Making sense of the NBA trade deadline

As the NBA Trade Deadline approached, there were rumors abound that some of the biggest names in basketball could be traded. The basketball landscape has changed drastically since Lebron first helped form a big three in Miami (one could argue the Celtics started the first "super team" but I digress). Since then, players have tried to brand themselves by teaming up with other superstars. Not only does it help your brand when your team was consistently in the spotlight, but it also gave you a better chance at getting a ring and building your legacy.

As I said, many names were being floated around. There was Anthony Davis of the Pelicans, Marc Gasol and Mike Conley of the Grizzlies, Aaron Gordon of the Magic, Kevin Love of the Cavs and many more. There was a greater urgency for teams to make a big trade in order to try and compete with the reigning champs of the West and NBA itself in the Golden State Warriors. So which trades actually did take place? They were:

1. Kristaps Porzingis traded to the Dallas Mavericks for Dennis Smith Jr, Wesley Matthews and Deandre Jordan

2. Tobias Harris traded to the Philadelphia 76ers for Landry Shamet, Wilson Chandler, MIke Muscala, its 2020 first-round pick, Miami's 2021 first-round pick and its 2021 and 2023 second-round picks

3. Nikola Mirotic traded to the Milwaukee Bucks for Stanley Johnson, Jason Smith, 2019 2nd round pick (DEN), 2020 2nd round pick (WAS),  2020 2nd round pick (MIL) and 2021 2nd round pick (WAS)

4. Marc Gasol traded to the Toronto Raptors for Jonas Valanciunas, Delon Wright, C.J. Miles and a 2024 second-round draft pick

First off with the Porzingis trade. No one really expected this trade to happen. There was talks that the Mavericks were going to trade Smith Jr because he wasn't happy that Luka Doncic was playing ahead of him, but nobody expected the Knicks to get rid of Porzingis. It appears they are setting themselves up to be big spenders this offseason, as they cleared Porzingis off the books and Matthews and Jordans' contracts both come off the books at the end of the season.

Second was the Tobias Harris trade. I truly feel the 76ers made one of the best moves by acquiring Harris. Harris has been one of the most underrated forwards in the league, even though he has bounced around from team-to-team. Harris, along with Jimmy Butler, Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid gives the 76ers one of the best foursomes in the league and a team that can arguably compete with the Warriors.

Third is the Nikola Mirotic trade to the Bucks. Mirotic made a name for himself oversees, which led the Chicago Bulls to acquire him years back. After the Bulls traded Mirotic to the Pelicans to clear cap space, Mirotic helped the Pelicans make it to the playoffs. The Bucks have been one of the league's surprise teams this year, as the "Greek Freak" has been playing out of his mind. Mirotic gives them the 3-point stretch big that they have been lacking.

The fourth and final trade was Marc Gasol to the Toronto Raptors. Gasol has quietly been one of the best big men in the NBA for at least 5-7 years. He is a Double-Double machine and often requires two guys to stop him when he is in the post. Though he is starting to age, the Raptors could not take the risk of losing one of their best chances to make it to the NBA Finals. Along with Kawhi Leonard and Kyle Lowry, the Raptors now have a dynamic three headed monster to led them to at least a #1 or #2 seed in the Eastern Conference. 

As you can see, trades for Anthony Davis and Mike Conley were rumored, but never could come to fruition. 

There were other trades, such as Jabari Parker going to the Wizards with Otto Porter going back to the Bulls, or Markelle Fultz being traded to the Orlando Magic, but none of them should really have the impact that these four trades will.

@jgullinese