Sections

Advertisement

NBA trade deadline 2022: The winners (Nets AND Sixers) and losers (LeBron James)

Whew.

Have you caught your breath yet?

The 2022 NBA trade deadline was a frenzy before Thursday. And on the actual day when teams had to complete their deals? It got nuts.

The blockbuster we’ve all been buzzing about for weeks actually went down, with James Harden and Ben Simmons trading addresses. Before that? There was a Kings and Pacers shocker, the really good (!) Cleveland Cavaliers (!!) getting better (!!!), and more. The entire deadline period gets an A+ for drama alone, so thank you very much, NBA teams!

Let’s run through the winners and losers from a whole week of NBA transaction madness:

WINNERS

(AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Philadelphia 76ers

You’ve got to hand it to Daryl Morey — he waited and waited and waited, with people wondering if he was going to waste an MVP season from Joel Embiid.

And he ended up dealing Ben Simmons, and getting back James Harden. Yes, he gave up Seth Curry among the names in the deal, but: The Sixers are going from having Simmons sitting out and giving the team nothing to having one of the NBA’s best players to pair with Embiid. HUGE HUGE trade.

Brooklyn Nets

And they won this one too! If Harden was indeed unhappy and wanted out as reports suggested, the time to trade him was now instead of losing him for nothing in free agency.

Plus, Simmons is an ideal fit as a defender and passer, in an offense surrounded by shooting that also now includes Curry. Brilliant move here as well.

Indiana Pacers

This is what you do if you’re a middling, mid-market team like Indy. You know when it’s time to fold, and you sell high.

The return for Caris LeVert was solid, and getting Tyrese Haliburton among the pieces in the Domantas Sabonis trade was an absolute heist. Waiting to deal the injured Myles Turner was smart as well given that his value might have dropped with no certainty as to when he would return.

Cleveland Cavaliers

(AP Photo/AJ Mast)

A good team got better with LeVert without giving up too much. Simple as that.

NBA fans

What a week, eh?

Thaddeus Young and Goran Dragic

Two vets who hadn’t been playing that much will get a chance to get playing time, especially Dragic, who might be bought out and will get to choose his next spot.

Marvin Bagley III

Chuck Cook-USA TODAY Sports

Count me in as one of the fans super excited to see Bagley get a fresh start with the Pistons. I think it’ll be good for him and it was exactly the kind of move Detroit should make.

LOSERS

Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports

LeBron and the Lakers

There really wasn’t much they could do with Russell Westbrook and his giant contract, or with anything else they had. Still, this isn’t great.

New York Knicks

Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

No one was buying what they’re selling. Now? Julius Randle sure doesn’t seem happy. Welp.

Washington Wizards

Another team that didn’t have much it could theoretically do, but the trade for Kristaps Porzingis is weird even with Spencer Dinwiddie struggling in Washington, and the Bradley Beal surgery news didn’t help.

Sacramento Kings

I’ll be honest, I actually like the Donte DiVincenzo trade and Sabonis is very, very good at basketball.

I guess I still can’t get over the Haliburton trade.

Damian Lillard

Maybe this team is retooling for a run with a healthy Lillard and a good draft pick. Or maybe all those trades including for his longtime pal CJ McCollum means he’ll be forcing a deal by midseason next year. I’m thinking the latter.

More NBA