NBA Trade Deadline Roundup
Phoenix Suns’ Goran Dragic is now with the Miami Heat
There were many active teams during the NBA trade deadline this 2015. It came as no surprise that the most heavily traded commodity was guards. The Phoenix Suns were major players as they participated in several blockbuster deals. They sent Slovenian brothers Goran and Zoran Dragic to the Miami Heat. The Suns received Danny Granger and John Salmons from the New Orleans Pelicans. New Orleans received Norris Cole, Justin Hamilton, and Shawne Williams; all coming from the Miami Heat. Goran was very vocal in recent days that he wanted out of Phoenix and said flat out that he would not be re-signing with the team in the summer. The Heat are the big winners in this deal as they were able to land a fantastic backcourt talent in Goran Dragic, hastening their post-LeBron rebuilding phase.
Phoenix was involved in another three-team deal involving the Boston Celtics and Detroit Pistons. The Suns received Marcus Thornton and a 2016 first-round pick. Boston acquired Isaiah Thomas (from Phoenix), Swedish-American Jonas Jerebko (from Detroit), and Italian project Luigi Datome (from Detroit). Detroit is reunited with long-time forward with Tayshaun Prince.
The Suns were not done there. Losing two-thirds of their core backcourt rotation was a big swing. To offset the loss of both Thomas and Dragic. Phoenix landed Brandon Knight and Kendall Marshall from the Milwaukee Bucks to refill their backcourt. The Bucks received Michael Carter-Williams from the Philadelphia 76ers, and Miles Plumlee and Tyler Ennis from the Suns. Philadelphia added to its ever-growing collection of draft picks.
The Oklahoma City Thunder is aware that the window for their championship contention is limited and they are making a push this 2014/15. They offloaded capable backup guard Reggie Jackson to the Detroit Pistons and sent veteran big man Kendrick Perkins and Grant Jerrett to Utah. The Thunder received Turkish big man Enes Kanter from the Utah Jazz and D.J. Augustin and Kyle Singler from the Pistons. Detroit, in search of answers in the light of the loss of Brandon Jennings due to injury, has addressed their point guard needs with Jackson, while Oklahoma City gets a solid big in Kanter. The Thunder also parted with Ish Smith, sending him to the New Orleans Pelicans along with cash and draft considerations in exchange for draft considerations.
Speaking of title contention, the Portland Trail Blazers upped the ante in the player arms race with their acquisition of Arron Afflalo and Alonzo Gee from the Denver Nuggets. In exchange, Denver received Thomas Robinson, Will Barton, Victor Claver, and a 2016 lottery-protected first-round pick.
Kevin Garnett is headed “back home” to the Minnesota Timberwolves from the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for Thaddeus Young.
The Washington Wizards and Sacramento Kings swapped veteran point guards. Ramon Sessions will now be backing up John Wall in Washington and Andre Miller heads to Sactown to relieve Darren Collison.
The Houston Rockets added Argentinian-Italian guard from the New York Knicks. They gave up Russian guard Alexey Shved and two second-round picks. The Rockets also dealt with the Philadelphia 76ers, sending Isaiah Canaan and a second-round pick for defense-oriented rookie K.J. McDaniels.