Fresh faces in new places
The trade deadline holds a tremendous amount of intrigue. We spent our week with our phones always in reach, hoping that a notification might pop up.
These next few weeks after the deadline — where traded players have made their flights, passed their physicals, chosen jersey numbers and suited up in their new kits — hold just as much if not more intrigue.
How will the new-look Sixers and Nets perform?
Will Domantas Sabonis fit in Sacramento?
Is Luka Doncic going to hate Spencer Dinwiddie as much as we think he will?
Questions, without answers. That’s the period we’re in right now. Still, we enjoy seeing the cute pictures and videos of players meeting their new teammates. It makes us happy to engage in the mental gymnastics that come with roster reshuffling.
Most of all, we just want to see what it looks like. The Twitter notifications truly are bombs — now, let’s see what remains.
71 players were traded this season. Let’s highlight a few who make us happy!
Torrey Craig
Phoenix added Craig in the middle of last season, and his versatility helped the Suns throughout their Finals run. At the deadline, Phoenix — the best team in the NBA — did not have to do a damn thing. Instead, they got better by bringing back Torrey Craig’s defense.
Suns fans didn’t forget about you, Torrey:
Tyrese Haliburton
The Pacers-Kings trade was the most shocking deal of the deadline. Tyrese Haliburton did not think he’d be traded — and when he found out, he sobbed.
From Haliburton’s incredible piece in The Players’ Tribune:
When my agent called, I was just finishing up breakfast at my house, and the first thing I thought was that maybe he was calling to give me the inside scoop on some players our team was looking into getting.
Nah.
“Hey man, I just wanted to get in touch because I think you might be getting traded.”
I honestly thought he was joking. It was like, Come on now. They’re not trading me. Get out of here. But two seconds later, when it became clear that, actually, he wasn’t joking … I mean, I know this might sound like I’m being dramatic, but you know when you get the news that something bad has happened to a family member or a close friend? And it feels like for a few seconds your heart almost stops? Like there’s just a hollow feeling all through your body? That’s kind of what it was like.
He’s the face of the Pacers for years to come. He looks so good in their uniforms, and he’s been ballin’ from the second he got there.
James Harden
The Sixers have made a huge deal out of the Harden trade, and rightfully so: Him and Tyrese Maxey are the first Sixers guards who can shoot, dribble, and pass since… Allen Iverson?
@Sixers flooded social media with pictures and videos from Harden’s first practice with his new squad. It’s absolute gold, with no content better than this:
Harden always looks happy on his first day on the job. Something tells me this time, it’ll last.
Marvin Bagley III
Bagley may never be able to live down his draft slot. The no. 2 pick in the 2018 draft was selected ahead of Luka Doncic, Jaren Jackson Jr., Trae Young, Mikal Bridges, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Miles Bridges, and Michael Porter Jr. — all players who are in line to make much more than the qualifying offer next season.
That’s okay! Even though he’s fallen behind his peers, Bagley gets a new opportunity in Detroit to fill a role and earn his second contract on a team he’s happy to be a part of.
Bagley and his family were excited to be Pistons. They had jerseys ready within 15 minutes of the trade’s announcement:
Derrick White
White hopped off the plane and immediately became one of the most valuable Celtics. Boston gave up quite a bit to get him — Josh Richardson, Romeo Langford, and two first round picks — but White is the exact player the Celtics needed.
The Celtics have roared to the six seed. They’ve made defense their identity, and won nine of the last ten games by stomping bad teams. White brings the connectivity, decision-making, and scoring punch that lacked in lineups with Tatum, Brown, and Smart.
To join a team that desperately needed your services has to feel good. If Boston keeps this up, their addition of White might be the most important move of the deadline.
The new Brooklyn Nets
I’m convinced that the Nets’ uniforms make players look way cooler than they normally are. Seth Curry and Andre Drummond have no business looking this cool:
Curry played his ass off — 23 points, 7 rebounds, and a performance that shows how incredible of a fit he’ll be next to Simmons, Durant, and Irving.
Speaking of Simmons, is that… a smile?
Links
ESPN’s Jonathan Givony and Mike Schmitz on Shaedon Sharpe, the mysterious Kentucky prospect NBA scouts have fallen in love with.
Yesterday’s piece on the Sacramento Kings, and a roster that suddenly and finally makes sense.
The Ringer’s Rob Mahoney on how the Porzingis trade was really about Luka Doncic.
One more time: Tyrese Haliburton’s piece in The Players’ Tribune is a must read. He dives into the emotions and process of being traded, and the support he received from his teammates and friends — along with a hilarious peek inside an NBA players-only group chat.