Poll: Which Team Will Win The East?
It was a wild trade-deadline week across the NBA, but most of the major win-now additions were made by Eastern Conference clubs. The Sixers, Bucks, and Raptors all completed significant trades at the deadline, while Western Conference contenders like the Warriors, Thunder, Nuggets, Jazz, and Spurs didn’t make a single move.
The result? A four-team group of East contenders looks even more dangerous than it did a week ago, creating the potential for a tantalizing pair of matchups in the Eastern Conference Semifinals this spring.
The Bucks were already the conference’s No. 1 team heading into this week and they added Nikola Mirotic without sacrificing a rotation player or a first-round pick. A sharpshooting power forward who can spread the floor and hold his own on the glass, Mirotic should fit right into Mike Budenholzer‘s system, which has allowed Brook Lopez to thrive this season.
The No. 2 team in the East, the Raptors, responded to Milwaukee’s move by making a deal for former Defensive Player of the Year Marc Gasol. While Gasol is 34 and may not be as dynamic a player as he once was, Toronto won’t ask him to do as much as Memphis did, and he figures to be an upgrade on Jonas Valanciunas, given his shooting and passing ability. The Raptors gave up some depth pieces in Delon Wright and C.J. Miles, but neither of those players was likely to be a difference maker in a playoff series.
The Sixers, meanwhile, made the splashiest move of any of the East’s top contenders, acquiring Tobias Harris from the Clippers in a trade that involved six players and multiple first-round picks. Harris had been enjoying the best year of his career in Los Angeles, and his shooting ability (.496/.434/.877) should be a great fit for a Sixers lineup that has struggled to spread the floor, despite J.J. Redick‘s best efforts. Philadelphia also acquired James Ennis and Jonathon Simmons in minor deals, adding depth on the wing.
As for the Celtics, their deadline was quiet, but they were the Eastern Conference favorites coming into the season and remain confident that they have the pieces necessary to make a run to the Finals. Boston has gone 25-10 since getting off to a slow 10-10 start, and has won 10 of its last 12 games as the team starts to get comfortable with its rotation.
What do you think? Which of these four teams do you believe will come out of the East this spring? Or do you think there’s a dark horse out there capable of making an unlikely run to the Finals?
Vote below in our poll, then head to the comment section to share your thoughts!
Which team will win the Eastern Conference?
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Milwaukee Bucks 38% (1,245)
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Toronto Raptors 25% (831)
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Philadelphia 76ers 21% (695)
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Boston Celtics 13% (432)
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Another team 2% (64)
Total votes: 3,267
Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote.
Anthony Davis To Return To Pelicans’ Lineup
FEBRUARY 8: While Davis will return to the court for the Pelicans, he’s expected to play in fewer – if any – back-to-backs, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, who adds (via Twitter) that AD’s season average of 37.0 minutes per game also figures to decline going forward.
FEBRUARY 7: Despite considering shutting Anthony Davis down for the rest of the season, the Pelicans will allow Davis to return to the regular rotation, general manager Dell Demps said today in a statement.
“Anthony Davis will play the remainder of the 2018-19 season for the New Orleans Pelicans,” Demps said. “A number of factors contributed to this decision. Ultimately, Anthony made it clear to us that he wants to play and he gives our team the best opportunity to win games.
“Moreover, the Pelicans want to preserve the integrity of the game and align our organization with NBA policies,” Demps continued. “We believe Anthony playing upholds the values that are in the best interest of the NBA and its fans. We look forward to seeing Anthony in a Pelicans uniform again soon.”
New Orleans opted to keep Davis, who formally requested a trade from the team last month, past the NBA’s trading deadline today.
Davis was recently cleared by the team’s medical staff and sought a return to the lineup earlier in the week, but was rebuffed by Pelicans management as the team was seeking potential deals, according to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports. The Pelicans next play at home against the Timberwolves on Friday, with the team not including Davis on its injury report.
Davis, 25, has averaged 29.3 points, 13.3 rebounds and 2.6 blocks per game this season with New Orleans, shooting 51% from the floor and 33% from 3-point range in 41 contests.
Lowe’s Latest: Sixers, Mirotic, Hornets, Nets, More
The Bucks‘ trade for Nikola Mirotic was made sweeter by the fact that the Sixers were in the hunt for the Pelicans‘ power forward before New Orleans opted to send him to Milwaukee, writes ESPN’s Zach Lowe in his post-deadline round-up.
