Clippers get: Marcus Morris Sr. and Isaiah Thomas
Knicks get: Maurice Harkless, 2020 first-round pick, 2021 first-round pick swap rights (protected 1-4) and 2021 second-round pick
Wizards get: Jerome Robinson
Get more trade grades for every deal here
LA Clippers: B+
The Clippers were always something of a lock to make a move before the deadline because of the way their trade chips would have dwindled after today. Harkless, in the final season of his contract, was an ideal matching salary in trade, while this year's first-round pick is the only one the Clippers can trade until after the 2021 draft takes place. Lo and behold, that package allowed the Clippers to get the best player to move to a contender.
At age 30, Morris is enjoying the strongest season of his career, one that established him as an ideal fit for a good team. That has relatively little to do with Morris averaging a career-best 19.6 PPG, something he's unlikely to continue doing in a smaller role with the Clippers, and more to do with his 44% 3-point shooting (also a career high, and good for fifth in the league).
It's improbable that Morris has actually become one of the league's top 10 3-point shooters. Still, he's lifted his career average to 37%, a solidly above-average mark that will force opposing defenses to account for him in the playoffs. Add in Morris' defensive versatility -- at 6-foot-8, 235, he can handle either forward spot -- and he was an easy fit on just about any contender.
A couple of factors make Morris more than your average 3-and-D player. First, as his season in New York shows, he has more ability to create his own shot than most players of his ilk. He's finished plays at an above-average rate four years running, and while this isn't a skill you'd want to rely on -- this season, with more than 70% of Morris' 2-point makes unassisted according to Basketball-Reference.com (also a career high), he's shot just 44% on 2s, down from 51% last year in Boston -- it could come in handy against mismatches.
Second, Morris' combination of size, strength and quickness makes him well suited to defend the league's best combo forwards, a group that includes LeBron James. Since the start of camera tracking in 2013-14, just four players have matched up more frequently with LeBron according to Second Spectrum data: Jimmy Butler, new teammate Paul George, DeMarre Carroll and Andre Iguodala.
It's reasonable to think that Morris will be more than a rental for the Clippers. They can pay him a starting salary of up to $18 million using non-Bird rights, which should be more than enough in a summer where few teams will have that much cap space available. More than anything, though, this move solidifies the Clippers as the favorites to win the Western Conference this year. They can throw out a deeper, more versatile group of five players to finish games than the Lakers despite being behind them in the standings.
As for Thomas, the Clippers will apparently waive him, giving them two open roster spots after dealing Derrick Walton Jr. to the Hawks earlier in the day. That move ensured the Clippers can sign two free agents to minimum-salary contracts for the remainder of the season while avoiding the luxury tax.
New York Knicks: B+
Essentially, this move gave the Knicks a mulligan on their mistake of using cap space to sign free agents last summer rather than taking back bad salaries in trades with draft picks. For example, New York could have done that with ... Harkless, who went to the Clippers with a 2023 first-round pick from Miami that they rerouted to Oklahoma City in the Paul George trade.
All things considered, you'd rather have that lottery-protected pick than the 2020 Clippers pick that is certain to come near the end of the round. (If the season ended today, it would be 27th overall.) But getting a quality second-round pick softens the blow a bit, and having either package is better than retaining Morris with the hopes of re-signing him. As well as Morris has played, he'll turn 31 over the summer and doesn't fill a need for a developing team.
Ideally, the Knicks would have rerouted Harkless to another team before the deadline. Instead, he'll presumably fill Morris' role as starting small forward the rest of the season. That's a downgrade in terms of shooting, but Harkless is a capable role player.
Washington Wizards: B
The opportunistic Wizards jumped into this deal to satisfy New York's desire to reroute Jerome Robinson to a third team rather than waive a player. According to David Aldridge of The Athletic, Robinson was next on Washington's 2018 draft board behind eventual pick Troy Brown Jr., so the Wizards were happy to grab him in exchange for a player who wasn't part of their future.
Although Robinson actually went two picks ahead of Washington's selection at No. 15, I never saw the appeal. At best, Robinson seemed to profile as a Jordan Clarkson-style volume scorer. He's played sparingly and ineffectively over a season and a half with the Clippers, who were willing to quickly cut bait on a lottery pick (and a rare misfire by their front office).
Odds are that Robinson won't amount to much with the Wizards either, but he's worth a flyer given it costs them only his $3.7 million guaranteed salary for 2020-21. Washington should still have plenty of room to re-sign unrestricted free agent Davis Bertans without butting up against the luxury tax.