The 2024 NBA trade deadline left the basketball world on the edge of their seat and even had some fall over with sheer excitement.
The 2024 NBA trade deadline saw 19 teams get in on the action in attempts to improve their rosters, cap space and draft stocks. While it wasn’t one for the ages, it did produce several deals that riled up the basketball world.
Many franchises got what they were aiming for as the Dallas Mavericks made shrewd moves that elevated their championship outlook, though the Indiana Pacers appear to have dropped the ball.
Oh, and let’s not forget about the New York Knicks and their explosive trade that sent social media into a frenzy. Let’s examine the biggest winners and losers from deadline day.
Mavericks strengthen frontcourt with Gafford & Washington
The Mavericks (29-23) addressed their lackluster frontcourt by acquiring center Daniel Gafford and forward PJ Washington in the nick of time.
Richaun Holmes and a future first-round pick were sent to the Washington Wizards for Gafford while the Mavs dealt Grant Williams, Seth Curry and a first-rounder to the Charlotte Hornets in exchange for Washington.
Tim McMahon went on The Hoops Collective Podcast and claimed that Grant Williams caused problems in the Mavs’ franchise prior to being dealt:
“They [Mavericks] wanted to be out of the Grant Williams business. He rubbed a lot of people the wrong way,” McMahon said.
Dallas seems to have avoided a sticky situation from boiling over with Williams. Meanwhile, both of their new big men will help the team currently ranked No. 29 in points in the paint with 45.5 points per game.
The Mavs also need a boost in offensive rebounding, as well as the pick-and-roll facilitated by their star backcourt duo of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, and get exactly that.
Bogdanovic and Burks give Knicks 3-point Shooting Firepower
What a day for the New York Knicks. There were several directions that the Knicks could have went, but they decided to add supplementary pieces to their core and form one of the best three-point shooting lineups in the league.
Knicks president Leon Rose acquired Bojan Bogdanovic and Alec Burks from the Detroit Pistons in exchange for Quentin Grimes, Malachi Flynn, Evan Fournier, Ryan Arcidiacono and two second-round picks.
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Healthy Knicks are for real. All respect to Kenny, keep not believing. #KNICKS @NBAonTNT
— Ben Stiller (@BenStiller) February 9, 2024
Knicks fans went wild on X, including actor Ben Stiller, letting all know that the franchise hit the proverbial lottery on this deal.
Bogdanovic gives the Knicks a fringe 20-point-per-game scorer that shoots 41.5 percent from deep while Burks can be a microwave off the bench behind his 40.1 clip from downtown. They’ll also help New York weather a storm of injuries to several key rotational pieces.
Hornets Execute High-Risk, High Reward trade for Gordon Hayward
Ask anyone who knows basketball, and they’ll tell you that Gordon Hayward is a hooper when healthy. That’s the key though – when healthy. Hayward has not seen north of 52 games since the 2018-19 season.
The Thunder (35-16) have exceeded expectations and sit half a game back from the top spot in the Western Conference. They’re young, energetic and talented. What they’ve lacked is a veteran presence that can deliver in the clutch. That’s exactly what they got with Hayward, who only costed them Tre Mann and Davis Bertans.
If Hayward can stay on the floor, he’ll give Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Josh Giddey and Jalen Williams another high-level scoring teammate to share the rock with. The boom outweighs the bust potential in this deal. OKC’s medical staff will just need to be on their A-game.
Pacers take a step back after two underwhelming trades
The NBA’s fastest offense loss some speed at the deadline. The Pacers traded Buddy Hield to the Philadelphia 76ers for Marcus Morris, Furkan Korkmaz and two second-round picks. They also gave up Doug McDermott, a proven deadly shooter, and Cory Joseph, each for a second-round pick as well.
It’s not clear what the intention was here. The Pacers are not in a rebuild and did not chase after a marquee talent after unloading three capable contributors.
Namely without Hield and McDermott’s shooting punch, Tyrese Haliburton will have to look elsewhere for trailers to launch from deep on the break.
The Raptors simply failed to get better
The Toronto Raptors are going young as they push the rebuild button perhaps a year or two too late. However, they released Spencer Dinwiddie after giving up their starting point guard, Dennis Schröder, along with Thaddeus Young in order to get him.
It wasn’t a complete trainwreck for the Raptors, as Masai Ujiri replenished his frontcourt by bringing Swiss army knife center Kelly Olynyk on board. Though, the Raptors are looking at the bottom of the standings in the East for the foreseeable future.
