Biggest Beneficiaries from the 2017 NBA Trade Deadline so Far
Three weeks have flown by since the flurry of the NBA trade deadline flashed before our eyes.
Over that span, we've seen DeMarcus Cousins and Anthony Davis struggle to adapt to one another in New Orleans, Lou Williams flicker in and out following a hot start in Houston and P.J. Tucker forget how to shoot since crossing the border into Canada.
Those semi-cautionary tales aside, the players who were affected by all the wheeling-and-dealing in February have been impacted positively into March.
The Portland Trail Blazers and Dallas Mavericks both found potential long-term solutions at center. The Washington Wizards fortified one of the league's weakest benches. Those left to pick up the pieces in Sacramento have found bigger roles and the will to fill them. The Philadelphia 76ers are once again spending the stretch run evaluating young talent they've either dug up midseason or remembered was already on their roster.
Before those teams on the lower end of the Association fall entirely off the map, let's pay homage to the 10 (or so) players who've fared well in new roles and/or new homes since the All-Star break, listed here in alphabetical order.
Justin Anderson, Small Forward, Philadelphia 76ers
1 of 10
As much as Justin Anderson admires Dirk Nowitzki and enjoyed playing alongside one of his basketball idols with the Dallas Mavericks, he's made it clear, in both word and deed, that he's pleased to be with the Philadelphia 76ers as partial recompense for Nerlens Noel.
"I think this is a great situation for me," he told Philly.com's Ed Barkowitz. "I don’t think I got an opportunity to show what I was capable of in Dallas; only in spurts or when (there were injuries). They didn’t expect much. But here, they have high expectations for me."
So far, Anderson's done his part to reach (if not raise) that bar. The 6'6" swingman has bumped up from a 40ish-percent shooter in Dallas to 52.8 percent through nine games in Philly, including an eye-popping 73.3 percent inside the arc. It certainly helps that shots within three feet of the hoop now constitute close to 40 percent of Anderson's fill—and that he's converted 85.7 percent of those.
The Virginia product's combination of size, speed, strength and athleticism makes him a perfect fit for a Sixers squad that wants to get up and down the floor. From a front-office perspective, his age (23) and contract (two years totaling just over $4 million after this season) are just as ideal for Philly's ongoing process.
With Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons out for the season, Anderson, like every other promising Sixers youngster, will have every opportunity to succeed (or fail) from here on out. If the early returns are any indication, he could fall firmly into the former category by the end of 2016-17.
Bojan Bogdanovic, Small Forward, Washington Wizards
2 of 10
Bojan Bogdanovic's rental tenure with the Washington Wizards got off to a rocky start. In his first game following a trade-deadline deal from the Brooklyn Nets, the Croatian swingman scored just two points on 1-of-5 shooting (0-of-3 from three) in an eight point D.C. loss to the Philadelphia 76ers.
"I got iPads to learn the plays,” he said after his first game as a Wizard, per The Ringer's Katie Baker, “but complete participation on the court is the best way to learn.”
Bogdanovic seems to have picked up Washington's schemes just fine, thanks. Since that dubious debut, he's drained a blindingly-hot 48.1 percent from three (compared to 35.7 percent with the Nets) en route to 17.0 points per game while helping to stabilize what had been one of the NBA's worst benches before the All-Star Break.
It certainly helps that Bogdanovic is getting many more catch-and-shoot opportunities in the nation's capital than he did in New York's biggest borough.
| Frequency | 2P% | 3P% | eFG% | |
| with BKN | 33.6% | 40.0% | 39.4% | 58.1% |
| with WSH | 51.4% | 40.0% | 46.9% | 67.6% |
The Wizards, John Wall in particular, get plenty out of that arrangement, too, as the Washington Post's Neil Greenberg explained:
"Wall, who Magic Coach Frank Vogel referred to as “one of the best point guards in the world,” has tremendous court vision, so adding another three-point shooter like Bogdanovic causes opposing defenses to be put in a bind, especially when Wall drives to the rim during the pick and roll.
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If Bogdanovic looks like a long-term fit at season's end, Washington will have the first crack at keeping him in restricted free agency this summer.
Jordan Clarkson, Shooting Guard, Los Angeles Lakers
3 of 10
With Lou Williams joining the Houston Rockets after the trade deadline, the Los Angeles Lakers were left with a gaping hole on their bench to fill—and plenty of shots with which to fill it.
Jordan Clarkson was quick to oblige the call for reinforcements. The 24-year-old combo guard came out of the break averaging 19.3 points and 3.6 assists in eight games as a reserve. That run culminated in a career-high-tying 30 points, with 10 made free throws (a personal best) and eight assists, in a two-point loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday.
The Lakers rewarded Clarkson, whose play head coach Luke Walton described as "pretty damn good," per the Los Angeles Times' Tania Ganguli, with a start against the Denver Nuggets on Monday. He responded with 19 points and three assists, albeit during a dispiriting 129-101 loss in the Mile High City.
