The Winners and Losers of the Trade Deadline

There were some teams absolutely winning at the trade deadline, but man, there were some losers.

Let’s take a look at some of the biggest winners and losers.

WINNERS

New York Knicks

The Knicks were well and truly winners.

The team orchestrated some of the best trades during the deadline, to upgrade their already stacked roster.

Their BENCH unit now includes: Josh Hart, Donte Divincenzo, Alec Burks, Isaiah Hartenstein, Precious Achiuwa, Bojan Bogdanovic and Taj Gibson, after getting Burks and Bogdanovic at the deadline.

They also did it without giving away any of their picks, so could still sign a superstar this summer.

Getting some more scoring punch with two 40 percent three-point shooters (Burks and Bogdanovic) alongside Jalen Brunson will be lethal for the opposition.

“Right now, they’re deeper than the Pacific Ocean and everybody else in the Eastern Conference needs to get life jackets,” Kendrick Perkins said aptly of the NY team.

Dallas Mavericks

Understated, yet effective. The Mavs were winners.

The franchise managed to land center Daniel Gafford from the Wizards in an attempt to upgrade their frontcourt.

Dallas rank close to the bottom in shots blocked per game this season, so will be hoping Gafford can help improve their defense.

This season, Gafford is averaging 10.9 points, eight rebounds, 1.5 assists and 2.2 blocks per game while shooting 69 percent overall.

The franchise also acquired forward P.J. Washington from the Hornets to replace Grant Williams, sources told ESPN‘s Adrian Wojnarowski.

Washington averaged 13.6 points and 5.3 rebounds in 44 games this season for the Hornets.

Adding Gafford and Washington alongside superstars Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic could prove a winning combination.

Oklahoma City Thunder

OKC are definite winners after acquiring Hornets forward Gordon Hayward.

He will certainly bring some veteran presence to the team, since the last time Hayward was an All-Star, none of the Thunder were even playing in the NBA.

Magic Johnson is a fan of the signing, since he posted on X, “OKC’s GM Sam Presti has struck gold again with the acquisition of Gordon Hayward. With his veteran presence and scoring ability, he will make their bench stronger and more explosive as they prepare for the playoffs!”

The young team are already tied-first in the East with the Wolves and Nuggets, so adding some experience like Hayward in could prove to be extremely effective.

LOSERS

Chicago Bulls

Three seasons in a row the Bulls have failed to make moves at the deadline.

The franchise haven’t made a trade for a player since August 2021. Damn.

Bulls fans could have surely got behind a rebuild, and the board was ready to give it a try.

But Vice President Arturas Karnisovas chose not to proceed in that direction and opted to maintain the current roster, Bulls insider KC Johnson reports.

“We didn’t see anything that would make us better,” Karnisovas said. “We would take a step back, which we didn’t want. We want to compete for the playoffs.”

Chicago have a 24-27 record on the season and are sitting at ninth in the East.

Detroit Pistons

There is no end to the Piston’s pain.

The franchise lost one their best scorers in Bogdanovic in exchange for Evan Fournier, Quentin Grimes, Malachi Flynn and Ryan Arcidiacono and two second-round picks Thursday.

Fournier has played in just three games this season, while Flynn averages 4.2 points per game.

On a positive note at least Grimes can shoot. He is a career 37.9 percent three-point shooter on five attempts per game.

Detroit also waived Joe Harris and former number seven pick Killian Haynes, who was recently roasted for asking for a trade.

Yikes.