Farewell, Take: Analyzing the Prominent Moves in the NBA's Trade Window

Portland split the timeless power couple to gamble on a revolution that would rekindle Lillard, New Orleans gave up assets to build a modern quintet alongside Zion.

And also: the regular sucker has once again managed to destroy herself, and will Abdia benefit from the bizarre situation in Washington?

Assaf Ravitz

09/02/2022

Wednesday, 09 February 2022, 13:30

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Danny Abdia in one-on-one training with Kyle Kozma (The Wizards' Twitter account)

The last day of the trade deadline is one of the busiest and most interesting in the NBA.

This year, several teams decided to act early and turned the entire deadline week into a rolling event.

Two and a half days before the gong, some significant moves have already been made, not ones that affect the championship fight this year but ones that change the fates and directions of teams.

There are teams that have come into the season with high and growing expectations with all their might for rebuilding and there are teams that have improved positions ahead of the playoffs, this year and in the years to come.

And there's Sacramento.

We will perform a quick overview of the relevant teams in recent days, including an update on the complicated team of a particular Israeli player.

More on Walla!

The clearance sale in Portland continues: CJ McCollum on his way to New Orleans

To the full article

Will the Blazers' bet justify itself?

We have already seen more absurd things.

Lillard (Photo: GettyImages, Tim Nwachukwu)

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Portland

In the summer Damian Lillard almost asked for a trade, so in the winter the whole team is replaced except Lillard.

Interim general manager Joe Cronin has in recent days made a clearance sale and passed CJ McCollum, Larry Nance, Norman Powell and Robert Covington in two moves where the Blazers got mostly more and less interesting youngsters, draft picks and all sorts of complementary contracts (on From Colum he got a nice package, mostly thanks to the New Orleans pick, on Powell and Covington he got very little).

It can be assumed that Yusuf Norkic will also find his way out to any team that would be willing to give something in return, and I would not be surprised if the efficient Josh Hart, who came in a trade for McCollum, would also be transferred in exchange for offering the best first-round pick for him.

The only significant player who seems immune is the young Anferni Simmons, who has been breaking out in recent weeks.

This is how a group operates that decided to unpack the package and rebuild.

Wait, but what about Lillard?

Or, here the story gets more interesting.

The Portlanders have been insisting all week that their goal is to build a new team around Lillard.

If I understand correctly, Kronin and his gang's plan is this: to arrive in the summer with a vacancy under the salary cap to offer a maximum contract to a senior free agent, and with a high amount of assets to trade another senior player, so they will provide their own version of Super Tim.

Such teams usually crystallize in the biggest cities, not Portland, but the Blazers hope one year will work in their favor: free agents who do not want to be dependent on the team they leave will have no other real option.

One such is enough to initiate a process that will cause others to seek to move to Portland.

Who can this one be?

Bradley Bill, for example.

One can also fantasize about James Harden, who has recently had reports of his dissatisfaction with all sorts of things happening in Brooklyn.

A lot of things will have to happen for the Blazers' fantasy to take shape, most likely they will not be able to get their hands on a player who can justify disbanding the existing team.

In that case, option B would most likely be to move Lillard in the summer and go for a real rebuild.

But much weirder things have happened in recent years, the big stars have proven time and time again that their desires are unexpected.

Who knows what the upcoming playoffs will yield while which players will want to part ways with their teams after it.

It is not entirely unreasonable to imagine that Bill will choose to team up with Dame and that Phoenix will continue to refuse to pay Diandra Eyton a maximum contract and he will arrive as a third rib, or that players like Julius Randall and Clint Capella will complete an attractive roster.

Tommy Shepherd, the general manager of Washington, should also be concerned about the very existence of such a possibility, which did not exist a few days ago.

The only one that seems immune.

Anfrani Simmons (Photo: GettyImages, Steph Chambers)

New Orleans

CJ McCollum knows no other position other than Lillard's side kick, they were supposed to be the duo that never parted, but they were not good enough together to seriously threaten the title.

So now McCollum will embark on a new adventure in the team of the most different player imaginable: a human tank based on the ability to reach the ring.

Since Zion Williamson is also set to serve as the ball carrier, McCollum may be a successful match for him - an excellent outside scorer who knows the role of a secondary creator.

Together with Brandon Ingram this is a balanced and intriguing offensive trio.

But Zion is not playing yet, this trio comes from different generations and seems to belong to different worlds and none of them are keeping particularly good at the moment.

It is very difficult to know whether the necessary click will be created for a good group, and before anything else it is not yet clear whether Zion's body will allow it to be tested.

Larry Nance, who came along with McCollum, could turn out to be an important part of the emerging team.

It will give a good option for low formations with Zion as a chin, and this may be the best way to use the tank.

Rape and draft javelin rabbi Jones, who turned out to be a defense expert at a very high level, could be the gray workers alongside the three stars, and create with them a modern quintet.

Meanwhile, and without a fuck, McCollum makes the Pelicans the clear favorites in the battle for the last place in the play-in in the West, but that's not why they gave up on Nickel Alexander Walker who could still explode, and the lottery selection (apparently, but we won’t go into subtleties).

Different generations, different worlds, different style.

McCollum with Ingram (Photo: GettyImages, Sean Gardner)

The Clippers

The Clippers got Norman Powell and Robert Covington at a very attractive price - two worthy rotation players, one with a more offensive connotation and one defensive one, both of whom have experience and receipts in the playoffs.

