The Jazz weren’t exactly armed with tradable pieces.
With most of their players either too important, too unimportant or contractually unable to be traded, the Jazz allowed Thursday’s 1 p.m. MST trade deadline to come and go without making a deal.
In some ways, the Jazz made their trade early this season, when they moved Dante Exum and two second-round picks for Jordan Clarkson. That move revitalized the bench, and also moved a year of Exum’s salary onto the Cavaliers. It also meant Emmanuel Mudiay wasn’t going to receive any playing time once Mike Conley returned, but clearly the Jazz didn’t receive compelling offers for Mudiay or third-unit cohort Ed Davis.
That doesn’t mean the rest of the NBA was as uneventful, though.
Perhaps the biggest trade in the Western Conference involved its two worst teams. The Minnesota Timberwolves traded Andrew Wiggins, a 2021 top-three protected first-round pick, and a 2021 second-round pick to the Golden State Warriors in exchange for one-time All-Star D’Angelo Russell, Jacob Evans and Omari Spellman.
[Read more: Gordon Monson: The Jazz are on the brink of falling into a pit of great regret]
The deal consummates an affair between Russell — who is friends with Minnesota star Karl-Anthony Towns — and the Wolves, who tried to sign the former No. 2 overall pick this summer before Golden State snatched him away. Meanwhile, the Warriors will try to rehabilitate Andrew Wiggins as a player, as he’s massively disappointed since being the No. 1 pick in 2014.
In a surprising move, the Detroit Pistons traded center Andre Drummond to the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange for Brandon Knight, John Henson, and a second round pick. The move, clearly a salary dump, trades one of the most productive offensive centers in the league to Cleveland in a crowded big situation. The Cavs had the uniquely unproductive salary ballast to make the deal work.
Despite the buzz about former Warriors Finals MVP Andre Iguodala moving to one of the L.A. teams, it was the Miami Heat who gave up assets for him on the eve of the deadline. They gave up one of their best young players, Justise Winslow, to get the deal done, along with James Johnson and Dion Waiters as salary ballast. Memphis, which controlled Iguodala’s contract, traded former Jazzman Jae Crowder and Solomon Hill to the Grizzlies as well.
Then, Memphis flipped James Johnson to Minnesota for Gorgui Dieng; impressive work by new Wolves GM Gersson Rosas to unload Wiggins and Dieng’s albatross contracts in one day.
While they didn’t get Iguodala, the Los Angeles Clippers did get help in the form of Marcus Morris from the New York Knicks. They gave up Moe Harkless, and a 2020 first-round pick in the deal — both headed to the Knicks, as well as Jerome Robinson — who is headed to Washington. The Clippers also received Isaiah Thomas in the deal, who has been among the worst players in the NBA this season.
The Philadelphia 76ers felt they needed guard help, and got it from the Warriors in the form of former Jazz pick Alec Burks and Glenn Robinson III. The Sixers gave up three of their second-round picks in the next three drafts to get the deal done — a deal that also necessitated opening up two roster spots. One player waived to make the deal work was another former Jazz guard, Trey Burke.
The deadline was set up by one of the largest trades in NBA history, one that became official Wednesday. In a four-team, 12-player deal, the Houston Rockets committed to small-ball by trading centers Clint Capela and Nene to the Atlanta Hawks; in return, they received Robert Covington and Jordan Bell from the Timberwolves. The Timberwolves got guard Malik Beasley, big men Juancho Hernangomez and Jarrod Vanderbilt from the Nuggets, and Evan Turner a 2020 first-round pick — the Nets’ selection — from the Hawks. The Nuggets acquired Gerald Green, Keita Bates-Diop, Shabazz Napier, Noah Vonleh and Houston’s 2020 first-round pick.
Two of the above players were traded on deadline day. The Rockets swapped Bell to Memphis for Bruno Caboclo, he of the famous “two years away from being two years away” proclamation on draft day in 2014. Memphis and Houston also swapped second-round picks in the deal. Meanwhile, Napier was forwarded on to Washington in exchange for wing Jordan McRae, who might give Denver valuable depth it might miss without Beasley.
The Atlanta Hawks re-acquired their old backup center Dewayne Dedmon and second-round picks in 2020 and 2021 in exchange for Jabari Parker — who hasn’t worked out in Atlanta — and Alex Len, who were sent to Sacramento. Dedmon is the second big Kings free agent signing of the 2019 offseason to move before the deadline, along with Trevor Ariza, who went to Portland.
In other minor moves, the Clippers traded Derrick Walton along with cash to the Atlanta Hawks to open up a roster spot for their bigger splash; Portland also used Atlanta’s cap space by sending Skal Labissiere along with cash to lower its luxury tax bill. The Sixers opened their final necessary roster spot by trading James Ennis to Orlando for a second-round pick.
