After a long hiatus, I couldn't resist coming back to write again for the annual tradition of the NBA Trade Deadline! This is mostly just to keep a record of what trades have gone down in the new year, and I'll add some thoughts on deals later. For now, I'm summing things up with when deals went down, crediting who reported them, and details of the contracts and picks exchanged. Some of the draft pick details are from RealGM, these salaries are from a combination of Basketball Insiders and Spotrac, and my color coding is the same as usual: Player Option/Team Option/Not Fully Guaranteed.
Jazz shed salary (January 4th, Woj)
Thunder receive:
2028 Jazz 2nd round pick
Jazz receive:
Cash considerations
Utah shaved Oni's salary from their luxury tax bill and opened up a roster spot, and Oklahoma City waived him right away before his salary became more guaranteed than the $850,331 he had from that point of the season. Easy business to add yet another draft pick.
New York adds Reddish (January 13th, Woj)
Knicks receive:
Hawks receive:
2022 Hornets 1st round pick (protected 1-18, then 1-16 in '23, 1-14 through '25, then becomes '26 and '27 2nds)
I understood this one from both sides, and while I prefer New York's side of it, I didn't think it's necessarily a huge difference-maker like some portrayed it to be. Reddish has flashed tantalizing potential going back to high school, but he still hasn't improved his efficiency, especially his two point percentage. He finished his Hawks career at just 43.3% inside the arc to go with 32.9% from deep, and that's after an improvement to 36.2% on 3's this season. In theory, he can help lead bench units and eventually become a starter next to his former Duke teammate RJ Barrett, but so far coach Tom Thibodeux hasn't trusted him yet with just 50 total minutes since the trade. Knox similarly never panned out under Thibs, so swapping him out ahead of restricted free agency with one of their extra 1st rounders was a fair price to pay.
Atlanta had almost too many quality rotation options, so it's a solid move to cash one in to pick up a 1st, albeit a heavily protected one. Reddish is eligible for an extension this summer, and they probably didn't feel like one would come easily, especially after they've already handed out big deals to Trae Young, John Collins, Clint Capela, and Kevin Huerter. It's a disappointing but not unsurprising ending after taking Reddish 10th overall in the draft pick from trading Luka Doncic for Young in the 2018 draft.
Denver adds Forbes in 3-teamer (January 18th, Woj)
Nuggets receive:
Celtics receive:
Spurs receive:
2028 Nuggets 2nd round pick (protected 31-33)
This one won't move the needle, but it was good business on all sides. Denver moved two of their many injured players for some bench reinforcements at just the cost of a 2nd rounder six years from now. Boston shed salary as part of their quest to duck the luxury tax, and by taking their new players into the Kemba Walker Trade Exception, they create a new TE equal to Hernangomez's salary with a later expiration date. Sitting outside of contention, San Antonio added an extra draft pick for a veteran on an expiring deal and got a free look at Hernangomez, who hardly played for the Celtics but has flashed usefulness in the past, ironically with Denver.
Clips pull shocking addition for now and the future (February 4th, Woj)
Clippers receive:
Trail Blazers receive:
2025 Pistons 2nd round pick
It was equally surprising that Portland didn't get a future 1st in this deal and that it was the Clippers who were buyers despite their stars' injuries. Ty Lue has navigated his squad to stay in the Play-In mix, though, and I suppose there is still a chance that Kawhi Leonard and/or Paul George do come back. With Powell under contract for four more years as he returns to his UCLA roots, this is as much a trade about the future, and he has useful experience as both a starter and 6th man who is comfortable working off of stars, including with Leonard in Toronto when they won the 2019 title. Acquiring Covington's Bird rights is also valuable as they wouldn't otherwise have the opportunity to try to sign him to more than the Taxpayer Mid-Level Exception in free agency.
I guess the Blazers had some buyers remorse after feeling obligated to give Powell that big contract over the summer after trading Gary Trent Jr. for him at last year's Deadline. Although this is a bit underwhelming of a return for giving up both him and Covington, Johnson was just picked in the 1st round last year and has a lot of potential with his athleticism. I was really surprised he fell to the 21st pick much like when Nassir Little fell to 25th a couple of years prior, and the Blazers have done well in developing the latter along with Anfernee Simons (24th), which is a promising sign. Bledsoe's contract only being guaranteed for $3.9 million this summer provides them some much-needed flexibility, and this drops them below the tax line while LA increases their bill by $19 million, per ESPN's Bobby Marks. At least, until the Clips' next move...
