Winners And Losers From The 2021 NBA Trade Deadline
(Photo by Alex Menendez/Getty Images via SBNation)
The NBA trade deadline this past week was absolute chaos. A league-record 46 players were involved in deals before the buzzer struck at 3 p.m. EST on March 25.
In case you missed it, the trade block was bonkers. All-star caliber players of the likes of Aaron Gordon, Nikola Vucevic and Victor Oladipo all have new homes, and the playoff picture is more exciting than ever. Considering the immense amount of game postponements and sit-outs thanks to COVID-19 complications, the trade deadline may have been the most exciting part of the season up to this point.
While some teams got significantly better by adding the missing piece to their playoff-ready roster, others, like the Orlando Magic, are headed towards a complete rebuild. After a hectic 24 hours for front offices around the league, I’ve broke down which teams are the biggest winners and losers from the NBA trade deadline now that every deal is finalized:
WINNERS
1. Brooklyn Nets (34-15, 1st in East)
As much as it pains me to write this, the Nets got significantly better this past week. Already with an all-star filled lineup including Kyrie Irving, James Harden, and Kevin Durant, these motherfuckers went out and acquired BOTH Blake Griffin and LaMarcus Aldridge.
Of course, neither Griffin nor Aldridge are in their prime so they won’t produce at the same rate they once could, but these are still phenomenal pickups by the Nets. You can clown Griffin all you want for his lackluster stats while playing in Detroit, but he was playing out of his typical style in their offense, and Brooklyn is a much better fit.
The Nets are currently holding the top spot in the east with only ⅔ of their star players in the lineup half the time, so I don’t expect to see their production dropping anytime soon. Their main threat to the 1-seed right now is the 76ers, who were unable to reach a deal with the Toronto Raptors for Kyle Lowry after being heavily linked to Doc River’s squad.
Just to put it on paper so both you and I can fathom how ridiculous the Net’s lineup is now: Kyrie Irving, James Harden, Kevin Durant, Blake Griffin, LaMarcus Aldridge, DeAndre Jordan, Nicolas Claxton, Spencer Dinwiddie and more. This shit’s cracked.
2. Orlando Magic (17-31, 13th in East)
I know what you are thinking -- How in the world could the Magic be considered “winners” after unloading their only elite-level players? The answer is simple: Rebuild. Gordon, Vucevic, and Fournier are gone, but Orlando received a heap of draft picks and fill-in role players.
All together Orlando raked in three 1st-round draft picks, two 2nd-round picks, as well as Wendell Carter Jr., Otto Porter Jr., Gary Harris and RJ Hampton.
The Magic haven’t been relevant for what feels like decades now, and I wholeheartedly believe this was the right thing to do. None of their plans ever came to fruition. You’re telling me a lineup with Gordon, Vucevic, Fournier and young players like Mo Bamba isn’t capable of going over .500? In other terms the Magic’s roster was a failed experiment, and they pulled the plug just in time.
3. Miami Heat (25-24, 6th in East)
Pat Riley went out and did his thing bringing Victor Oladipo to Miami after being linked with the all-star caliber guard for nearly two years now. Not only did the Heat pull in a superstar and potential missing piece to their offense, they managed to reach a deal with the Rockets for pennies and scraps.
Miami received Oladipo and in return the Rockets acquired Avery Bradley, Kelly Olynyk, and a 2022 pick swap -- like I said, pennies and scraps. The Heat’s front office played this deal perfectly, the Rockets were originally trying to finagle one of Miami’s young studs like Tyler Herro or Kendrick Nunn in the deal, but Pat Riley refused. He knew that if Houston didn’t come to some sort of agreement, Oladipo would be leaving for literally nothing come the offseason.
Whether or not Oladipo truly is the missing piece Miami needs to make another Finals run is yet to be determined, but regardless of how he plates I can guarantee he’s a better fit than Kelly fucking Olynyk; good riddance.
On top of the Oladipo deal, Miami agreed to a swap deal with the Thunder bringing in Trevor Ariza and shipping out Meyers Leonard just one week after his live-stream incident:
Every move Miami made this trade window was an upgrade that cost little to nothing. The Heat continue to show why they are one of the best managed organizations in the NBA.
LOSERS
1. Houston Rockets (13-35, 14th in West)
Houston sports is a shitshow. First the Astros become the disgrace of the MLB after cheating their way to the World Series, then JJ Watt signs with the Cardinals, then all of the sudden Deshaun Watson is a sexual predator and may get arrested, and now to top it all off: The Rockets lost James Harden for NOTHING.
I wish I could give this front office some credit by claiming a rebuild, but I don’t think this is what the Rockets planned for whatsoever when they first brought Westbrook and Harden together. A lot of NBA fans had skepticism when the all-star duo debuted, and looking back it looks like the skeptics were right.
2. Toronto Raptors (19-30, 11th in the East)
I don’t want to beat up on the Raptors too much considering they were relatively dormant during the trade deadline, but that's exactly why they ended up on my losers board.
Early in the day Toronto shipped off Terence Davis, Matt Thomas, and Norman Powell. One would think the only reason they would make these deals was to clear roster space for a much larger deal involving Kyle Lowry, right?
All the rumors were there, teams were interested, calls were being made, but a deal with Lowry was never reached.Now the Raptors are going to lose arguably the best player in franchise history for nothing this summer to free-agency.
3. Boston Celtics (24-25, 8th in the East)
The Celtics made my loser list for one reason and one reason only: they didn’t sign Aaron Gordon. For days leading up to the trade deadline, Boston was rumored to be frontrunners to sign Gordon but inevitably weren’t willing to offer first-round compensation like the Magic were looking for.
Don’t get me wrong, the Celtics made a decent move bringing in Evan Fournier for a pair of 2nd-round picks, but he isn’t a game changer like Gordon could be in their offensive scheme. I believe the Celtics could have been serious contenders out of the east with Gordon considering they have dealt with countless injuries and other COVID-related bullshit from their current stars.
Boston also shipped out Daniel Theis, a solid backup big-man, to the Chicago Bulls before the deadline. Overall, the Celtics didn’t do anything horribly wrong, but they didn’t necessarily get better either.