NBA’s Historic Trade Deadline
The NBA trade deadline for the 2024-2025 season will go down in the history books as one of the craziest and most controversial deadlines of all time. Now, a week later, let’s see how these trades have worked out going into the all-star break and predict how they will pan out during the upcoming push to the playoffs.
Lakers – The biggest story by a wide margin was the Los Angeles Lakers acquiring perennial All-Star and arguably the best player in the world, Luka Doncic. Luka made his Lakers debut this past Monday against the Utah Jazz, totaling 14 points on 5-14 from the field in 24 minutes played. While it wasn’t the most impressive stat line, he still contributed to the Lakers’ 132-113 win over the Jazz. In his second game for the purple and gold, Doncic played 23 minutes, putting up 16 points on 6-13 shooting on the night in the Lakers’ 131-119 loss to the Jazz.
Post all-star break, I expect JJ Reddick to up Luka’s minutes pretty significantly and make him a more integral part of the game plan, heading forward as the Lakers make the push to the playoffs.
Mavericks – Somehow for a still relatively unknown reason, the Dallas Mavericks decided to trade away their 25 year old superstar franchise player in Luka Doncic before negotiations would start this summer for Luka’s new supermax contract where he was projected to sign a five year $325 million contract to stay in Dallas for the foreseeable future. Luka himself bought a $15 million house in Dallas the week before this blockbuster trade occurred.
In return, the Mavs got an aging Anthony Davis, who since got injured in his first and only game with the organization so far. Mavs GM Nico Harrison is now public enemy number one, with fans gathered outside and even in the arena to protest this league-changing trade. Since the trade happened a little over a week ago, Harrison has hired extra security as he feels his safety is in danger due to the magnitude of what he has done to not just the Mavericks organization but the city of Dallas itself.
Going into the all-star break, the Mavs currently sit at the eighth seed in the western conference with a record of 29-26 after a big win in a fantastic game against the Warriors last night. If the Mavs, now led by Kyrie Irving and Klay Thompson, can continue to find ways to win while their two best big men in Anthony Davis and Dereck Lively are sidelined, they could be a formidable force come playoff time once fully healthy.
Warriors – In the Bay Area, the Warriors had quite the trade deadline when they made a deal to send Andrew Wiggins to the Miami Heat in return for Jimmy Butler. Now the saga between Butler and Heat owner Pat Riley has been well documented, It finally came to a head when he was dealt to the Warriors after refusing to follow team protocol and not playing for weeks on end. In his three games with the Warriors so far heading into the all-star break, Butler has put up at least 20 points in each of those three games, showing he’s still got a lot left in the tank when he’s in a situation that’s beneficial for him.
The Warriors currently sit at 10th in the Western conference with a record of 27-27 and the sole possession of the last play-in spot. Only time will tell how they operate post all-star break, but if Butler can continue to produce while being backed by Steph Curry and Draymond Green, the Warriors can hit their stride and possibly make some noise in the west post all-star break.
