The NBA trade deadline has come and gone. What to make of the Nets-Sixers blockbuster and other notable deals? Our writers weigh in.
What are your immediate thoughts on the Nets-Sixers deal?
Howard Beck: Obviously, this isn’t the path the Nets chose—Harden forced this deal—but they’re actually better off for it. Ben Simmons can’t shoot or score at Harden’s level, but he is an elite passer and defender. And the Nets were absolutely desperate for defense. Simmons will fit seamlessly with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, two of the best scorers in the game. He’s also seven years younger than Harden. That the Nets also got more shooting (Seth Curry) and interior muscle (Andre Drummond) and recouped a couple draft picks makes this a home run.
Robin Lundberg: This is a trade that needed to happen. James Harden made it clear without directly saying he wanted out and Daryl Morey has always coveted him. Meanwhile, the Nets needed to recoup on their initial Harden trade before it became a disaster.
Chris Mannix: That Daryl Morey better be right about James Harden. Harden is still a star. But his scoring numbers are his lowest since his Oklahoma City days, his shooting numbers have dipped and his hamstring is (allegedly) bothering him for a second straight year. Philadelphia is preparing to pay Harden $270 million over the next five years—$47 million next season and a four-year, $223 million contract he will undoubtedly get slid in front of him in August—that will take him through his age-38 season. I can't be the only one who thinks some kind of John Collins/Bogdan Bogdanovic/draft picks package might have been better.
Michael Pina: Will the Sixers look back on today as one of the best or worst days in recent franchise history? By adding Harden, they now have a bonafide first-ballot Hall of Fame playmaker next to their monstrous MVP candidate, Joel Embiid. It has the potential to be an unstoppable one-two punch. But assuming they lock into Harden on one of the least team-friendly contracts in NBA history, is the fit good enough to yield a title or will it blow up in their face? How will Harden and Embiid fit for the rest of this season, down Seth Curry’s critical outside shot? What does Harden’s presence mean for Tyrese Maxey’s future now that his strengths are somewhat redundant? Can anyone take Tobias Harris’s contract off their hands this summer? I’m not saying the Sixers shouldn’t have made this trade, but there are real questions and concerns.
Jeremy Woo: Based on where it was 72 hours ago to now, there was clearly some added incentive to get it done, and most of the time, that's player-driven. The whole thing makes a lot of sense, and while the Sixers gain the immediate edge as East favorites, the Nets are better positioned for the future and essentially saved what had become a strangely evaporating season.
Who is the biggest winner of the Nets-Sixers deal?
Pina: Ben Simmons is the obvious winner here. A 25-year-old, three-time All-Star, he 1) wasn’t playing basketball or 2) getting paid. Now he’s on a championship contender, beside arguably the league’s top two shotmakers, asked to fit into a role that’s perfect for his strengths and weaknesses.
Mannix: James Harden. Who knows if it works out in Philly, but for the second year in a row Harden threw the basketball equivalent of a fit and got exactly what he wanted. That, by the way, should absolutely terrify Philadelphia.
Woo: The Sixers. Getting this deal done while hanging onto Tyrese Maxey and Matisse Thybulle is more or less a win for Philly, who still have the core pieces of a contender in place and didn't have to sacrifice all that much, considering Ben Simmons was not playing. Seth Curry is good, but Harden will take those minutes in crunch time. What it actually looks like is fair to question, but Philly gets the biggest boost toward short-term gains, in theory.
Beck: It’s a rare case where everyone won: Harden and Simmons, Nets and Sixers. But Daryl Morey is the biggest winner here. He’s been 100 percent vindicated for his negotiating stance—i.e. refusing to trade Simmons unless he got a certified All-Star in return. Had Morey caved to the demands of Simmons’s camp, had he caved to the criticism that he was “holding Simmons hostage” or “wasting a year of Embiid’s prime,” and rashly traded Simmons for a package of role players and picks, the Sixers would be in far worse shape right now.