"Clarkson is really good," an Eastern Conference executive told Bleacher Report's Eric Pincus. "He's not a point guard, but he can play. He's on a good salary, too, at about $12 million a season."
Clarkson's cap-friendly take could factor in to how L.A. balances its sheet in the years to come as Julius Randle, D'Angelo Russell and Brandon Ingram come up for extensions. For now, the former second-round pick is doing a fine job of solidifying his standing as part of the Lakers' present and future.
Aaron Gordon, Power Forward, Orlando Magic
4 of 10
After spending much of the season whiling away on the wing, Aaron Gordon is back to playing power forward for the Orlando Magic now that Serge Ibaka is no longer in the mix.
And oh, what wonders that move has worked on Gordon's game. As ESPN's Zach Lowe detailed:
"He's lurking along the baseline for putback crams instead of hanging aimlessly around the perimeter. Gordon outsprints opposing bigs for transition rim-runs, and when the offense bogs down, he can juke guys off the bounce -- something that was harder against wings, who can generally hang with him. He has even run a few nifty pick-and-rolls with [Nikola] Vucevic.
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The stats tell a similar story. While Gordon's outside shot (17.9 percent from three since the All-Star Break) is as broken as ever, he's killing it inside the arc (58.3 percent) and racking up 15.6 points and 6.0 rebounds while he's at it.
Now into his third pro season, Gordon remains the most promising prospect to come from Orlando's wayward rebuild. And at 21, he still has plenty of time to turn his tremendous physical tools into the total package for the Magic.
That is, if the front office refrains from filling up the roster with more veterans at Gordon's best position.
Nerlens Noel, Center, Dallas Mavericks
5 of 10
The Dallas Mavericks are already dealing with their first Nerlens Noel health scare. Six games into his tenure with the Mavs, the former Philadelphia 76ers big man experienced swelling in his left knee—the same knee in which he tore the ACL that kept him out of what would've been his rookie season in 2013-14.
Noel, though, suggested this latest bout with his knee wasn't related to his previous problems.
"It just happens sometimes when you start playing more (minutes)," he told the Dallas Morning News' Eddie Sefko. "It (swelling) has gone down every day. I’m at the point now where it’s borderline, but I want to come back 100 percent."
The Mavs want the same from their new 22-year-old center. They won five of six with him in the lineup, thanks in no small part to Noel's 10.0 points on 61.0 percent shooting, 8.7 rebounds and 1.3 blocks in 24.2 minutes per game.
As in Philly, Noel has so far spent most of his time coming off the bench in Dallas. Whether that changes may depend as much on his availability and grasp of head coach Rick Carlisle's principles as on the Mavericks' small-ball success, with Dirk Nowitzki in the middle.
Either way, Noel should be eying a hefty payday in restricted free agency this summer if he comes through with anything approximating a clean bill of health. Even with red flags on his resume, he can take heart in the earnings of current (Wesley Matthews) and former Mavericks (Chandler Parsons) who've inked mega deals despite debilitating injuries.
Jusuf Nurkic, Center, Portland Trail Blazers
6 of 10
Squint hard enough the next time the Portland Trail Blazers are on TV and you just might think you're watching Arvydas Sabonis out there battling for rebounds and whipping passes to Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum.
Of course, it's not the Lithuanian legend, who retired from the NBA in 2003, but rather a Bosnian beast by the name of Jusuf Nurkic. The 22-year-old doesn't shoot threes like Sabas—or at all, really—but with all the gunners already in Rip City, the Blazers don't need him to.
And, frankly, his contributions thus far are remarkable as is. Since the Denver Nuggets dealt him and a 2017 first-round pick to Portland for Mason Plumlee, a second-rounder and cash, Nurkic has piled up 15.1 points, 9.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 1.4 steals and 2.1 blocks per game while shooting 52.8 percent from the floor and is holding his foes to 43.7 percent at the rim.
It would be easy to criticize the Nuggets for giving up Nurkic and a first for a player, in Plumlee, who's ticketed for restricted free agency this summer. But ESPN's Zach Lowe advised caution in passing judgment so swiftly:
"Nurkic was never going to try this hard fighting for scraps behind Nikola Jokic. You can debate whether that is acceptable from a millionaire player, or if the Nuggets could have done more to motivate Nurkic. You cannot debate the basic reality.
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Still, it won't be a good look for Denver if (or when) Nurkic helps Portland overtake the Nuggets in the race for the West's No. 8 seed—even less so as that attendant pick improves amid the Memphis Grizzlies' ongoing struggles.
Bobby Portis, Power Forward, Chicago Bulls
7 of 10
Sooner or later, the Chicago Bulls had to figure out whether any of their prospects could pass for rotation players, let alone starters or stars, down the line. Trading Taj Gibson to the Oklahoma City Thunder opened up an opportunity for the organization to evaluate at least one such youngster: Bobby Portis.
