NBA Trade Deadline - Winners and Losers

Now that the NBA’s trade deadline has passed, it is a good time to take a look at the landscape of the league. While there were no mega-blockbuster deals, many teams improved, while other teams made some head-scratching decisions (talking to you, Houston). Here are some of the biggest winners from the deadline, as well as some of the losers.

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NBA Trade Deadline Winners

Winner: Chicago Bulls

The Chicago Bulls came into the deadline with some big decisions to make. While their 19-24 record isn’t great, it is good enough for 10th place in the east, and only three games behind the fourth-place Hornets. At the same time, Zach LaVine’s name has been swirling around the rumor mill all season, and many people believed the Bulls would look to sell at the deadline. The Bulls were expected to make a move at the deadline, but no one knew what direction it would lead them towards.

It turns out, the Bulls believe they can content now, as they’ve traded for Nikola Vucevic, along with Al-Farouq Aminu, from the Orlando Magic, in exchange for Otto Porter, Wendell Carter Jr. and two future first-round picks. That is a bargain for Vucevic, who is averaging 24.5 Points and 11.8 rebounds on 48% shooting and 40% 3-point shooting. The Bulls are hoping the duo of LaVine and Vuc can help lead them to the playoffs for the first time since 2017, when Jimmy Butler was still a member of the team.

Winner: Orlando Magic

How can a team trade away their four best players and still be considered a winner, you ask? Well, despite making the playoffs the past two teams, it was hard to figure out the team’s organizational direction prior to today. They weren’t bad enough to draft at the top of the lottery, but they certainly weren’t good enough to win a title. Even with Nikola Vucivic blossoming into an all-star, a core of him, Aaron Gordon, Evan Fournier, and Terrance Ross was never going to win a title or even a playoff series. Now that they’ve traded all four of them, the Magic are finally admitting what the world already knows and are fully committing to a large-scale rebuild.

Winner: Miami Heat

Pat Riley has done it again! The Houston Rockets are trading Victor Oladipo to the Heat, per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, for Kelly Olynyk, Avery Bradley, and a pick swap. There were many reports that the Heat wanted Toronto’s Kyle Lowry, but once the Raptors decided to keep Lowry, the Heat shifted their attention to Oladipo, who they acquired for $0.30 on the dollar. Oladipo becomes an unrestricted free agent after the season, but Miami is focused on the present. The Heat are now +1200 to win the east, per DraftKings Sportsbook, and if Oladipo returns to his pre-injury form, now might be the last time to find such a good value on the team.

NBA Trade Deadline Losers

Loser: Houston Rockets

In a vacuum, the Rockets did not have the worst day in the league. The team is 12-31, and they are smartly looking to rebuild, and with Victor Oladipo hitting unrestricted free agency after this season, the Rockets are at least acquiring a pick swap instead of losing him for nothing. But that is all of the nice things I can say about Houston today, as the bigger picture shows that the team traded James Harden for almost nothing. The full trade now looks like James Harden for Avery Bradley, Kelly Olynk, Dante Exum, Rodions Kurucs, some ate 1st round picks, and some pick swaps. So yea, almost nothing. It is hard to see this getting better for the Rockets before it gets much worse for a long time.

Loser: Los Angeles Clippers

The biggest head-scratcher of the day was the Clippers’ willingness to part ways with Lou Williams AND draft capital for Rajon Rondo. Yes, the Clippers were looking for another playmaker, but I’m not sure Rondo is that at this point in his career. He’s averaging just 3.9 points and 3.5 assists on 40% shooting, while also turning it over 3.5 times per 36 minutes. While Lou Williams has had his struggles this year, he is still a guy you can count on to score a bucket in crunch time, and that is more valuable than an old Rajon Rondo. The Clippers are hoping that Playoff Rondo returns in a big way this postseason.