The NBA trade deadline was a full-on fire drill from start to finish with landscape-altering blockbusters, under-the-radar fringe moves, conflicting reports by NBA insiders, and the deafening silence from a couple of marquee franchises in disarray.
15 trades, 56 players and 24 draft picks swapped by 20 teams... all of which leads to an NBA that looks nothing like it did 24 hours ago.
With plenty still to sort out including players that will inevitably hit the buy-out market, we turned towards our NBA team of writers to help make sense of it all. We asked them for their biggest unanswered question and to pick their biggest trade deadline winner.
Buckle up.
MORE: Full details on every trade deadline deal
Is Ben Simmons a better fit next to Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving?
Steph Noh: The diminished version of James Harden we've seen this season is still a better player than Ben Simmons in a vacuum. But Simmons could be he better fit.
The biggest issue in Brooklyn is defense. Put mildly, it stinks. The Nets are 19th - nowhere near championship level - and Harden was killing them.
Was listening to @NekiasNBA rant on the Dunker Spot podcast re: Harden's defense against the Kings
— Steph Noh (@StephNoh) February 5, 2022
I decided to take a look and this effort is...woof. pic.twitter.com/smk84G65Jl
It seems like eons, but it was just seven months ago that he finished runner-up in the Defensive Player of the Year voting.
He also fits in well with what the Nets are already running. They’ve been a heavy switching team and at 6-10 with great mobility, Simmons is one of the most switchable players in the league.
The offensive concerns with Simmons are real but playing alongside Durant and Irving should help minimize them.
How will James Harden co-exist with Joel Embiid?
Scott Rafferty: Two sides of the floor, two different stories. In short? It's complicated.
Offensively, there's no doubt they will form a dynamic one-two punch. Harden has led the NBA in isolation scoring in each of the last seven seasons — this is your reminder that he scored more isolation points than every other team in the league in 2019-20 — and Embiid is the league's most dominant post scorer.
Trying to guard the two of them will cause a lot of headaches, especially in crunch time, where Philly ran into some problems in the Simmons-Embiid era.
Defensively, Doc Rivers will have his work cut out figuring out the best way to hide Harden. Keeping Matisse Thybulle helps because it gives the 76ers a defensive stopper on the wing, but there's going to be a lot of pressure on him and Embiid to carry them.
What will desperation look like for the Lakers?
Micah Adams: First LeBron James pushed for the Lakers to sign Russell Westbrook and fill out the roster exactly as it is. Then James clapped back at all of the Day 1 doubters who thought this was a bad idea. Finally, the day before the trade deadline, James all but publicly called for his team to do... something.
Turns out, a $44 million contract is hard to move. And it also turns out there's only so much you can get for Talen Horton-Tucker and a 1st-round pick for five years from now.
The Lakers are stuck with the team they have and now will turn towards the buy-out market in search of a prayer. The irony is that the best player likely to become - Dennis Schroder - is someone the Lakers themselves balked at paying last summer. Whether it be in the form of a buy-out target or desperate line-up shakeup (would they dare bring Westbrook off the bench?), it's clear the Lakers are firmly in desperation mode in the hunt to save their season.
What's next for Damian Lillard?
Carlan Gay: When Damian Lillard looks around the locker room in Portland he won’t see CJ McCollum. He won’t see Norman Powell or Robert Covington. He won’t see another All-Star. He’ll see a bunch of eyes staring back at him expecting him to move heaven and earth to make the Blazers competitive again.
The Blazers are clearly rebuilding and at 32, will Lillard have the patience to see it out? What happens first: the Blazers build a contender around Dame or Lillard asks for a trade?
Only time will tell.
Who should be favored to win the East?
Kyle Irving: Technically, according to Vegas, the Nets never came off their spot as the betting favorites to win the East, even amidst all the trade drama and a nine-game losing streak. They still remain the favorites to win the conference after the Harden-for-Simmons swap, but I'm not convinced they should be. If the 76ers can get Harden and Joel Embiid clicking, they'll be as scary as anyone.
TRADE GRADES: Harden-Simmons | Sabonis-Haliburton | McCollum to Blazers
With that being said, the Bucks are still the team to beat in the East. And don't discount Heat and Bulls, both of which are really good when healthy.
Simmons will still need to get back to playing at game speed and find his role within his new team, which leaves the conference with plenty of questions as to who will represent the East in the 2022 NBA Finals.
What exactly is the Mavericks' plan?
I understand the Kristaps Porzingis trade completely – Dallas has probably reached its ceiling with him as its second option but the return of Spencer Dinwiddie and Davis Bertans only brings about more questions. Of course, it's all about Luka Doncic in Dallas, and while the three-time All-Star is still a few weeks shy of turning 23, it's time the team figures out the way in which they want to build around him.
TRADE DETAILS: Kristaps Porzingis dealt to Wizards in three-player deal
Doncic is, without question, a generational talent and, as constructed, the Mavericks are a fine team. With a player as good as Doncic, "fine" isn't going to cut it much longer, and I'm now curious the ways in which this move will allow the team to build around him moving forward.
Who won the trade deadline?
If you asked every GM of every active team at the deadline, all would say they got better. Of course, it's all relative and there are different definitions of success. But if you had to pick just one winner, who would it be and why?
Carlan Gay: The 76ers. Yes they gave up a lot to get Harden, but All-NBA players don’t grow on trees. Embiid now has the perfect dance partner to navigate the East with and both of them will be motivated to make sure their legacies include an NBA title.
Micah Adams: Kevin Durant. Something needed to change in Brooklyn. And while banking on Simmons and Irving to get their acts together simultaneously might be wishful thinking, it's easy to imagine KD returning post All-Star break to a motivated team ready to hoist the Larry O'Brien trophy. Besides, we've seen what Durant does when flanked by a Curry.
Scott Rafferty: The Clippers. The one move they made is old news at this point, but acquiring Norman Powell and Robert Covington for Eric Bledsoe, Justise Winslow, Keon Johnson and a second-round pick was a heist. I feel like we'll be talking a lot about that trade next season when — fingers crossed — the Clippers are at full strength again.
Steph Noh: Brian Windhorst. There was a 24-hour stretch where Windy was saying one thing and his own ESPN colleague Adrian Wojnarowski was saying the exact opposite. In the end, Windy defeated the end boss Woj in his reporting of the Simmons trade. The Windhorst Deal Zone within the Nets metaverse will be lit tonight.
Gil McGregor: Rich Paul. Where to begin? Of his clients, Ben Simmons got his wish, Montrezl Harrell lands where he's desperately needed (and will boost his value as an impending free agent), Tyrese Maxey proved to actually be untouchable and did I mention Ben Simmons got his wish? It's chess, not checkers.
Kyle Irving: Ben Simmons. I mean, this is obvious, isn't it? The guy goes from not playing all season and being fined for every practice and game missed to getting his wish of being traded out of Philly, now playing alongside Kevin Durant with a chance to prove everyone wrong and win a title. That's an undisputed W in my book.
