Dallas Mavericks trade Monta Ellis to Detroit in exchange for Danny Granger, Will Bynum, 2016 ORL 2nd, and 2017 DET 1st
To pick a loser in this trade is almost impossible. We know Myles would have loved to have gotten much more in return for Ellis, but the fact he holds a player option next season with the chance of opting out probably hindered his value just a bit. Still, the East-leading Pistons got stronger while the Mavericks gained a couple picks instead of gambling on losing Ellis for nothing. Dallas still has a chance to re-sign Ellis in the offseason if he were to decline his player option, so Dallas could be a big winner in this one.
Orlando Magic trades Jonas Valanciunas to the Milwaukee Bucks for Giannia Antetokounmpo
I think the Bucks win out in this deal as acquiring a young center that can really play is never an easy thing to do while Giannis may never reach the potentials he has. Still, we will watch with excitement to see how the Magic’s experiment plays out.
Oklahoma City Thunder trade Kevin Love, Roy Hibbert and Aaron Gray to the Brooklyn Nets for DeAndre Jordan, Rajon Rondo, Jeff Green and Andray Blatche
As for the Nets, they go from a long rebuild to adding two core pieces. With Love’s ability to stretch the defense and Hibbert going to work in the paint, they seem like a perfect fit on the court together. Fighting the cap will slow the Nets’ ability to continue to add pieces around their new nucleus but Brooklyn will be a factor much sooner than we had anticipated.
If the Thunder win the title this year, this trade has to be considered a win for them because winning a title is always the ultimate goal. If they don’t win it all and end up losing Rondo, Jordan or both in free agency, this could be a deal that comes back to haunt them for quite some time.
Atlanta Hawks trade Arron Afflalo, Jerrdy Bayless, 2015 LAC 2nd and 2016 NOP 2nd to the Dallas Mavericks for Jose Calderon.
Dealing an ultra-efficient guard in Afflalo to acquire a point guard in Calderon seems like a loss to me. Calderon is not as good as Jeff Teague in any way but we know the Hawks were trying desperately to move him before the deadline as well. Calderon’s lack of ability on the defensive end could heavily outweigh any offensive production he gives the Hawks.
As for the Mavericks they found a backcourt mate for Deron Williams while developing Reggie Jackson as a 6th man off of the bench. That Williams contract might be something Myles looks to move in the offseason to allow Jackson free reign at the point. On top of getting the best player in the deal, they picked up two (albeit, late) 2nd round picks. This was a great move for the Mavericks.
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Four trades. That was our “flurry” of deals this year. Usually we would see at least twice as many trades before the deadline. Hopefully we can make some more noise once the offseason starts and draft picks start changing hands. For now, teams are set with their roster besides hitting the scrap heap known as free agency.
2028
