade.

Indiana Pacers / Sacramento Kings

Everybody knew that the Indiana Pacers would make some big trades going into deadline week. They started with sending a very well-scoring guard in Caris LeVert to the Cavs in exchange for an older guard (Ricky Rubio) and three draft picks. Unfortunately for the Pacers, sending off a 27-year-old with a bright future for a 31-year-old guard who can’t play for the rest of the season due to a torn ACL is not ideal. The Pacers did manage to stiff the Kings of 2020’s 12th overall draft pick (Tyrese Haliburton) and 15 points-per-game guard Buddy Hield. The downside was giving the Kings Domantas Sabonis, son of 3x USSR league champion Arvydas Sabonis. Sabonis has averaged 19 ppg for the Kings, who are unfortunately 1-4 in their last five games. The Pacers and the Kings are 13th in their respective conferences, with the Kings having a slightly better record.

Brooklyn Nets / Philadelphia 76ers

The blockbuster trade of this deadline came from the Nets, who traded James Harden(former MVP guard) to the Sixers for Seth Curry (the brother of the greatest shooter of all time), nine rebounds-per-game center Andre Drummond, and a point-guard turned power-forward who is synonymous with being unable to shoot the ball (Ben Simmons). Ben had been trying to force his way out of Philly by refusing to play for the season and was fined $19 million for missing 50 regular-season games. His-ex-right- hand-man, Joel Embiid, has been in the MVP race for the entire season, and now with a skilled guard (that can shoot the ball), the Sixers may be tough playoff opponents. Harden had requested a trade out of Brooklyn because he was unhappy with the Nets’ part-time superstar, Kyrie Irving refusing to get vaccinated and being unable to play home games at the Barclays Center. Looking at the Nets, they can now put Ben at the P.F. position as he is a very proficient defender, and with the inevitable removal of the New York City indoor vaccine mandate, their “part-time-worker” can get his promotion to a starter in home games. Head Coach Steve Nash has confirmed that Kevin Durant will be available to play against the Heat on March 3rd or the Celtics on March 6th, recovering from a sprained MCL. The Nets may be able to make the playoffs, even though they lost 14 out of their 18 games without Durant.