According to Lowe, the Sixers offered a pair of second-round picks in their offer for Mirotic, which the Bucks bested by surrendering four second-rounders. Before the 76ers acquired Tobias Harris, they also discussed the general framework of a Mirotic/Markelle Fultz swap with the Pelicans, according to Lowe, who notes that it’s unclear whether those talks would have gotten serious if Philadelphia hadn’t completed its blockbuster deal for Harris.
Lowe’s article is packed with several more tidbits on the trade deadline, so we’ll round up the highlights here:
- The Hornets came close to acquiring Marc Gasol from the Grizzlies for a package that would have included a lottery-protected pick, but the deal fell apart over “last-minute haggling” on the price, sources tell Lowe. Charlotte also pursued Harrison Barnes, but any offer that included a first-round pick would have also included multiyear salary the Mavericks didn’t want, Lowe reports.
- Before the Grizzlies sent JaMychal Green and Garrett Temple to the Clippers, Memphis discussed a deal involving the duo for the Nets, according to Lowe, who says the return would’ve featured Allen Crabbe and Denver’s first-round pick. The Grizzlies, who had tax concerns, settled instead on L.A.’s offer, which didn’t include a draft pick.
- At least one of the offers the Wizards received for Otto Porter featured a low first-round pick, but it would have been meant taking on multiyear money, per Lowe.
- Kris Dunn probably could have been had at the deadline, but the Bulls likely wouldn’t have listened to inquiries on Zach LaVine unless someone had “overwhelmed” them, Lowe writes.
- The Magic told teams in recent weeks that they wouldn’t part for Terrence Ross for anything less than a first-round pick, sources tell Lowe. Orlando ultimately kept Ross on its roster.
- Jrue Holiday is a player worth keeping an eye on if and when the Pelicans eventually trade Anthony Davis. Sources tell Lowe that Holiday wants a chance to compete in the playoffs and is waiting to see what New Orleans gets in return for Davis.
Pelicans Waive Markieff Morris
FEBRUARY 8: Morris was officially released on Thursday night, RealGM’s NBA transactions log confirms. While the Pelicans didn’t formally announce the transaction, Morris had to be cut in order to accommodate the Nikola Mirotic trade, which saw New Orleans acquire two players for one.
FEBRUARY 7: The Pelicans plan to waive forward Markieff Morris, who’s currently dealing with a neck injury, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets.
New Orleans acquired Morris and a 2023 second-round pick in a trade with Washington this week, sending away forward Wesley Johnson. Morris is dealing with Transient Cervical Neuropraxia and began experiencing discomfort in his neck and upper back last month. Morris is expected to seek a second opinion on his injury, per Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link).
The Wizards originally put a six-week timetable on Morris at the start of his injury, which was diagnosed during the first week of January.
Morris, an eight-year veteran, mostly spent the past four seasons as Washington’s starting power forward and established himself as a valuable 3-and-D talent. He joins Enes Kanter, Zach Randolph, Marcin Gortat, Wayne Ellington and others as players who are now available in free agency.
Before getting injured, Morris was averaging 11.5 points and 5.1 rebounds on 44% shooting, starting in 15 of 34 contests on the season.
2019 NBA Trade Deadline Recap
After weeks of speculation suggesting that it might be a quiet 2019 trade deadline, we ended up getting just the opposite. Fourteen trades were completed today, with eight more having been finalized since January 31.
The deadline was still quiet for some contenders — the Warriors, Nuggets, Thunder, Spurs, and Jazz were among the clubs that didn’t make a pre-deadline deal. And, of course, the Pelicans elected to hang onto Anthony Davis until at least the offseason.
Still, this year’s deadline gave us a ton to keep track of. We’ll attempt to do just that, as our recap of all of 2019’s deadline deals can be found below, starting with the moves completed today…
Trades completed on deadline day:
- Hawks acquire Shelvin Mack.
- Grizzlies acquire Tyler Dorsey.
- Sixers acquire James Ennis.
- Rockets acquire the right to swap their own 2021 second-round pick with the Sixers’ 2021 second-round pick.
- Pacers acquire Nik Stauskas, Wade Baldwin, the Bucks’ 2021 second-round pick, and the draft rights to Maarty Leunen.
- Rockets acquire cash.
- Hawks acquire Jabari Bird and cash.
- Celtics acquire the Hawks’ 2020 second-round pick (top-55 protected).
- Raptors acquire Marc Gasol.
- Grizzlies acquire Jonas Valanciunas, C.J. Miles, Delon Wright, and the Raptors’ 2024 second-round pick.
- Lakers acquire Mike Muscala.
