After a relatively smooth run for the commercialization deadline, the dam broke on Thursday.
There were 16 deals. In one day.
Negotiations were flying through the league from Toronto (via Tampa Bay) to Los Angeles, but two most anticipated players – Kyle Lowry of Toronto and Lonzo Ball of New Orleans – remained stationary.
Who were the winners and losers in the negotiation deadline? Let’s break it down.
WINNER: Denver Nuggets
Denver bet everything – and that makes them the biggest winners of the day.
The Nuggets switched to Aaron Gordon, helping to fill a gap left by Jerami Grant’s departure (although the Nuggets have a slightly better net rating at this point in the season without him, they were just unlucky at the end of the games). Part of this is that Gordon can be a kick maker, the third (maybe the fourth if Michael Porter Junior is good) in attack, but also a guy who can cut, make choices, roll to the edge, get the attention of defenders. In addition, he is shooting at 37.5% in three this season; these defenders also have to respect you on the bow.
However, the biggest help is in defense – Gordon is a big, athletic and quality defender. It is not a block, but it makes the defense of the Nuggets better. In a west loaded with big wings – LeBron James, Kawhi Leonard, Paul George and so on – Gordon can be a defender that the Nuggets can use on him.
Denver also hired JaVale McGee, a great reserve with championship experience (with Stephen Curry and LeBron James), who can be a great body facing Rudy Gobert, perhaps Andre Drummond, and other playoff clashes.
Is that enough to make them one of the elite teams in the West? They will need to prove it. But you have to like the attitude and the aggressiveness. Denver made it to the Western Conference finals last season, these are the moves that say they want to go back there and beyond.
WINNER: Orlando Magic
It may seem counterintuitive to say that the team that left Aaron Gordon, Nikola Vucevic and Evan Fournier for choices is a winner, but it is.
It was time for them to make these moves and take him down.
Magic has been stuck in the carousel of mediocrity for years. They had a core of talented players – Vucevic is an All-Star, Gordon could have been – and high-profile choices like Mo Bamba, but that never happened. The core of this team was, at best, average and was aging; there was not much future for that. It was time to take him down, get young players and draft choices and rebuild with Jonathan Isaac as the first key piece. Orlando had three choices in the first round, some players in the second round and interesting young players like Wendell Carter and RJ Hampton from those negotiations. It’s a start.
Orlando chose his direction. Magic fans may be skeptical about this – they’ve been on this path before. But that was the move they needed to make.
LOST: Boston Celtics fans
Boston fans came to the end of the exchange deadline thinking they were the pioneers for Aaron Gordon, they had the biggest exchange exception in NBA history to make things happen, and they had possibilities.
They ended the day with Evan Fournier, without Daniel Theis, and with an owner who was below the luxury tax.
None of this is terrible. Fournier and his shot will fit well in Boston, he makes the team better. They will be fine without Theis, they have enough bigs, and that just means more Time Lord. Boston did nothing wrong.
It just didn’t live up to expectations, which makes it a long day for your fans.
WINNER: Brooklyn Nets
Philadelphia did not switch to Kyle Lowry. Nor Miami. Boston didn’t get Aaron Gordon. Milwaukee added PJ Tucker last week, but did not make a big move.
The Brooklyn Nets seem to be the best team in the East, with only two-thirds of their stars at stake, and are the favorites to leave the conference, because we can only imagine what will happen when Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Kyrie Irving are starting to work together. Brooklyn was the winner on Thursday because all of its main competitors did not make a bold move and got dramatically better – not for want of trying, but it didn’t happen for them.
What keeps Brooklyn looking like an East leader. Whether the stars of the Nets can unite and whether their irregular defense will be enough in the playoffs remains to be seen. But the Nets won on Thursday doing nothing.