The NBA's trade deadline on Thursday has come and gone, with some teams gunning it for the chip this year and others trying to move players and regroup for the following season.
While the final trades are being tallied, there are a few winners and losers to the deadline due to teams getting more competitive on the court and on the asset sheet.
Winner: Golden State Warriors
When Kevin Durant agreed to play for the Brooklyn Nets in the past offseason, he was delivered in a sign-and-trade to the east coast for All-Star point guard D'Angelo Russell, who signed a max deal.
In a half-season with the 23-year-old Russell, the Warriors turned the guard into former first-overall pick and NBA Rookie of the Year Andrew Wiggins and two draft picks, including a 2021 top-three protected first-round pick that conveys to 2022 unprotected first round.
Given how polarizing Wiggins is as a player since not making too much improvement from his rookie year, he does look better right now, and if the Warriors don't want to keep Wiggins, they have more assets to hunt for another star in the offseason.
Additionally, the Warriors acquired three second-round picks from the Philadelphia 76ers for wings Glenn Robinson III and Alec Burks.
Whatever happens moving forward, the Warriors are in an excellent position when All-Star guards Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson return healthy next season and either Wiggins at forward or another star over the horizon (plus a top pick in the 2020 draft…).
Loser: Cleveland Cavaliers
What are the Cavs doing exactly? That has been the question in the hours since the Andre Drummond trade, where Cleveland dealt for the two-time NBA All-Star center from the Detroit Pistons.
The Cavs didn't exactly give up much—Brandon Knight, John Henson, and a second-round pick—but Drummond has a player option for $28 million this upcoming summer. Although many believe he will not exercise it and instead test out free agency, it's just not a good move for Cleveland.
Also, oh yeah, they didn't trade veteran big men Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson and the roster still has young big Larry Nance Jr., who needs minutes, and small forward Cedi Osman.
The Drummond acquisition is very hard to make sense of considering Love, reportedly disgruntled on the rebuilding team coached by John Beilein, was not moved and Thompson is not getting bought out.
Winner: Memphis Grizzlies
It looks like the eighth seed in the Western Conference that few people expected to compete this season will have to trade veteran wings Solomon Hill and Jae Crowder, but it's hard to say they didn't win the NBA trade deadline after moving the couch-bound Andre Iguodala.
The Grizzlies are receiving playmaking small forward Justise Winslow from the Miami Heat along with shooting guard Dion Waiters for Iguodala, the veteran wing they traded for in the offseason from the Golden State Warriors, who needed to offload salary to complete the Russell-Durant sign-and-trade.
Iguodala didn't play a single minute for Memphis and now he goes to a competitive Miami squad for Winslow and Waiters and a second-round pick.
Winslow, 23, has two more years on his contract and a team option in 2021-22. The concern is that he's injury-prone (145 games played in last two seasons plus this year), but the risk pays off with the potential quality Winslow provides on a nice contract ($13 million per year) for Iguodala who, again, didn't play a single minute.
Winslow could be a part of a competitive Grizzlies core including Ja Morant, Jaren Jackson Jr., Brandon Clarke, and Dillon Brooks.
Loser: Los Angeles Lakers
This loser is obviously not in a bad position, but many thought LeBron James' team would do more to fortify the roster's depth heading into the final stretch of the 2019-20 regular season.
The Lakers could have traded third-year forward Kyle Kuzma, who hasn't fit well with NBA All-Star power forward Anthony Davis. L.A. wanted stretch four Marcus Morris of the New York Knicks but lost him to city rival Clippers at the deadline.
So, beyond not selling high on Kuzma and not acquiring the hot 3-point shooter Morris, the Lakers will have to settle for possibly signing free agent shooting guard J.R. Smith, who won a title with James in Cleveland or getting point guard Darren Collison to come out of retirement.
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