Lundberg: Ben Simmons. A player who can't shoot or really score isn't a great fit in every situation, but next to Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, Simmons should thrive. He will increase the pace the Nets play with, add defense and be flanked by shooting and perhaps the two best scorers in the world. There's an easy argument to be made that given age and fit the Nets got better now and going forward.
Outside of the Nets-Sixers deal, who made the best move at the deadline?
Pina: The Pacers still deserve a standing ovation for somehow prying Tyrese Haliburton from the Kings on Wednesday afternoon. For a team that doesn’t want to bottom out but felt the need to offload its very best player (Domantas Sabonis), they did as well for themselves as they possibly could.
Beck: The Bucks acquiring Serge Ibaka. It’s not as flashy as the Harden-Simmons swap, but it might have a bigger impact on the title race. The Bucks badly miss Brook Lopez, who’s been out all season and might not return. Ibaka can replace a lot of what Lopez did— protect the rim, set screens and stretch defenses with his three-point shooting. He’s a winner, and he’s battle-tested, having helped the Raptors win a championship just three years ago.
Lundberg: I like the Wizards taking a swing with Porzingis. His injury and recent history makes it doubtful he reaches the superstar status he once felt destined for but it is still a good upside move considering they didn't have to give up much to make it happen.
Mannix: The Wizards unload two bad deals (Spencer Dinwiddie, Davis Bertans) to become the latest team to try and unlock the potential of Kristaps Porzingis.
Woo: I thought from a pure value perspective, the very-quietly-tanking Spurs did well in getting one, potentially two firsts for Derrick White and Thaddeus Young, plus a far-off future swap with Boston. Moving White clarifies the backcourt moving forward and should help clear minutes for the promising Josh Primo. In the event the picks from Boston and Toronto both wind up in the 10-20 range, San Antonio should have an array of avenues to maneuver when we get to draft season.
What’s your biggest takeaway from the trade deadline?
Mannix: That the Lakers did nothing. This team is in a free fall, with everyone with a digital pen reporting that L.A. knew it needed to make a deal to salvage the season. But the Lakers, predictably, couldn't get anything of real value for Talen Horton-Tucker and Kendrick Nunn and there was zero interest in Russell Westbrook. No team needed an infusion of new talent more than the Lakers, and they got nothing.
Beck: That the trade deadline is mostly about atoning for past mistakes—or failing to. The Nets and Sixers fixed each other’s problem. The Wizards unloaded two bad investments (Spencer Dinwiddie and Davis Bertans) for the Mavericks’ bad investment (Kristaps Porzingis). The Lakers tried desperately to replenish their rotation—which they wrecked with the foolish Russell Westbrook trade—but couldn’t. The Knicks tried to dump their two most recent free-agent signings (Kemba Walker, Evan Fournier), but couldn’t. And the Kings finally sent away former No. 2 overall pick Marvin Bagley to Detroit, distancing themselves from perhaps the most catastrophic draft-day decision in franchise history.
Woo: It was interesting how many of the moves were made with next season in sight, as opposed to true throw-down-the-gauntlet, go-for-it trades. This also comes with the knowledge that it may not be a wild summer on the market, with Bradley Beal and Zach LaVine the two highest-profile unrestricted free agents. Teams were still more willing to part with first-round picks than in some years past, operating with the knowledge that this year's class doesn't look all that deep. Those are three takeaways and not one, I know.
Lundberg: It takes assets to make trades. Just because fans of teams like the Knicks and Lakers were anxious doesn't mean they could make moves … you have to have something of value to offer in order to do that.
Pina: The Lakers were unlikely to find any trade partner who could help turn their season around, be it by taking Talen Horton-Tucker, Kendrick Nunn and a draft pick off their hands or even [extended eye roll] showing the slightest interest in Russell Westbrook. They showed no life in an embarrassing road loss against the Blazers on Wednesday night, in a game Westbrook didn’t even suit up for, and have no path toward title contention despite being two seasons removed from winning it all. They had to do something today and failed.
