After a busy week leading up to the NBA trade deadline featuring more than a dozen trades in the final two days alone, who came out ahead and who fell short?
Having graded each of the significant moves individually, let's now take stock of the big picture of what did -- and didn't -- happen and how that affects teams' chances of advancing in this season's playoffs and making a splash via free agency or trade this summer.
Here are my winners and losers of the NBA trade deadline:
Winner: Boston Celtics
By far the biggest deal before the trade deadline was the one that didn't happen -- Anthony Davis getting moved by the New Orleans Pelicans following his recent trade request. That means the Celtics will now have an opportunity to make an offer for Davis, unencumbered by the restriction that he can't play with Kyrie Irving as long as Irving is on his current designated rookie extension. (Technically, Irving still has to decline his player option, which is all but certain.)
Yes, Boston always had the advantage of having the best possible offer the Pelicans could eventually get for Davis. In Jayson Tatum, the Celtics have the young player with All-NBA potential that New Orleans covets in return for Davis -- something the Los Angeles Lakers couldn't offer, no matter how many of their young players and draft picks they included.
Still, Boston had to sweat out the possibility that the Pelicans valued the security of taking a deal now. So no doubt there was a cheer in the Celtics' front office when word came down that New Orleans would hold on to Davis past the deadline.
Loser: Boston Celtics
While the Davis non-trade went the Celtics' way, the rest of what happened has to concern them. The other three contenders in the Eastern Conference loaded up as Boston stood pat aside from trading Jabari Bird to the Atlanta Hawks to clear a roster spot. The challenge of getting back to the East finals now looks even more formidable for the Celtics, who also saw the New York Knicks create sufficient cap space to sign two free agents to max contracts -- perhaps including Irving.
Because of Irving's unrestricted free agency, Boston appears to have more riding on this season's playoffs than any other team. Two paths loom this summer: Irving re-signs and the Celtics deal for Davis, or Irving walks and such a trade makes little sense for Boston. It's unclear if there's a middle ground between those extremes.
As if that wasn't bad enough, the Clippers' decision to trade starting forward Tobias Harris to the Philadelphia 76ers might have weakened two of the potential four first-round picks the Celtics could have this June. The Clippers' pick that is owed to Boston is lottery-protected this season and the next, meaning if they drop out of the playoff race, they keep their pick now and might never send a first-rounder to the Celtics.
Meanwhile, a Clippers downturn would increase the chances the Sacramento Kings make the playoffs as the eighth seed in the Western Conference, hurting a pick the Celtics get as long as it's not No. 1 overall.
TBD: Los Angeles Lakers
If your viewpoint of whether the Lakers are winners or losers hinges solely on their ability to trade for Davis, there's no doubt they're losers. The Lakers were basically the only realistic destination for Davis before the deadline, and the Pelicans waiting opens up a potential trade with Boston as well as whatever team lands the No. 1 overall pick.
If, instead, the frame is what gives the Lakers the best chances of winning a championship, I made the case that giving up all their young prospects plus additional draft picks now was not a good idea.
There's a real chance the price for Davis is lower this summer if Boston's bid is hampered by the fear that he would be impossible to re-sign if Irving leaves, and that a team with no hope of re-signing Davis gets the No. 1 pick. Before the deadline, the Lakers were bidding against a hypothetical Celtics deal. Now we'll see whether the actual offer lives up to that expectation.
Winner: Milwaukee Bucks
Of the three East contenders that added a key rotation piece, I liked Milwaukee's deal the best. Given the Bucks should already have been favored to win the East by virtue of their league-leading point differential and strong head-to-head performance, they had less need to improve. But they gave up relatively little to add another quality shooter, Nikola Mirotic, who will make Milwaukee even tougher to defend without sacrificing much on defense.
Philadelphia got better with the addition of Harris, but had more room to improve as the weakest of these teams by point differential. (At plus-3.2 points per game, the Sixers still rank behind the Indiana Pacers by this measure.) Philadelphia doubled down on a strong starting five with Harris, but will have to hope to add depth in the buyout market after making only modest additions to the bench (James Ennis and Jonathon Simmons).
I liked Toronto's deal for Marc Gasol, but am not sure that Gasol moves the needle at this stage of his career. Mirotic might be a more impactful pickup and a better fit for his new team.
Loser: Western Conference contenders
The top seven teams in the West standings combined to add three players via trade over the past week: Iman Shumpert (Houston Rockets); Rodney Hood and Skal Labissiere (Portland Trail Blazers). That's incredible given the power void atop the conference in terms of a challenger to the two-time defending champion Golden State Warriors.
Each individual team had different reasons for not making a splash, or any move at all, from luxury-tax concerns (Denver, Houston, Oklahoma City, Portland) to already solid depth (Denver, San Antonio, Utah) to potentially playing the buyout market (Houston, Oklahoma City) to the cost of potential bigger deals simply being too high (Utah).
Though they're last in the standings of the group, I think the missed opportunity was most painful for the Jazz, who had multiple expiring contracts to use in a trade and are unlikely to be a destination for free agents this summer. A deal for Mike Conley plus a favorable schedule could have carried Utah to home-court advantage in the opening round of the playoffs, and potentially as far as the Western Conference finals.
The inactivity by other contenders makes the Warriors a winner in terms of their chances of getting back to the NBA Finals. Unfortunately for Golden State, with East contenders loading up, another Finals sweep might not be realistic.
Winner: LA Clippers
Unlike the Knicks, the Clippers didn't technically do much to facilitate their pursuit of two max free agents this summer. Moving the $2 million guaranteed portion of Avery Bradley's 2019-20 salary was offset by dealing for center Ivica Zubac, whose cap hold as a restricted free agent will be a similar amount. The Clippers were already in position to sign a max free agent, with routes to adding a second. Instead, they set themselves up to surround whatever player or players they do sign with plenty of young talent.
Rookie Landry Shamet, hitting 40 percent of his 3-pointers in Philadelphia, was a key inclusion in the Harris trade. That deal also yielded two future first-round picks, one of them unprotected. Those draft picks could also help the Clippers try to trade for a star if they can't land one in free agency. Whatever direction the Clippers go, they have plenty of options -- more than enough to justify hampering their chances of finishing eighth.
Loser: Memphis Grizzlies
The Grizzlies moved on from one of their franchise pillars in Gasol without getting a first-round pick, or even a second-rounder of consequence. (The Raptors will send their second-round pick to Memphis in 2024, when potential high school early entrants by then are currently in seventh grade.) The young player the Grizzlies got, Delon Wright, will have to be re-signed as a restricted free agent this summer.
Simultaneously, Memphis made no move at all with Conley. Perhaps the market for Conley will indeed be better this summer, as the Grizzlies hope, when teams that strike out in free agency can take him into cap space without needing to send back salary in return. But a team dealing for Conley will now get two playoff runs with him instead of three, and if he plays at all the rest of the season Memphis risks an injury destroying his value.