The former first-round pick started at power forward in each of his first 10 games after the All-Star break. Not surprisingly, the trigger-happy Portis has taken that promotion as an opportunity to more than double his shot output—from 4.0 per game before the trade to 9.4 since, with an increase in playing time of just over 10 minutes a night.
To his credit, Portis has poured in 9.9 points and 6.5 rebounds during his extended time. More importantly, he's also upped the ante on defense, holding opponents to 43.5 percent shooting at the rim.
That shouldn't come as much surprise to those who recall Portis' reign as the SEC Player of the Year at Arkansas. But for someone who often seems solely focused on shooting, his ability to affect the game defensively is at once unusual and, in Chicago's case, hopeful.
If Portis can be a productive two-way player in the Windy City, the Bulls might actually find a silver lining to the storm into which their 2016-17 season has devolved.
The Sacramento Kings
8 of 10
So many Sacramento Kings are playing better since DeMarcus Cousins was dealt to New Orleans that we couldn't pick just one!
Buddy Hield, the crown jewel among players who came back to Sactown, has averaged 14.2 points and shot a scintillating 49.0 percent from three with the Kings. Skal Labissiere, a rookie once buried on the depth chart at power forward, has scored in double figures five times since the trade, after totaling 20 points in eight previous appearances.
But the biggest beneficiary of Boogie's departure to date may be fellow Kentucky product Willie Cauley-Stein. The former lottery pick has contributed 13.8 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists at center, including a career-high 29 points with 10 rebounds in a blowout win over the Denver Nuggets in Game 1 of the post-Cousins era.
"We're a brand-new team," Cauley-Stein told Bleacher Report.
That hasn't helped Sacramento's record—the Kings won just two of their first 10 games coming out of the break—but with two potential lottery picks on the way and some intriguing young talent to sort through in the interim, the Kings could have the makings of an honest-to-goodness rebuild on their hands if they handle their business properly.
Dario Saric, Power Forward, Philadelphia 76ers
9 of 10
At first glance, Joel Embiid's absence looks like the clearest catalyst behind Dario Saric's move to center stage for the Philadelphia 76ers. Since Embiid's knee started giving him trouble in late January, Saric has averaged 16.5 points, 6.9 rebounds and 3.0 assists.
But while the passing of the likely-Rookie-of-the-Year torch from one 2014 draftee to another may have played a part in Saric's uptick, it's not the only cause. Ask the Sixers about it, and they'll tell you it's had plenty to do with Ersan Ilyasova's deadline departure to the Atlanta Hawks.
"I think the way Ersan played at the time he was here helped [Saric] to see what he could do better," Philly point guard Sergio Rodriguez told Bleacher Report. "He took that time to learn, and maybe there were games that he wasn't playing a lot, but he was ready by the time he got the opportunity."
It's no wonder, then, that Saric's post-All-Star break numbers are even glitzier: 19.7 points, 8.4 rebounds and 4.4 assists, including a career high in points (28) at Portland that he broke three nights later in L.A. (29 vs. the Lakers).
"We believe the Rookie of the Year will run through Philadelphia," Sixers coach Brett Brown told B/R.
With production like that and a well-rounded (and battle-tested) skill set to boot, the 22-year-old Saric could be a big piece of whatever puzzle comes together once Embiid and Ben Simmons are ready to play in Philly.
Alan Williams, Power Forward, Phoenix Suns
10 of 10
Depending on your perspective, the Phoenix Suns are either doing a terrible job of tanking or a brilliant job of building toward next season. Either way, Alan Williams has played an enormous part in the Suns' post-deadline renaissance.
The Phoenix native has come to replicate all the toughness and rebounding that P.J. Tucker once brought at the offensive end. Since the Suns promoted him from cheerleader to actual role player after the break, Williams has nearly averaged a double-double (13.8 points, 9.7 rebounds) with 1.0 steals and 1.2 blocks in 25.4 minutes a night.
The UC Santa Barbara product has been particularly proficient on the offensive glass, where he's ripped down 15.9 percent of Phoenix's misses on the season—the fourth-best mark among players with at least 20 appearances in 2016-17.
As ESPN's Zach Lowe noted, there are limitations to Williams' game that could keep him in a carefully prescribed role going forward:
"To be a long-term rotation player, he'll need to improve his defense. Williams is beefy, and he tries, but his athletic limitations hurt across all matchup types. He's not quick enough to chase stretchier bigs outside, and he doesn't offer much rim protection.
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But if the 24-year-old only holds steady as a serviceable rebound vacuum off the bench in Phoenix, he'll still be a valuable part of a Suns squad that's loaded with young talent—assuming he and the team agree to new terms this summer.
All quotes obtained firsthand unless sourced otherwise. All stats and salary information via NBA.com and Basketball Reference unless otherwise noted.
Josh Martin covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, and listen to his Hollywood Hoops podcast with B/R Lakers lead writer Eric Pincus.