In the short term, assuming that Paul George will return during the season (the possibility that Kwai Leonard will return seems less and less realistic), they are upgrading the midfield team that could make it difficult for quite a few teams in the playoffs.

Both are very much in line with Tyrone Lou's vision - a five-point no-brainer made up entirely of different types of wingers who score from the outside and make substitutions on every block in defense.

A quintet of this kind managed to oust Utah last season even after Kwai's injury, the two newcomers adding depth of wingers and a lack of quality on the roster.

But the Clippers' move was made with the next few years in mind.

Steve Ballmer is the richest man in the NBA by a huge margin, he has no problem spending any amount needed to build a good team around Kwai and PG13.

Powell signed a not-so-small contract for five years, which probably deterred quite a few teams, but for the Clippers this is exactly the opportunity to get a player at a level they have no ability to get in the free market due to salary cap limitations.

Covington is ending a contract, but the trade gives the Clippers his beard rights and will allow them to sign him as well in the long run in the summer if he fits in well.

Thus, Lawrence Frank achieved significant reinforcement for the squad for the coming years without sacrificing his more impressive youngsters - Terence Mann, Amir Kofi and Brandon Boston.

His excellent move.

The Clippers instantly became a team no one would want to meet in the playoffs.

Covington (Photo: GettyImages, Ronald Martinez)

Indiana

The Pacers are also going for rebuilt demand in a season where they are stuck in 13th place in the East, very far from playoff struggles.

Charis LeBart left for a draft pick, Domantas Savonis left mostly for Tyris Haliberton, so the two top scorers on the team were replaced by future assets.

Haliburton is a huge achievement for Indiana, who got one of the most promising youngsters in the league, a complete and smart player who can almost never be traded at 21. He is a player who can start building a whole new team around him, but can also be integrated in an attempt to create a new competitive team.

Right now, the Pacers seem to be aiming for the second option.

Malcolm Brogdon (who could not make the trade this year) and Miles Turner are still on the roster and unfit for rebuilding, but may be happy with the more senior status they will receive.

TJ Warren, the eternally wounded, may return one day.

Along with Haliberton, Buddy the boy who came in trade and rookie rookie Chris Duarte, there is a base here for a team with tools to win games.

Maybe Rick Carlisle will connect more to the new version of the roster, which is based on smart and team players.

There are precedents that giving up stars has only made the team better, I would not be surprised if that would be the case at Indiana in the coming years.

Luck in the lottery will definitely help.

A huge achievement for the Pacers, another puzzling move by the Kings.

Haliburton with Buddy the Boy (Photo: GettyImages, Thearon W. Henderson)

Cleveland

It's pretty amazing that Littleband belongs on the list of teams that are making a move to get stronger immediately, for the current playoffs.

LeBrat is the extra creative player who has been missing from the Cubs' five-man squad since Colin Sexton's injury, and his signing may indicate a willingness to give up Sexton in the summer.

This is a complex issue that is also related to the possibility that Cleveland will have a significant place below the salary cap in the summer of 2023, but it is certainly possible that Kobe Altman's main consideration was the current playoffs.

Despite his great talent, LeBret is not a player who obviously takes a first-round pick and a very high second-round pick (from Houston).

He is very prone to injuries, does not score well from the outside and is not considered a quality keeper, he is mainly a scorer who has not yet proven his ability to fit into a really good team.

Therefore, this is a very important opportunity for him to show relevance to the playoff struggles in a team that needs exactly his qualities and can turn him into its go-to-guy in the money time of crucial games.

It's still hard to imagine Cleveland going through a round against potential rivals in the East, but with a good integration of Levert it is easier to sail in that imagination.

A risky gamble.

LeBert (Photo: GettyImages, Michael Hickey)

Sacramento

Bringing in Savonis and giving up on Alibton is a classic Sacramento move.

The Lithuanian is definitely a quality player, an excellent offensive center with post play and high delivery ability, but it is not clear how a successful team should be built around him.

He's not a classic partner for Pick N 'Roll, hardly scoring threes and not defending the ring well enough.

What's pretty sure is that he's really not suited to be the partner of Diaron Fox who is fading this year.

Sacramento is once again trying to build a competitive team and once again it is hard to believe that it made the move that will lead it there, on the way it gave up on one of the most talented youngsters in the league.

What's new?

In an unfounded scenario, Abdia's status in Washington may actually improve (Photo: GettyImages, Michael Reaves)

Washington

Danny Abdia's team did not make a move, but saw the player they want move to another team.

It's not Shepherd's fault, he had nothing to offer approaching Haliberton.

Shortly after Savonis' trade came word that Bradley Bill had chosen to undergo surgery and end the season, a move in which Bill actually announces a waiver of this season.

If the Wizards had any intention of trying to build a team aiming for this year's playoffs, Bill's announcement took the wind out of its sails.

Bill's injury almost completely eliminates the possibility of a trade on him in the next two days, because who would want to take a player who will not play until his contract expires.

What can Washington do by the deadline?

Try to dilute the crowded squad, get rid of players who are irrelevant to the future and keep trying to get a player who can help convince Bill to stay in the summer.

If no such player is found, it may well be that the best option would be to give the stage to the youngsters, lose a lot of games and "improve" positions ahead of the lottery.

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• NBA

Tags

• CJ McCollum

• Damien Lillard

• Sacramento Kings

• Indiana Pacers

• Portland Blazers