NBA Trade Deadline: Winners and Losers

The NBA Trade Deadline has come and gone, once again we have witnessed a blockbuster trade that surely will shake up the playoff race. In all of the drama winners and losers emerged from the pack. Let's get into those teams.

WINNERS

 

New Orleans Pelicans

Going into the trade deadline, two amazing big men had to get out of a bad situation that they were stuck in. Those bigs were DeMarcus Cousins and Anthony Davis. The trade that sent Buddy Hield, Langston Galloway, Tyreke Evans and a first round pick to the Sacramento Kings in exchange for DeMarcus Cousins, miraculously freed up both of them from their tough situations. This is such an amazing deal for the Pelicans as, on paper, they have probably the best big man duo in history. That could be huge for the Pelicans if they get the 8 seed in the west (currently 2.5 GB) as they would face the Golden State Warriors in the first round. The Warriors don’t have any true big man that can stop either DeMarcus Cousins or Anthony Davis, that could spell trouble for the superteam out west. Additionally, this move makes the Pelicans one star wing player away from being a potential dynasty. Overall, watch out for the Pelicans as they could be wreaking havoc in the Western Conference as soon as April.

Toronto Raptors

While stubborn, hypocritical Celtics fans refuse to accept the fact that the Raptors had an amazing deadline, they did. Going into the trade deadline, easily the Raptors biggest hole in their roster was the power forward position. So what did they do? They went out and picked up on of the best (in my opinion) power forwards in the game, Serge Ibaka. Raptors GM Masai Ujiri sort of killed two birds with one stone here, as not only did he fill the gaping hole at power forward but he also made the Raptors struggling interior defense much, much better with one of the best shot blockers in the NBA. Not only did the Raptors acquire Serge Ibaka, but the next hole they had to fill was wing defense off the bench. What did they do about this problem? Well, the Raptors got a very talented veteran small forward in PJ Tucker from the Phoenix Suns. PJ Tucker will be huge for the Raptors down the stretch and in the playoffs, as he brings lockdown caliber defense off the wing and also brings some shooting as well. Watch out for the Raptors, as I seriously think that they could challenge LeBron James and the Cavaliers for Eastern Conference supremacy.

LOSERS

 

Sacramento Kings

You had to be expecting this right? I feel that the Kings made one of the worst trades in NBA history. Vivek Ranadive (Owner of the Kings) is not meant to have anything to do with the NBA, the man pulled the trigger on the DeMarcus Cousins trade as he almost has a obsession with former New Orleans Pelicans rookie shooting guard Buddy Hield. He is reported as saying to Buddy Hield after his Kings faced them, “we’re still gonna get you.” First of all how can an owner possibly run an organization that has a fixation on Buddy frickin Hield?  Second of all, this trade/obsession over Buddy Hield could seriously sink the franchise as they gave up the best center in the NBA for chump change, or someone with “Steph Curry skill and Klay Thompson height” according to the basketball GENIUS Vivek Ranadive. Sacramento Kings fans, while I dislike y’all, I really, truly feel for you as it must be tough to support maybe the worst franchise in sports (celebrate Browns fans!)

Philadelphia 76ers

After half a season of people having hope in this franchise, and supporting them, unlike the 10-72 laughing stock of last season, that has taken a pause. Brian Colangelo made some bad decisions at the deadline, I mean BAD decisions. To start, he basically traded a very talented center in Nerlens Noel to the Mavericks for Justin Anderson, as Andrew Bogut will be bought out by the Sixers and the Mavericks first rounder is top-18 protected and the Mavs aren't going to be lower than 18. Not only did they make a bad trade, but they made a bad decision in not trading Jahlil Okafor. The Sixers not trading Okafor was something that really confused me, as they sent him home for a game (which usually means they are about to get traded), and really had no use for him. I think the offers could have gotten worse for Okafor after teams saw how little the Mavericks had to give up for Nerlens Noel, and GM’s tried to cash in on that. Overall, just a pathetic trade deadline for a franchise that is on the rise.