So
the NBA equivalent of Black Friday has come and gone. All the sales have expired and most of the hot items remain in the store. Outside of the Boogie Cousins deal, it was fairly uneventful. A few solid moves but no blockbusters really. I’m just going to run through a few things that caught my eye. Let’s get to it.
First things first, let’s get Vlade Divac tested for drugs right away. You trade your best player for peanuts, then you claim to have had a better deal days before. WHAT??!!???? The better deal thing isn’t totally unbelievable since the deal he eventually went with was garbage but I refuse to believe that’s all he could get in return for Cousins’ services. He’s arguably the best big in the league. No way that’s all teams were willing to give up. Also, historically the closer you get to the deadline the higher possibility you have on maximizing your returns. Teams start to get desperate and they are more likely to sweeten the pot. He should have been holding out until 2:59pm Thursday afternoon. Well at the very least, I’m glad Cousins is out of Sacramento. That’s basketball hell. Well at least that’s what Rudy Gay said. Yeah, the same Rudy Gay that plays for Sacramento (LOL).
There were two winners at the trade deadline. First one being Lou Williams. He was traded from a bottom feeder to one of the best teams in the league. Magic Johnson may have been too quick on the trigger with his first move as head honcho. Williams is athletic, he has some decent experience and he provides good scoring for the second unit. Houston got a good one. Another thing, he always finds a way to end up in a good city. He’s played in Toronto, Atlanta, LA and now Houston? Guess he’s being rewarded for having to live in Philly for all the years hahahaha. Lou Will is looking mighty comfortable in Houston so far too. Might be trouble. Second winner (relatively speaking) is Russell Westbrook. Sure OKC didn’t make any monumental additions but they got two nice players in Doug McDermott and Taj Gibson. Everyone can use a good shooter and a grunt guy. The addition of McDermott and Gibson plus the return of Enes Kanter from injury will help lighten Westbrook’s burden. Both of those guys will provide quality minutes. I don’t think either of them will dance with Russ before the games though. The Toronto Raptors also helped their situation. Got two solid pickups in PJ Tucker and Serge Ibaka. They might be the second best team in the East now.
Now for a few downers from the trade season. I would have liked to see the Wizards be a little more active. They definitely could have used a Lou Williams. The fact that LA’s asking price was low is just salt in the wound. Wizards could have easily matched that. You don’t need to strike gold with every personnel move. It’s not necessary to swing for the fences every time. You can get some doubles and triples along the way and build something solid. This isn’t exactly a downer but I am surprised that Jimmy Butler and Paul George stayed put. I was certain Boston would make a major push for either of those guys. It’s a little disappointing that these front offices weren’t more aggressive. With the moves Toronto made and with the Cavaliers still adding pieces as we speak, they may have just put themselves even further behind the 8 ball. I would comment on the Knicks but I’m tired of the Melo-drama (HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA).
That’s my take on it folks. What are some things you wanted to see or not see happen during the player shuffle?