On Thursday, the NBA’s negotiation deadline for the 2020-21 season has arrived and many teams begin to position themselves for their playoff plays or reconstruction efforts. Coming into the day, some of the biggest names that should be transferred were Kyle Lowry of the Toronto Raptors and Aaron Gordon of the Orlando Magic.
Before the negotiation deadline, Lowry was easily the biggest name available and teams like the Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat and Philadelphia 76ers were the main suitors. In a surprising turn of events, the Raptors really chose to stay with Lowry instead of making a deal.
The Sixers ended up dropping out of the race earlier in the day and opted to switch to guard George Hill. Philadelphia acquired the veteran point guard in a three-way exchange that sent the Tony Bradley center, point guard Terrance Ferguson and a couple of runoff choices (2025 and 2026) to the Oklahoma City Thunder. It ended up being a three team deal, where the New York Knicks hosted Ferguson and Austin Rivers went to Thunder.
Magic was arguably the busiest team on Thursday, when it switched Gordon, Evan Fournier and All-Star Nikola Vucevic into three separate deals. Magic sent Vucevic and Al-Farooq Aminu to the Chicago Bulls in exchange for Wendell Carter Jr., Otto Porter Jr. and two choices from the first round. In addition, Orlando sent Gordon to the Denver Nuggets for Gary Harris, RJ Hampton, and a first-round pick, while also switching Fournier to the Boston Celtics for a couple of second-round picks.
Although the Heat did not add Lowry in the negotiation deadline, the team increased its impressive defense with the acquisition of Victor Oladipo in a negotiation with the Houston Rockets. According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, the Heat sent Avery Bradley, Kelly Olynyk and a draft pick swap to the Rockets in the deal.
Here’s a look at how some NBA players reacted to the moves on Twitter.
Merchants Aaron Gordon
Merchants Nikola Vucevic
Evan Fournier Commerce
- Fourner’s nickname is “Never Google” because he shares his surname with a disease called Fournier’s gangrene, which involves the soft tissues of the male genitalia.
- Rondo was part of the Clippers-Hawks deal involving Lou Williams, who unfortunately had to return to quarantine in the Orlando bubble last summer after going to a gentlemen’s club to buy chicken wings while attending a family event in Atlanta.
George Hill Commerce
Merchants Marquese Chriss
- In one of the smaller moves, the Warriors traded striker / center Marquese Chriss for the San Antonio Spurs. When reporting the exchange, Chriss’s first name and the newest Spur made a point of correcting him.