With only a few days to go and one massive trade already completed, it’s time to have a look at what’s happening around the NBA trade deadline.
Kyrie Irving. I was contemplating this column the other day just before I heard the news that Kyrie had been traded to Dallas. I was trying to work through why Kyrie had announced his desire for a trade after the Nets had made a solid run into the top half of the Eastern Conference’s playoff picture. Was it real or simply for dramatic effect? It wouldn’t be the first time we’d seen a player pretend ask for a trade, in fact not the first time a player from the Nets had pretend asked for a trade. Not even the first time this year even. So I wasn’t sure and I’m still not. What I am sure of is that Nets Management were sure. So sure in fact that they pulled the trigger nearly a week before the deadline jettisoning Kyrie and Makieff Morris to the Dallas Mavericks for the return of Spencer Dinwiddie as well as Dorian Finney-Smith, one FRP a long way out and a couple of SRPs.
What Does it Mean? It means that LeBron walks away from the trade deadline unhappy again. He had been relentlessly pushing for all in on Kyrie now but Brooklyn wanted something real in return and the Lakers had nothing real to offer. It means that Mark Cuban is serious about trying to get Doncic some help so that the Mavs can make an honest to goodness run through the playoffs. It means that no one knows what Kevin Durant wants to do now. Certainly joining his friend in Dallas seems highly unlikely so will he want to hang tough in Brooklyn or will he demand out as well? It also means that Joe Tsai wasn’t going to trade Irving to the Lakers no matter what. It also means that Mark Cuban will have the decision on how much and for how long to offer Kyrie this offseason. Will they offer only the 2 year extension or a full 4 year max or somewhere in between?
Kevin Durant. A subject unto himself since Kyrie was shown to the door. It was Durant who earlier in the year asked to be traded and then suggested he was only kidding. Rumours have it that the offers began coming in as soon as the Kyrie trade was announced with the front runners being the Suns and the Celtics. It’s been said that both teams already put an offer together for Durant earlier in the year when he ‘jokingly’ asked for a trade so it wasn’t difficult to get them back over to Brooklyn. It’s difficult to imagine Joe Tsai wanting Durant as a competitor in the same Division so the smart money is on the Suns if he moves at all for a package including DeAndre Ayton and Mikal Bridges.
The Raptors. Where does that leave our home town heroes? Up until Kyrie declared, the Raptors were the team carrying the most trade bait with OG Anunoby, Fred VanVleet, Gary Trent Jr. and even Pascal Siakam mentioned as possibly available. However, once Kyrie jumped into the pool and opened the door for a possible move for Kevin Durant, not much else is going to be determined until those players are traded or off the table.
Why are the Raptors considering trading their best players? Sitting 12th in the East with 25 wins and 30 losses, this version of the Raptors has been underwhelming and under performing all season long. Difficult to say if it’s a chemistry issue, lack of a strong player leader or just not enough talent, the Management has decided it’s time to move in a different direction.
72 hours to go to the deadline. What other deals will happen? What will the Raptors look like 72 hours from now? Drop back then and I’ll wrap up the NBA 2022-23 season trade deadline.