NBA 2015 Trade News: Complete List & Analysis of Every Team’s Trade Activity
By Tamberlyn Richardson
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Pacific Division:
Golden State Warriors: 42 -9
Best record in the Association, have fewest losses are first in defense, second in offense and arguably the deepest bench in the NBA, so is it any wonder you stand pat. Some felt the Warriors might move David Lee, but unless they were going to get a serviceable player back, why bother. They’re in it to win it and therefore chose to keep everyone in house as they look to finish their final 31 games in preparation for the finals.
They better hope Oklahoma City (who in my opinion) won the trade day don’t finish in eighth if they are number one by season end. All I know is whoever ends up facing OKC in the playoffs better start praying now.
Meanwhile live look into owner of NBA's best record, the @warriors HQ during trade deadline (cred @JRAM_91) pic.twitter.com/ZZ74m51qhd
— Ronnie 2K 2K15 (@Ronnie2K) February 19, 2015
Los Angeles Clippers: 35-19
No moves occurred for the Clippers at the trade deadline which isn’t much of a surprise given they had no assets to trade back. Other than Jamal Crawford the team was pretty slim with available options and Crawford is key to their success. Doc Rivers did his best to convince Kevin Garnett to consider a contract buyout so he could come to the Clippers. In the end Garnett chose to return to his original home in Minnesota.
So, the Clippers enter their final 28 games of the regular season having only added Doc’s son Austin Rivers and will look to coerce players like Kendrick Perkins (who’ll be bought out by Jazz) to join the team. And, of course you can count on the fact Doc will be calling Ray Allen daily trying to add him as well. I hope Ray shocks everyone and decides to play for a team like the Toronto Raptors!
Right now, the Clippers are window shopping. There's a whole lot of players they want, but nothing in their pocket.
— Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) February 19, 2015
Phoenix Suns: 29-25
There were reports the Suns might not trade Goran Dragic thinking he wouldn’t leave an extra year and up to $20 million dollars on the table, but I assume the presser where the quiet guard told reporters he couldn’t TRUST management anymore was what sealed the deal to move the young Slovenian.
In the end he went to Miami with his brother in exchange for Justin Hamilton, Danny Granger and two 1st round picks ( one from 2017 and the other from 2021 as per Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press).
Perhaps the bigger surprise is the Suns also chose to move guard Isaiah Thomas even though they traded Dragic. Thomas was sent to Boston in exchange for Marcus Thornton as well as Kendall Marshall who is out with a torn ACL. Rotoworld reports Phoenix will waive him.
The big surprise was the deal that brings Brandon Knight to the Suns for Tyler Ennis and Miles Plumlee. Knight has resurrected his career under coach Jason Kidd so this was a bit of a shocker.
Also included as part of the Knight deal is 2016 top 10 protected 1st round pick (via Cleveland)
John Salmons also comes to the Suns via New Orleans as part of the Miami/Phoenix trade but will likely be bought out or waived.
Of concern in my opinion is this is a ton of new players for a team trying to keep a playoff seed. As well they end up losing not just Dragic, but also trade away Thomas. Now a team who is guard centric and drives their offense through the guards has to find a chemistry and their front court have become extremely small with Knight and Bledsoe. Sure Knight is 6’3″ but he’s slight and Bledsoe is only 6′ tall so this really could back fire on them.
And with all this movement the Suns retain Gerald Green and P.J. Tucker, 2 players who lately have been showing signs of discord on the floor. Add in the comments the quiet Dragic made regarding the lack of trust on the team and I wonder if the Suns are about to plummet out of the playoff seeds.
For a team who picked up 6 new players, at least they also grabbed some draft picks. We’ll have to wait and see how the team responds to all the new faces, but I think the player changes will actually adversely affect the Suns and may directly lead to a long term downward movement.
According to @numberFire, Phoenix's odds of making the playoffs decreased from 24.75% to 20.59% (-4.16%) with today's trades.
— Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) February 19, 2015
Sacramento Kings: 18-34
Sacramento made one small move which reunites Andre Miller with new head coach George Karl. The story here is going to be how DeMarcus Cousins and Karl interact. The veteran coach has a penchant for getting under his stars skin (see: Gary Payton and Carmelo Anthony) often calling them out publicly. I wonder if he’s mellowed in his one and half year sabbatical from the game. We’ll know soon enough.
Pete D'Alessandro on Andre Miller: “Adding Andre bolsters our backcourt with one of the most prolific ball distributors in the game."
— Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) February 19, 2015
Los Angeles Lakers: 13-40
The biggest move may have been no move by the Lakers, and while they aren’t among the top teams, in this case holding out waiting until the off season may be their best bet. The Lakers will be undeterred by players having options to resign with teams who traded to get them like Rajon Rondo, Goran Dragic and Kevin Love all of whom they’ll pursue in the off season as well as all the other free agents like LaMarcus Aldridge.
Lakers coaches pranked Jordan Hill, saying Mitch Kupchak wanted to see him and hinting he was traded. Then, they cracked up. (via @billoram)
— Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) February 20, 2015
Next: Leader sticks with chemistry while underlings all make moves