Considering the fact that when I’m not on the track, in the weight room or on a plane, I spend a bit of my time working for Monumental Sports and Entertainment, the NBA along with the NHL and even WNBA have become very significant to me. MSE owns the Washington Wizards, Capitals, Mystics and the Verizon Center itself so while my work centers around legislative affairs that affect the company and its teams/properties, I keep a rather keen eye on anything and everything that goes on with our teams and the leagues in general.
This season’s NBA trade deadline came and went this afternoon and resulted in a ton of last minute action. I’m no general manager (yet) but from where I stand, the Oklahoma City Thunder won the day. Plenty of teams made significant deals, including the Miami Heat landing the best player, Goran Dragic, but the Thunder added plenty of bench support to go with an already stellar starting five. This will no doubt pay dividends come playoff time since I also expect them to clinch the 8th and final playoff in the Western Conference. The Knicks and Sixers seem to be executing their “tanking” strategies to a T and also worth noting is Kevin Garnett’s return to Minnesota where he spent his first 12 seasons, although you’d be tough to find anyone arguing that the move will make an impact on the court.
Now that the Super Bowl has come and gone, the NBA and NHL (but more so the NBA) take center stage and it’s full speed ahead until playoff time. For those interested check out this full rundown of all of the moves made today, courtesy of Business Insider:
Goran Dragic to the Miami Heat from the Denver Nuggets in a three-team deal:
- Miami gets: Goran Dragic, Zoran Dragic
- Phoenix gets: Danny Granger, Justin Hamilton, John Salmons, two 1st-round picks
- New Orleans gets: Norris Cole (per ESPN), Shawne Williams (per Woj)
Enes Kanter to the Oklahoma City Thunder, Reggie Jackson to the Detroit Pistons in a three-team deal:
- Oklahoma City gets: Enes Kanter, Kyle Singler, D.J. Augustin, Steve Novak
- Utah gets: Kendrick Perkins, Grant Jerrett, protected future Oklahoma City 1st-round pick, Detroit 2nd-round pick, rights to Tibor Pleiss (per ESPN)
- Detroit gets: Reggie Jackson
The Suns, Sixers, Bucks, and Celtics engage in a massive four-team trade:
- Phoenix gets: Brandon Knight, Marcus Thorton, Cleveland’s 2016 1st-round pick (per Woj)
- Philadelphia gets: Los Angeles Lakers 2015 1st-round pick (top-five protected)
- Milwaukee gets: Michael Carter-Williams, Miles Plumlee, Tyler Ennis
- Boston gets: Isaiah Thomas
Arron Afflalo to the Portland Trail Blazers from the Denver Nuggets:
- Portland gets: Arron Afflalo, Alonzo Gee
- Denver gets: Will Barton, Victor Claver, Thomas Robinson, lottery-protected 2016 1st-round pick
Kevin Garnett to the Minnesota Timberwolves from the Brooklyn Nets:
- Minnesota gets: Kevin Garnett
- Brooklyn gets: Thaddeus Young
Tayshaun Prince to the Detroit Pistons from the Boston Celtics:
- Detroit gets: Tayshaun Prince
- Boston gets: Jonas Jerebko, Gigi Datome
JaVale McGee to the Philadelphia 76ers from the Denver Nuggets:
- Philadelphia gets: JaVale McGee, Oklahoma City Thunder’s 2015 1st-round pick (top-18 protected), Chu Chu Maduabum
- Denver gets: Cenk Akyol
K.J. McDaniels to the Houston Rockets from the Philadelphia 76ers:
- Houston gets: K.J. McDaniels
- Philadelphia gets: Isaiah Canaan, 2nd-round pick
Ramon Sessions to the Washington Wizards from the Sacramento Kings:
- Washington gets: Ramon Sessions
- Sacramento gets: Andre Miller
Pablo Prigioni to the Houston Rockets from the New York Knicks:
- Rockets get: Pablo Prigioni
- Knicks get: Alexey Shved, two 2nd-round picks
