NBA trade deadline winners and losers 2023: Suns, Lakers transform rosters; Raptors, Warriors miss mark
One thing is for sure – the 2023 NBA trade deadline did not disappoint.
Kevin Durant, who went to the Suns, was obviously the headliner of that period. However, there has been a lot of movement, with more stars changing teams than we’ve grown accustomed to. General managers got drunk on second-round picks and 28 teams made deals.
There are many winners and losers in this year’s edition, so let’s get down to business.
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Winners and losers of the 2023 NBA trade deadline
Winner: sun
30-26 and fifth in the West before trade, the Suns have had a good, not great, year. In trading Durant, who was one of the top 3 MVP contenders this season, they immediately jumped into the title of championship contender.
The price the Suns gave was steep. They traded their entire chords in 2028, four unprotected first-rounders and a pick swap.
Durant is worth everything. The Suns will get four playoff runs with him at a time when there has never been more par in the league. This is the best shot they will have at a championship, and they deserve credit for going all-in on this occasion.
Taking on Darius Bazley in exchange for Dario Saric and a second-round pick was a neutral trade. Bazley is more of a project than Saric but he has good size and potential. The Suns saved some money on the deal.
Winner: Lakers
The Lakers aren’t quite at the competitive level of the Suns, but they’ve made their team a lot better and haven’t given up too much.
Rui Hachimua, traded back Jan. 23, made the Lakers younger and more athletic. D’Angelo Russell and Malik Beasley give them great shots to open the ground for LeBron James and Anthony Davis. Jarred Vanderbilt is quickly becoming a fan favorite with his rush and defensive acumen. Of these, Reed is a decent flyer and Mo Bamba gives them some rim protection.
All of these upgrades weren’t too badly priced. They traded Patrick Beverly, Thomas Bryant and Russell Westbrook. They sent out a lightly protected first-rounder and four second-rounders, three of whom they got back in the Bryant deal.
The Lakers now have a real roster centered around James and Davis. Is that enough? It’s hard to say yes when you consider how much everyone else has improved and how far behind the Lakers are. But they will be a dangerous playoff team.
Incomplete: Mavericks
If Kyrie Irving can keep his off-court distractions to a minimum, adding him could be a nice win for the Mavs.
Irving fits well alongside Luka Doncic. He can relieve Doncic of some of the playmaking burden while playing a good supporting role off the ball. And the price of getting it wasn’t that high.
The reason for this low transport was, of course, that Irving left on bad terms at all his previous stops. Is Irving a changed man? It’s hard to believe that this is the case, but this trade will not go into the losing category until the Irving drama cycle starts again.
Winner: Nets
The Nets clearly took a big step back by trading Durant and Irving, but they got five first-round picks, one first-round swap, four second-rounders and a bunch of good rotation players to start their new era. That’s a great haul for two guys who didn’t want to work in Brooklyn anymore.
About those rotation players – Dorian Finney-Smith is one of the better 3-and-D wings in the league. Cameron Johnson also falls into this 3-and-D category. Spencer Dinwiddie has had a very good season and is adding some playmaking.
However, the star of this trade from the Nets side is Mikal Bridges. The runner-up Defensive Player of the Year has shown much more offensive potential, taking some of the playmaking duties off Chris Paul and Devin Booker this year. In Brooklyn it should grow even more.
Another surprising part of these trades was the emergence of Cam Thomas. With Irving gone, he has a shot at a bigger role and can keep up with it. Thomas reeled off 134 points in the Nets’ first three games with Irving not in the lineup.
Despite all the victories, the Nets’ situation was clearly untenable this year. They panned as best they could and got back fun young plays and a lot of draft equity.
Winner: Bucks
Who needs second-round picks? Apparently not the Bucks.
They moved five Second rounds to acquire Jae Crowder, who as a 3-and-D wing immediately fits into an area of need for her. They also sent out another second round to break George Hill’s contract and save some money.
Winner: 76ers
The Sixers acquired Jalen McDaniels from the Hornets and shipped Matisse Thybulle in a three-way trade with the Trail Blazers, also getting a second-round player back.
While Thybulle is a much better defender, McDaniels himself isn’t bad and offers a bit more offense. That’s a nice win for them.
Fans probably won’t (and shouldn’t) care, but they’ve also exempted themselves from the luxury tax and earned themselves a huge payday.
