NBA Trades 2015: Arron Afflalo and Top Deals from Thursday's Deadline
In a word, the 2015 NBA trade deadline—wild.
This is an event that annually offers plenty of hype leading up to the event, only to disappoint when most teams get cold feet.
Not this time.
Thursday, Arron Afflalo and others headlined a wild day. Kevin Garnett will finish his career in Minnesota, per NBA.com's David Aldridge. The Miami Heat shipped away Norris Cole to New Orleans, per CBS Sports.com's Ken Berger. The Milwaukee Bucks, Phoenix Suns and Philadelphia 76ers worked out a deal that sends Michael Carter-Williams and Tyler Ennis to Milwaukee, per ESPN's Marc Stein.
Those are just the appetizers, too.
Below are three of Thursday's top deals, in both their impact and value for both sides taken into account.
Finding That "Big 3"
The Miami Heat are living in the moment.
Miami's front office clearly wants to go all-in with a solid win-now core surrounding Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh because the team shipped away a ton of assets in a three-team deal to bring on Phoenix Suns point guard Goran Dragic, per Yahoo Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski:
It hurts in a very, very bad way to ship away a pair of first-round picks, let alone a semi-rebuilding franchise that pins its hopes on two superstars 30 years or older.
Viewed in the context of Miami's strategy, though, the deal is pretty solid.
The Heat are right on the outside of the playoff picture in the Eastern Conference and bringing on Dragic assures a spot in the postseason.
Dragic is a superb facilitator and scorer in his own right, posting 16.2/4.1/3.6 on average despite a crowded Phoenix backcourt. He's also a lock to stick around after Wojnarowski relayed Miami was one of only three locales he would actually ink an extension with this summer.
Each team wins this deal, especially the Suns considering they want to stockpile as many picks as possible to rebuild. But Miami now has an experienced core in place, which means the Eastern Conference playoffs just became a whole lot more interesting.
Oklahoma City Polishes a Contender
Beware the Oklahoma City Thunder.
There was no future for Reggie Jackson and the Thunder after the two sides failed to reach an agreement on a contract extension in October, which then led to Jackson's agent requesting a trade, per Wojnarowski.
Losing a rotational piece such as Jackson with solid upside is tough to swallow, but, well let's just say the Thunder front office made the best of a tough situation.
Aldridge breaks down one facet of a deal that sends Jackson to the Detroit Pistons:
Wojnarowski handles the rest, which at first glance is a "wow" haul for the Thunder:
"The Oklahoma City Thunder traded guard Reggie Jackson to the Detroit Pistons in a multi-team trade that sent Utah Jazz center Enes Kanter to the Thunder.
As part of the trade, the Thunder will send rookie forward Grant Jerrett, center Kendrick Perkins and the rights to center Tibor Pleiss to the Jazz. ... The Jazz also received a future first-round pick from Oklahoma City and a 2017 second-round pick from the Pistons, and sent forward Steve Novak to Oklahoma City. ...
The Thunder also received guards DJ Augustin and Kyle Singler from the Pistons.
"
Look, Detroit does well in this arrangement, landing a young core player to build around. The Utah Jazz find a replacement for a center who was not too happy with his playing time in the first place, and Kendrick Perkins serves as free cap space since he'll be a free agent after this season.
The Thunder, though, just pulled off a move a videogame would decline. D.J. Augustin is a solid rotational piece in the backcourt with a slash line of 10.6/4.9/1.9. Ditto for Kyle Singler, who knocks down 40 percent of his shots from long range. Veteran Steve Novak? He shoots 46 percent from deep.
Then there is Enes Kanter, the No. 3 overall pick of the 2011 draft who is just 22 years old and averages 13.8.7.8/0.3.
Overall, Aldridge puts it best:
If the Thunder did not scare teams in the Western Conference before, they better now.
The team is not only a better contender than it was a week ago, but it finds itself in a better cap situation moving forward.
Arron Afflalo, the Missing Piece in Portland
Afflalo was one of the most obvious names to move Thursday, as the Denver Nuggets—hosts of the deadline's biggest fire sale—looked to part ways with the UCLA product.
Wojnarowski broke the news that the Portland Trail Blazers won the Afflalo lottery well before the deadline:
Talk about a win all around.
The Nuggets become younger, and the first-round pick is lottery-protected in 2016 and 2017, per Wojnarowski.
Portland, which sits right near the top of the playoff race in the Western Conference, receives a major boost with the addition of the 29-year-old point guard.
Afflalo was on his second tour with the Nuggets this year. Despite an iffy situation, he still posted a 14.5/1.9/3.4 slash line. As ESPN Stats & Info details, the move is the result of a particular need in a certain area:
Basketball Insiders' Alex Kennedy puts it best:
Off the court, this may turn out to be a one-year rental for the Trail Blazers, as 2015 is a player option that only costs a $7.5 million cap hit, per Spotrac.
No matter how viewed, the Trail Blazers score a knockout of a deal at the deadline with Afflalo. His experience in tandem with a young, explosive team gives Portland a much better chance against the juggernauts out West. It also perfectly walks a present-future tightrope that does not tie down the organization to a major contract.
That, folks, is how contenders get it done right.
All stats and info via ESPN.com unless otherwise specified.
