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The NBA trade deadline has officially passed, and the 2023 edition was one of the most fun and fascinating ones in recent memory. The Brooklyn Nets made two league-altering trades, shipping out Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant, and the Los Angeles Lakers completely re-made their roster on the fly. Other contenders like the Los Angeles Clippers, Memphis Grizzlies, Philadelphia 76ers, and Milwaukee Bucks also made some moves around the edges to get better, keeping them off the list of NBA trade deadline losers.
Other title hopefuls weren’t so lucky on trade deadline day. Several teams that want to be in the mix for a title sat on their hands Thursday or gave up assets for little in return. However, the biggest loser of the day is not a contender at all. It’s a team that is going nowhere, yet didn't make a single move with any of its valuable pieces.
Denver Nuggets
The Denver Nuggets filled a need, trading for a backup center to spell Nikola Jokic with former Lakers big man Thomas Bryant. However, they also got rid of a promising young guard in Bones Hyland for two second-round picks from the Clippers.
Not being able to get a veteran to take Hyland’s minutes is a failure for the Nuggets, but the biggest reason they are an NBA trade deadline loser is that everyone around them got so much better.
The Suns and Mavericks added Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, respectively, while the Lakers re-made their entire roster around LeBron James and Anthony Davis. The Clippers got better with Hyland and Eric Gordon, while the Grizzlies did too with sharpshooter Luke Kennard.
Every team at the top of the West seemed to improve more than the Nuggets did on deadline day, making Denver one of the top NBA trade deadline losers.
Miami Heat
Another team that did nothing at the NBA trade deadline is the Miami Heat. The team is in sixth place in the East and obviously needs a bit of a shakeup to truly contend. No shakeup came, though, on Thursday.
The Heat were supposedly in on players like Jae Crowder (who the Bucks got), Mike Conley Jr. (who ends up with the Timberwolves), and OG Anunoby (who stayed with the Raptors). They did get some cash for Dwayne Dedmon and a 2028 second-round pick, but that’s not helping in 2023.
The Heat are now stuck with the same roster that’s been mired in the middle of the East all season, and there’s no reason to think that will change after an inactive deadline day, making them one of the biggest NBA trade deadline losers.
Golden State Warriors
The Warriors have been down and out before and have come back to win yet another championship. So you can never count Steve Kerr, Stephen Curry, and company out.
That said, the Warriors needed to make a bold move at the 2023 NBA trade deadline and they didn’t. What’s more, they gave up one of their biggest trade assets, James Wiseman, for next to nothing.
The Warriors got five second-round picks and Kevin Knox for Wiseman in a three-team deal with the Atlanta Hawks and Detroit Pistons. Golden State then spun those gains to the Portland Trail Blazers for Gary Payton II. Payton is a fine role player and fits well with the Warriors. However, Wiseman was the No. 2 overall pick less than three years ago and should have fetched more.
Chicago Bulls
The biggest NBA trade deadline losers was, without a doubt, the Chicago Bulls. The team is currently in ninth place in the East and going nowhere fast.
However, the team does have some valuable assets it could have dealt. There is Nikola Vucevic and his expiring contract, 33-year-old DeMar DeRozan, and even Zach LaVine if the team really wanted to blow it up.
Instead, the team did nothing and got nothing back. This lack of movement ensured that the team loses its 2023 first-round pick, as it is top-four protected, and that Nikola Vucevic walks away for nothing this offseason. The second part of this paragraph also guarantees the Vucevic trade goes down as one of the worst in NBA history because it cost the team the pick in the first part of the paragraph, among other valuable assets.
Even if the Bulls would have given up future picks at the 2023 NBA trade deadline to try to improve the team and make a late run if Lonzo Ball can come back, it would have been something. Ill-advised, but something.
Instead, the Bulls did nothing, ensuring more mediocracy and becoming the biggest NBA trade deadline loser in 2023.