- Clippers acquire Michael Beasley and Ivica Zubac.
- Bucks acquire Nikola Mirotic.
- Pistons acquire Thon Maker.
- Pelicans acquire Stanley Johnson, Jason Smith, the Nuggets’ 2019 second-round pick (top-55 protected), the Bucks’ 2020 second-round pick, the Wizards’ 2020 second-round pick, and the Wizards’ 2021 second-round pick (all picks from the Bucks).
- Nets acquire Greg Monroe and the Raptors’ 2021 second-round pick.
- Raptors acquire cash ($110K).
- Magic acquire Markelle Fultz.
- Sixers acquire Jonathon Simmons, the Thunder’s 2020 first-round pick (top-20 protected), and either the Cavs’, Magic’s, Trail Blazers’, or Rockets’ 2019 second-round pick (whichever is most favorable).
- Clippers acquire Garrett Temple and JaMychal Green
- Grizzlies acquire Avery Bradley.
- Trail Blazers acquire Skal Labissiere.
- Kings acquire Caleb Swanigan.
- Rockets acquire Iman Shumpert, Nik Stauskas, Wade Baldwin, and the Bucks’ 2021 second-round pick (from Cleveland).
- Cavaliers acquire Brandon Knight, Marquese Chriss, the Rockets’ 2019 first-round pick (top-14 protected), and the Rockets’ 2022 second-round pick.
- Kings acquire Alec Burks and either the Rockets’ or Warriors’ 2020 second-round pick (whichever is less favorable).
- Kings acquire Harrison Barnes.
- Mavericks acquire Zach Randolph and Justin Jackson.
- Pelicans acquire Markieff Morris, the Wizards’ 2023 second-round pick, and cash.
- Wizards acquire Wesley Johnson.
Players waived on deadline day:
- Ike Anigbogu (Pacers) (story)
- Omri Casspi (Grizzlies) (story)
- Mitch Creek (Nets) (story)
- Wayne Ellington (Suns) (story)
- Marcin Gortat (Clippers) (story)
- Daniel Hamilton (Hawks) (story)
- Enes Kanter (Knicks) (story)
- Wesley Matthews (Knicks) (story)
- Ben McLemore (Kings) (story)
- Salah Mejri (Mavericks) (story)
- Greg Monroe (Nets) (story)
- Markieff Morris (Pelicans) (story)
- Malachi Richardson (Sixers) (story)
- Milos Teodosic (Clippers) (story)
Note: A number of other players – including Zach Randolph (Mavericks), Jabari Bird (Hawks), Nik Stauskas (Pacers), Wade Baldwin (Pacers), and Shelvin Mack (Hawks) – are expected to be waived, but it doesn’t appear those moves have been made official yet.
Trades completed in the week leading up to the deadline:
- Bulls acquire Otto Porter.
- Wizards acquire Jabari Parker, Bobby Portis, and the Bulls’ 2023 second-round pick (top-36 protected).
- Suns acquire Tyler Johnson, Wayne Ellington, and cash.
- Heat acquire Ryan Anderson.
- Sixers acquire Malachi Richardson, the Raptors’ 2022 second-round pick, and the draft rights to Emir Preldzic.
- Raptors acquire cash.
- Lakers acquire Reggie Bullock.
- Pistons acquire Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk and the Lakers’ 2021 second-round pick.
- Sixers acquire Tobias Harris, Boban Marjanovic, and Mike Scott.
- Clippers acquire Landry Shamet, Wilson Chandler, Mike Muscala, the Sixers’ 2020 first-round pick (top-14 protected), the Heat’s 2021 first-round pick (unprotected), the Pistons’ 2021 second-round pick, and the Pistons’ 2023 second-round pick.
- Trail Blazers acquire Rodney Hood.
- Cavaliers acquire Nik Stauskas, Wade Baldwin, the Trail Blazers’ 2021 second-round pick, and the Trail Blazers’ 2023 second-round pick.
- Bulls acquire Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot and cash ($2.6MM).
- Thunder acquire the Bulls’ 2020 second-round pick (top-55 protected).
- Mavericks acquire Kristaps Porzingis, Tim Hardaway, Courtney Lee, and Trey Burke.
- Knicks acquire Dennis Smith, DeAndre Jordan, Wesley Matthews, the Mavericks’ 2021 first-round pick (unprotected), and the Mavericks’ 2023 first-round pick (top-10 protected).
