Winners And Losers NBA Trade Deadline

After a few wheeling and dealing moves earlier this week, the NBA Trade deadline has come and gone. Its not just the moves that were made on the day of the deadline, which this year was February 8th. It was the moves that were made leading up to the deadline that will also be looked at here. We touch on everything, from Blake Griffin being delt to the Pistons all the way up to the final deal on deadline day which was the Suns getting Elfrid Payton from the Magic for a draft pick. With all the stuff that went on in between, there were bound to be a few winners and losers from deadline day.

Winner: Los Angeles Lakers
Los Angeles is clearly gearing up for a bigtime free agency run this summer with what they managed to do at the deadline. First it starts off with making a deal with the Cavs, sending Jordan Clarkson and Larry Nance Jr. for Isaiah Thomas, Channing Frye and a 2018 first-round pick. They not only got picks but they got two guys who might help them take a shot at a playoff run and are only here as rentals, so their salaries come off the books at the end of the season. Making moves like this gives the Lakers at least the ability to create $69 million in cap space, which gives them the freedom to go after a few big names this summer and can possibly allow them to offer those players max money on deals. And they also get a guy in Isiah Thomas who has the ability to be able to score 30 or more points a game. So if he can still do that then the Lakers made out great and can possibly re sign him. If he can't get back to that level, then they don't really lose much when he walks this summer.

Winners: Detroit Pistons
They were the big winners of the deadline period, hauling in Blake Griffin, Brice Johnson and Willie Reed for Avery Bradley, Tobias Harris, Boban Marjanovic, a 2018 top-four protected first-round pick and a 2019 second-round pick. Since picking up Griffin and company, Detroit hasn't lost a game yet, managed to pull themselves back to .500 and are a game and half out of the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference (at the time of this writing). By adding a guy like Griffin, Detroit has an All-Star frontcourt tandem that can work together for years to come. The overall play of the Pistons since making the deal has already made them huge winners in my book.

Winner: Cleveland Cavaliers
Talk about trimming the fat on your organization. In a little over an hour, the Cavs managed to move out Isaiah Thomas, Channing Frye, Jae Crowder, Derrick Rose, Dwyane Wade and Iman Shumpert (and a first-round pick). In return, Cleveland managed to pick up George Hill, Jordan Clarkson, Larry Nance and Rodney Hood. Bringing in a guy like Hill can seriously help out with the defense on the perimeter for Cleveland, and he can also be a pretty good complement to LeBron as far as a catch and shoot option is concerned. General Manager Koby Altman did a fantastic job of putting the Cavs in a position to be able to win and stay very competitive in a tough and top heavy Eastern Conference. There still some questions that remain in Cleveland, like how well the new guys can mesh with the Old Guard that's still in place in the city? And where the moves enough to be able to fix their issues on defense as well?

Loser: Boston Celtics
Yes the Celtics are in a playoff spot at the time of this writing, but how long can that last? Boston didn't really do anything at the deadline to help try and improve the club and get over the  hump of the Cavaliers and reach the finals. I mean sure, they did add Greg Monroe, and he should help, but they'd be better off acquiring a primary ball-handler. But Danny Ainge wasn't able to really pull something out of his hat to try and boost this ballclub. Sure they still have Kyrie Irving, but they didn't put much more in the way of support around him. It looks like the Celtics are confident in Irving's talents and are trusting him to try and continue leading the way for the Green and White. I'm just nor really sure how smart it is to leave it all on Kyrie's shoulders. There's no denying that he can play, it just leaves me to wonder if he can really carry the load and take the team to the promise land without much more in the elite talent department.

Loser: Los Angeles Clippers
There had been rumors flying around about trading away two of their biggest weapons in Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan. Griffin got traded, but Jordan didn't. Whether that was because they were asking for more than they could get, or other teams just weren't able to make the contracts work, the reality is that Jordan is finishing out the season in L.A. with no guarantee he sticks around past the summer. It almost kind of seems like the Clippers are in the process are trying to rebuild but they aren't quite sure how to do it . I think getting rid of Griffin and keeping Jordan was a bit of a loss, which could be made even worse when you consider that they might not really get much back in return of benifit. We shall see how things play out