Losers: Raptors
The amount of words written about the Raptors before the trade deadline surpassed all seven Harry Potter books, and everything that happened was a gambit on the part of Jakob Poeltl.
Pöltl is a nice player. He was one of my hidden gems last year. He also addresses the Raptors’ most glaring need: rim protection.
But he doesn’t do anything about their offensive creation woes, and the price of re-signing him this summer (a top-six first-round pick in 2024 and two second-rounders) was pretty steep. At least this draft class is said to be relatively weak because there’s a good chance the Raptors will have to give up a mid-to-late lottery pick for Poeltl.
The Raptors still have a lot of work to do to address their roster concerns. Catching up with Pöltl was a nice step, but it wasn’t enough.
Loser: John Collins
How is Collins still in Atlanta? It might seem as though Collins was involved in trade rumors before the iPhone was invented, but it’s only been three years since his name started circulating.
Collins’ role has continued to dwindle with the Hawks, and it seems he could thrive in a new place. Maybe next year will, as his name will continue to be tossed around until his role changes or a deal is struck.
Winner: Newsbreaker
If you noticed that ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski overtook The Athletic’s Shams Charania this year, you weren’t the only one. Beverley chimed in with the best tweet of the trading deadline.
Charania, however, laughed last, reported that Beverly would be moving to magic.
And how about this foresight from ESPN’s Brian Windhorst? He predicted the Suns would be a super team as early as 2020, having just come off a 34-39 season.
There’s a reason this man’s meme is one of the most iconic in NBA Twitter history.
Loser: warrior
The Warriors officially cut the bait with James Wiseman after picking him with the second pick in the 2020 NBA draft. They got back Kevin Knox and five second-round picks in the three-way deal that saw Saddiq Bey go to the Hawks. And then they passed that move to the Trail Blazers to reunite with Gary Payton II.
The Warriors could have just re-signed Payton last summer. Instead, they lost Wiseman and massively overpaid to give Payton his money anyway.
Wiseman didn’t want to work with the Warriors, so walking away from him made sense. But that was a disaster in wealth management.
Winner: Clipper
The Clippers needed guards who could shoot and create for others. They got a good offspring in Denver’s Bones Hyland for the cheap price of two second-round picks. They reclaimed those picks by sending Luke Kennard to the Grizzlies for three second-round players.
And Eric Gordon finally got a reprieve from the Rockets. His career 36.9 percent shooting from depth will help the Clippers.
They also added a reliable center in Mason Plumlee. He’s quietly had a good year for the Hornets and adds a lot more depth to the Clippers behind Ivica Zubac. It cost her Reggie Jackson, who was having a bad year.
Losers: Knicks, Donner, Jazz
Winners: Celtics, Timberwolves, Spurs
The Knicks, Spurs, Thunder and Jazz have draft picks hoarded in case a star player becomes available. Durant just did it and everyone sniffed at him.
The Knicks had four first-rounders to pick in the 2023 draft, too many to even be on the list if all were mediated. In response, they had to burn one to acquire Josh Hart from the Trail Blazers. They also had to attach Cam Reddish, who never played significant minutes.
Hart is a good player having a bad year. He seemed very reluctant to kick the ball, which is a lot of his value. Maybe he’s flipping it in New York, but that’s not great Knicks money management.
The Thunder doubled even more in draft asset accumulation, selling Mike Muscala to the Celtics in exchange for two second-round picks. Muscala has been a good player for Oklahoma City and will help Boston with his excellent 3-point shooting.
The Jazz traded Mike Conley Jr., Vanderbilt and Beasley for more draft equity. Conley will help stabilize the ship in Minnesota with his veteran presence and connection to Rudy Gobert.
The Spurs have been in a slightly different place than the Knicks, Thunder and Jazz given how far along they are overall. Durant would never get there. They cemented their spot in the last four by moving Poeltl at a good price and trading Josh Richardson was a good deal too.
There’s still a chance the Irving experiment will implode in Dallas and Doncic will become available. In this case, one of these four teams jumps into the winner category.
But for now, it looks like these picks are more valuable in theory than they are in practice.
Loser: Bulls
The Cavaliers and Bulls were the only teams to make it past the deadline. The Cavs had an excuse — they just traded to Donovan Mitchell.
What was the cops’ reasoning? You are one of the teams that had to make a trade. It was confusing for her to do nothing.