- Note: If the Hawks don’t receive the Mavericks’ 2019 first-round pick (top-5 protected), each of these first-rounders would be bumped back at least one year.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Celtics Trade Jabari Bird To Hawks
10:48pm: The Hawks have officially acquired Jabari Bird and cash from the Celtics in exchange for a conditional 2020 second-round pick, the team announced on Thursday.
2:06pm: The Celtics are trading Jabari Bird and cash to the Hawks in exchange for a heavily protected second-round pick, tweets Keith Smith of Yahoo Sports. Chris Haynes of Yahoo first reported that Boston would trade Bird to Atlanta today.
The Hawks will waive Bird after acquiring him, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). The move is simply intended to save both teams a little money and to open up a roster spot for Boston.
Bird, 24, appeared in just 13 games with the Celtics last season and didn’t play at all this year. The C’s drafted him 56th overall in 2017, mostly using him in the NBA G League with their affiliate in Maine. He was arrested on domestic violence and assault charges last September and failed to make his way back onto the court.
The pick being acquired by the Celtics is top-55 protected, meaning it most likely won’t convey to the team, Smith adds in a separate tweet. Boston will now look to the buyout market in hopes of upgrading its team before the postseason, and could express interest in free agent Enes Kanter, according to ESPN’s Ian Begley (Twitter link).
Atlantic Notes: Gasol, Lowry, Sixers, Celtics, Russell
The Raptors struck a major deal to acquire star center Marc Gasol today, sending Jonas Valanciunas, Delon Wright, C.J. Miles and a 2024 second-round pick to Memphis in the agreement.
Gasol, a former Defensive Player of the Year, is expected to help push the Raptors to a deep postseason run as their new starting center.
“Marc’s a hell of a basketball player,” teammate Kyle Lowry said, as relayed by Josh Lewenberg of TSN Sports. “I got a chance to play with him earlier in our careers but neither of us were at the level we’re at now. It’s going to be very cool.”
Gasol also reunites with Sergio Scariolo, head coach of the Spanish National Team and current assistant with the Raptors. Gasol’s ability to score, rebound and defend at the center position intrigued the Raptors as a potential fit, with the team now sporting a projected starting five of him, Lowry, Danny Green, Kawhi Leonard and Pascal Siakam.
“There’s a lot of things Marc can do,” Lowry said, according to Lewenberg. “I think his playmaking is one of the things we’re going to really be able to use…I think his defence is going to help us also…There’s a lot of advantages he brings to us and I think he’s going to really help us.”
There’s more from the Atlantic Division tonight:
- The Sixers made a move to acquire Tobias Harris from the Clippers this week, although it’s unclear how long discussions between the two sides lasted before an agreement was reached. Rich Hofmann of The Athletic suggests that the teams have discussed a Harris-related deal for months, while Jake Fischer of Sports Illustrated reports that the deal started being discussed on Tuesday. Regardless, Philadelphia now has a “core four” of Ben Simmons, Jimmy Butler, Tobias Harris and Joel Embiid to compete in the Eastern Conference for the rest of the season.
- Celtics general manager Danny Ainge reached out to the representatives of a few players today with hopes of filling the team’s open roster spot, according to Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated (Twitter link). However, Ainge is unsure about how much interest players will have, given how deep Boston’s roster is, Mannix notes.
- Nets guard D’Angelo Russell is ready to recruit players to Brooklyn in free agency, speaking before the NBA’s trade deadline this week. “I mean we understand it’s a business,” Russell said, according to Chris Milholen of Nets Daily. “I got to be in Brooklyn to recruit someone to be in Brooklyn. I think that with the situation that we have with the young talent and like I said, we surprised a lot of people this year with the play that we have and I think we have a great situation for anybody to come in and be open with two arms.”
Rockets Trade Stauskas, Baldwin To Pacers
10:00pm: The Pacers have officially completed their trade with the Rockets, acquiring Stauskas, Baldwin, Milwaukee’s 2021 second-round pick and the rights to Maarty Leunen for cash considerations, the team announced.
Indiana also waived Anigbogu to make the agreement official.
1:05pm: The Pacers are waiving second-year center Ike Anigbogu to make room for their incoming players, tweets Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports.
12:16pm: A day after acquiring Nik Stauskas and Wade Baldwin, the Rockets have reached an agreement to send them to the Pacers, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Houston will also ship a second-round pick to Indiana, Woj adds, and the Pacers plan to waive both players (Twitter link).
The Pacers only have one roster opening, so they will have to get rid of someone before they can take on Stauskas and Baldwin, notes Keith Smith of Real GM (Twitter link). The Rockets are making the deal for tax purposes, so it’s unlikely they will be getting anyone in return.
