There is no denying that the Washington Wizards walked away from the NBA trade deadline as one of the biggest winners. Anthony Davis and Trae Young are two All-Star talents this organization added for virtually nothing, and the Wizards are finally emerging from their rebuild. However, while some had a great trade deadline, others are left scratching their heads.
For one, the Giannis Antetokounmpo situation has many around the NBA puzzled after the trade deadline. Did the Bucks even intend on trading Giannis, or were they trying to get information from teams?
Those who were pursuing Antetokounmpo either pivoted to other, lesser moves before the trade deadline, or they sat back and did no make any moves in hopes of another chance to pursue Giannis coming in the summer.
Either way, teams like the Minnesota Timberwolves, Golden State Warriors, and Miami Heat were left in the dark with realistically no shot at landing Antetokounmpo before the trade deadline.
Outside of all the trade drama surrounding Giannis in the last month, other situations around the league, including Ja Morant's with the Memphis Grizzlies, were left unsolved.
Every organization has their own agenda, and sometimes that does not always align with the thought process of the media and fans. However, there are clear losers of the NBA trade deadline this year, and none bigger than the Heat.
Miami Heat
What is the plan in South Beach? Bam Adebayo is now 28 years old and not getting any younger, and it seems like the Heat have wasted their last couple of seasons by being nothing more than a play-in team.
Once again, the Heat are on a collision course with the play-in tournament, as they were the only team in the East not to make any moves at the trade deadline. Obviously, the Heat put all their eggs in the Giannis basket and thought they had a clear shot at getting him, but the fact of the matter is that the Bucks never once negotiated with teams and presented counteroffers.
That is why all the teams who were discussing the possibility of a Giannis trade with the Bucks indicated that Milwaukee was never true to their intentions to trade the two-time MVP.
Miami struck out at this trade deadline, failing to add any talent that could help them both this season and become a possible title contender next. Now, the Heat are staring down what will be a very unpredictable offseason for them.
Norman Powell will be a free agent, Tyler Herro's extension talks will only get louder, and the expiring money from the contracts of Terry Rozier and Simone Fontecchio was not used in any trade for an upgrade.
There is still a lot of work to do for the Heat to be taken seriously in the East.
Not just the Heat, but all Giannis Antetokounmpo suitors
The Heat will obviously receive a lot of backlash for their failed pursuit of Giannis and not making any moves to improve their immediate outlook. However, Miami, along with the other teams that thought they had a great chance to land Giannis, ended up being huge losers at the NBA trade deadline for several reasons.
Not only is Giannis staying in Milwaukee, but now all the information they gave to the Bucks about their players and assets could come back to hurt them.
The Warriors and Timberwolves were two other teams pursuing Antetokounmpo, so how will their personnel react to the fact that they were included in these negotiations? Will either organization now deal with any toxic environments from players knowing they were going to be traded for Giannis?
Also, the Bucks can now take all of this information that they have on said teams into the offseason and use it to their advantage in future talks about Giannis or in other trade discussions for different players. It never hurts to get information about your competitors, and that is exactly what the Bucks have now.
Teams dreamed about pursuing Giannis at the trade deadline, and instead, they are left not knowing what direction to go now.
Golden State Warriors fans
Ever since Kevin Durant left the Warriors in 2019, this organization and owner Joe Lacob have dreamed of pursuing Giannis. The Warriors made a very compelling offer focused on several draft picks through 2032, and this did raise the Bucks' eyebrows a little bit. However, Milwaukee was never going to trade Giannis, and Golden State's players in their package weren't going to get a deal done, no matter what.
Warriors fans may have a little bit of déjà vu after the same thing happened last season with trade talks for Kevin Durant falling through. The only difference is back then, the Dubs pivoted and got a deal done for another All-Star — Jimmy Butler.
This year, the Warriors couldn't pivot to another big name not only because there weren't any available that made sense to trade for, but also because this organization wasn't willing to pay the asking prices around the league.
Jaren Jackson Jr. got traded to the Utah Jazz for three first-round picks, and that's a price the Warriors would not meet. Trey Murphy III was not going to be on the move from the New Orleans Pelicans, especially with that organization asking for at least three first-round picks.
With Butler out for the season, landing another star to pair with Stephen Curry is what Warriors fans had hoped for to try and make more title pushes at the end of Curry's career. Well, the Warriors pivoted to Option C before the deadline, finally trading Jonathan Kuminga and Buddy Hield for Kristaps Porzingis.
Is this enough for the Warriors? Porzingis can obviously help the Warriors get to and compete in the playoffs, if healthy, but the fact of the matter is that this is another year where Golden State doesn't appear to have a shot at competing at the top of the West with the Oklahoma City Thunder, San Antonio Spurs, and other teams vying for a championship.
Since the offseason, fans of this team had been hoping to land a big name utilizing draft picks and Kuminga's contract. After the deadline, Kuminga is now gone, no new star is on the roster, and Porzingis' health problems loom large over his chances of making an impact before becoming an unrestricted free agent.
Ja Morant
It is no secret to anyone that Ja Morant's relationship with the Memphis Grizzlies‘ front office and head coach Tuomas Iisalo is beyond repair. Morant may love playing in Memphis and for the Grizzlies' fans, but it's clear he will be traded in the offseason after the team failed to find a trade for him right now before the NBA trade deadline.
To make matters worse for Morant, he now finds himself in a tough position. The Grizzlies are rebuilding, and he knows he won't be a part of that future with these young talents, so where does everyone go from here?
Do the Grizzlies shut down Morant for the rest of the season? Will Morant even let the team bench him for the next two months?
If we know anything about Ja, it's that he loves to play. Now that he is staying in Memphis, for now, he will not want to sit out games and help the Grizzlies tank for draft position.
This is going to spiral into a toxic situation really quickly, especially after Memphis traded Jaren Jackson Jr. to the Utah Jazz, who was one of Morant's closest friends.
Sacramento Kings
Compared to other teams around the league, at least there is some sort of vision for the Sacramento Kings. Keegan Murray and Nique Clifford are two young, promising-looking talents, and De'Andre Hunter is a key veteran who can help bridge some gaps on the wing.
However, the main reason the Kings find themselves as losers of this trade deadline cycle is that they once again could not find any trades for Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, and Malik Monk. Also, their trade discussions with the Toronto Raptors surrounding Domantas Sabonis never gained significant traction since Sacramento was unwilling to take on Jakob Poeltl's contract.
Perhaps this will all be revisited in the offseason, and the Kings will get the exact trade they want from Toronto or someone else for Sabonis, but LaVine and DeRozan basically hold negative value at this point and will be forced to finish their contracts with the Kings unless bought out, which does not appear likely.
This organization still needs to find a way to stockpile young assets and draft picks, but there is no path forward for them to do so with the players on their roster. Signing Dennis Schroder this past offseason turned out to be a swing and a miss by the Kings, and now it appears as if it will take them several years to be where they envision.
It is crazy to think that just a few years ago, this franchise looked to be one of the most promising in the entire league with De'Aaron Fox leading the way. That goes to show how quickly things can fall apart for teams in the NBA.
