(Basketball news) The NBA trade deadline was a full-on fire drill from start to finish with landscape-altering blockbusters, under-the-radar fringe moves, conflicting reports by NBA insiders, and the deafening silence from a couple of marquee franchises in disarray. A lot of marquee players made unexpected moves for big, so let us take a look at these season defining deals:
Sixers receive: James Harden, Paul Millsap
Nets receive: Ben Simmons, Seth Curry, Andre Drummond, two first-round picks
The move comes after an unexpected turn of events as James Harden wanted to move out of the struggling Nets and join Doc Rivers Philadelphia 76ers. On the other hand the Nets received a world class young point guard in the form of Ben Simmons who hasn’t played a single match this season. The Nets run a switch-heavy defence as Simmons should fit in like a glove in the offence. He is one of the very few players who can guard every position and might be the most versatile defender in the league. The Nets have badly missed a strong point of attack defender, and Simmons excels there too.
The Sixers have added some more juice in their offence especially in the playoff games, so Harden will obviously help them offensively. Doc Rivers will have to find some balance between Embiid and Harden, but an overabundance of quality isolation players is certainly a better problem and some one who can create his own offence is better than a player who didn't want to play for their franchise. Defensively, Harden's reputation speaks for itself but teams have to manage his off field antics as Dayerl Morey is familiar on how to handle him.
Dallas gets: Spencer Dinwiddie, Davis Bertans
Washington gets: Kristaps Porzingis, 2022 second-round pick
The Porzingis trade represents a major power shift for the Mavericks. They had acquired Porzingis from the New York Knicks in a trade deal in 2019 with the hopes that he would be a co-star alongside Luka Doncic. Porzingis has always been dealt with a series of injuries, including surgeries on both knees, but he still managed to average 20.0 points, 8.8 rebounds and 1.7 blocks in 134 games for the Mavericks over three seasons. Porzingis, who subsequently missed the past five games, has two seasons remaining on his five-year, $158 million contract.
Dinwiddie, 28, provides the Mavericks a scoring and playmaking boost. He signed a three-year, $54 million contract with the Wizards last offseason and has career averages of 12.9 points and 5.1 assists. Having Dinwiddie also gives the Mavericks insurance in case guard Jalen Brunson leaves Dallas as an unrestricted free agent this summer, although sources say the team remains optimistic that it will re-sign the 25-year-old.
"Kristaps is an All-Star player whose unique talents will fit well within our system and allow him to impact the game for us in multiple ways," Wizards general manager Tommy Sheppard said. "He will get a fresh start with our team and provide us with the opportunity to play multiple lineups that feature size, versatility and shooting ability."
Boston receives: Derrick White
San Antonio receives: Josh Richardson,Romeo Langford, 2022 first-round pick (protected)
For Boston, White, 27, should fit in nicely alongside Boston's star wing tandem of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. The 6-foot-4 guard, averaged 14.4 points and 5.6 assists per game this season and is a strong two-way player who has familiarity with Celtics coach Ime Udoka, whom he played under when Udoka served as an assistant coach in San Antonio. White also played alongside Tatum, Brown and Marcus Smart with Team USA in the World Cup in 2019.
Richardson, 28, has had a nice comeback season with the Celtics after his horrible seasons with the Philadelphia 76ers and Dallas Mavericks. Richardson is shooting 39.7% from 3-point range after being traded to Boston in the offseason and agreeing to a one-year contract extension shortly thereafter. Langford was the 14th pick in the 2019 NBA draft but injuries have limited him to only 94 games over three seasons and he is averaging 4.7 points in 44 games this season as the Spurs receive a good young player.
Also read: NBA: Lakers lose to the Trail Blazers and Warriors winning streak snaps
The other trades that took place were:
Detroit receives: Marvin Bagley III (via Sacramento)
LA Clippers receive: Semi Ojeleye (via Milwaukee),Rodney Hood (via Milwaukee),Draft rights to Vanja Marinkovic (via Sacramento)
Milwaukee receives: Serge Ibaka (via LA Clippers),Second-round pick (via Sacramento),Second-round pick (via Detroit),Cash considerations (via LA Clippers)
Sacramento receives: Donte DiVincenzo (via Milwaukee),Josh Jackson (via Detroit), Trey Lyles (via Detroit), Draft rights to David Michineau (via LA Clippers), Draft considerations (via Detroit)
Toronto receives:Thaddeus Young, Drew Eubanks,2022 second-round pick (via Detroit)
San Antonio receives:Goran Dragic, 2022 first-round pick (protected 1-14)