A flurry of trades over the past two days has put Houston $634K under the luxury tax, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link). The Rockets are down to 12 players, two below the league minimum, but are expected to be active on the buyout market. They will have two weeks to get their roster back to at least 14. Owner Tilman Fertitta has been saying that he wanted to get under the tax this season to avoid repeater penalties in the future, relays Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle (Twitter link).
Indiana will drop down to 13 players once if it follows through with plans to waive Stauskas and Baldwin and will also have two weeks to get back to the 14-player minimum.
The Rockets acquired both players last night in a three-team deal that also brought them Iman Shumpert. Houston had to take both players from the Cavaliers to help Cleveland stay below the luxury tax. This is the third trade in four days for Stauskas and Baldwin, who were also sent from the Trail Blazers to the Cavs in the Rodney Hood swap.
Grizzlies, Hawks Swap Shelvin Mack, Tyler Dorsey
9:54pm: The Grizzlies have officially traded Mack to the Hawks in exchange for Dorsey, the team confirmed on Thursday (Twitter link).
1:35pm: The Grizzlies and Hawks are in agreement on a trade that will send point guard Shelvin Mack to Atlanta and shooting guard Tyler Dorsey to Memphis, tweets Michael Wallace of Grizzlies.com.
Mack, 28, has been Memphis’ backup point guard for the 2018/19 season, averaging 7.9 PPG and 3.4 APG in 53 games (22.7 MPG). He has also had one of his best three-point shooting seasons, knocking down 35.9% of his attempts from outside.
However, Mack is expected to be waived by Atlanta, per Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal Constitution (Twitter link). If those are the Hawks’ intentions for Mack, it’s not clear what their motivations are for making the deal.
As for the Grizzlies’ side, sending out Mack for Dorsey allows the retooling squad to replace a veteran with a young prospect who had taken a step backward in Atlanta this season. A second-round pick in the 2017 draft, Dorsey posted 7.2 PPG and a .362 3PT% in his first year, but those numbers have dipped 3.3 PPG and a .256 3PT% in year two, as he has seen his role cut back.
Rockets Trade James Ennis To Sixers
9:49pm: The trade between the Rockets and Sixers centered around Ennis is official, both teams announced in press releases. Houston traded Ennis to Philadelphia in exchange for the rights to swap the Rockets’ 2021 second-round pick for the Sixers’ 2021 second-rounder.
The 76ers also confirmed the release of Richardson, who was acquired in a separate deal with Toronto this week.
11:45am: The Sixers will waive Richardson to open up room for Ennis, tweets Derek Bodner of The Athletic.
11:11am: The Rockets and Sixers have reached an agreement on a trade that will send James Ennis to Philadelphia, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (via Twitter). According to Charania, Houston will receive the right to swap 2021 second-round picks with the 76ers (Twitter link).
The Rockets signed Ennis to a two-year, minimum salary contract during the 2018 offseason in the hopes that he could help fill the void on the wing created when the team lost Trevor Ariza and Luc Mbah a Moute in free agency.
The 28-year-old Ennis battled some injuries during his time with the Rockets, but was a solid contributor in the 39 games he played. In 23.6 minutes per contest, he averaged 7.4 PPG on .500/.373/.714 shooting. However, with Iman Shumpert set to arrive in Houston as a result of a three-team trade with Sacramento and Cleveland, it appears the Rockets are willing to move on from Ennis.
The Sixers, meanwhile, will add a solid bench piece at a low cost after sacrificing some depth in their acquisition of Jimmy Butler earlier in the season. It’s unclear how much playing time Ennis will get in Philadelphia, but I’d expect him to see minutes for the second unit in a three-and-D role.
The 76ers will be able to add Ennis to their roster without sending out any salary, since he’s on a minimum deal, though they’ll need to make a corresponding move to open up a roster spot. Malachi Richardson and Justin Patton look like the most expendable pieces on the roster.
As for the Rockets, they started the week at 14 players and had been poised to take on an extra man in their deal with the Kings and Cavs. Moving Ennis will get them back to 14 and will slightly reduce their projected luxury tax bill. They’ll also create a modest trade exception worth Ennis’ salary ($1,621,415).
The exact details on the pick swap rights aren’t yet known — the Rockets may simply get the chance to swap out their pick for the Sixers’ selection during the 2021 second round, but Philadelphia also holds ’21 second-rounders from Denver and New York, so it could be more complicated than that.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.