Trade deadline activity got started yesterday with a few deals including Tobias Harris going to Detroit for Ersan Ilyasova and Brandon Jennings. The Pistons are a half game behind Charlotte for the 8th seed right now. This trade should help them in quest to grab a playoff spot but even more importantly they’ve put together an incredibly talented young core going forward. Bravo Stan Van Gundy.
As the deadline approaches, Dwight Howard remains the biggest name likely to get moved, although there are some obstacles.
Meanwhile, Doc Rivers has been adamant that the Clippers are not trading Blake Griffin. The prevailing thought seems to be that the Clippers will give it one more try with this core and then revisit things in the offseason after seeing how the playoffs go. Now, that doesn’t mean the Clippers aren’t looking to upgrade the roster. Yahoo’s Adrian Wojnorowski was reporting yesterday the Clippers were looking to acquire Channing Frye from the Magic for Lance Stephenson.
Things seem to have cooled off as of late with the Atlanta Hawks and it now seems more likely that Al Horford and Jeff Teague stay put, but there is a lot of interest around the league in both guys so you never know.
Markieef Morris, Thaddeus Young, Ryan Anderson and Rudy Gay are some pretty big names that I still expect will be moved so stay tuned on those fronts.
The Heat would like to do something and believe that the right move could catapult them to true contender status in the East but the Chris Bosh situation has them in limbo. The Heat forward is meeting with doctors in Miami this week to determine the severity of the blood clots in his left leg and whether or not blood thinners could be used so he can play again this season. Obviously Bosh’s health is what’s most important. Unfortunately, just like last year if Bosh can’t return, Miami would be in danger of falling out the playoffs and less likely to make a move as a result. That could also have implications on the Heat pick that the Sixers own, which is top-10 protected.
In 2011, the Chicago Bulls were an NBA best 62-20, Derrick Rose won MVP and Tom Thibodeau was Coach of the Year. In 2010, Scott Brooks of the Thunder was Coach of the Year, two years later the Thunder played in the NBA Finals and in 2014 Kevin Durant was the league MVP. Much has happened since, most notably, terrible misfortune with injury, both Thibodeau and Brooks were fired this past off season and now the Thunder and Bulls could be just months away from ceasing to exist as we’ve known them. Derrick Rose is a shell of the player who just five years ago was league MVP, Joakim Noah is out for the season with a shoulder injury, will be a FA July 1st and isn’t expected back in the Windy City. The Bulls are only 27-25 and unless something miraculous occurs could no longer be a factor in the East.
Things aren’t quite as dire in OKC, where this season Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook have been healthy and brilliant. Easily two of the league’s top five players, Durant and Westbrook have the Thunder sitting at 40-14, good enough for third in the West. As we all know though, the playoffs is how they’ll be judged and probably what ultimately will determine what Kevin Durant decides to do this summer when he becomes an unrestricted free agent. Westbrook will be a free agent next year and could follow Kevin out the door.
With the Warriors seemingly coming out of nowhere to become an all-time great team, it seems less likely the Kevin Durant/Russell Westbrook tandem will ever win a championship together. That would be a shame. But it’ll fun watching them give it one (potentially) last try.
After the trade deadline, we’ll predict how the playoff seeding will shake out in both Conferences and examine the Warriors chances at 73. For now though, we need to get back to refreshing hoopshype.com and twitter.
Lastly, Happy 53 Birthday to Michael Jordan, the Greatest of All Time
