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Lots of speculation, plenty of posturing, and not one blockbuster trade to be heard of. Sounds like a typical NBA trade deadline day.
In a week when Kevin Love, Dwight Howard, Pau Gasol and Jeff Teague were all mentioned in trade chatter, it’s not surprising that each of those players will be wearing the same jerseys on Friday that they were on Wednesday.
That’s not to say there wasn’t any legitimacy to the rumours; I’ve little doubt that Houston Rockets GM Daryl Morey wanted to move Howard, and it’s no secret that Love hasn’t worked quite as well in Cleveland as many people thought.
But the fact is that action-packed deadline days aren’t half as frequent as fans would like them to be.
Never mind that GMs have to work out a trade which keeps them less than $100,000 over the salary cap or decide to use an exception to make the deal work. They also have to factor in whether a new addition, made with less than half the season remaining, is actually going to benefit the team.
That this has to be done with an impending deadline makes it all the more difficult. But there’s one more deterrent for teams to take heed of.
2011 remains the most incredible deadline day of the past 30 years. Carmelo Anthony moved to New York in a 12-player trade. Deron Williams, whose star was still shining brightly, went to the Nets. The Thunder picked up Kendrick Perkins, giving up Jeff Green in the process, and Portland traded for Gerald Wallace.
It was a remarkable day. All Stars were mistaken for shooting stars, so frequently were they flying across America. First-round draft picks were yielded in exchange for players who could win immediately.
And none of those teams won a championship.
Hell, with the exception of the Thunder, none of them even came close. New York’s mediocrity over the ensuing years has been laughable, the Brooklyn Nets exorbitant payroll spent in vain, and Portland, admittedly handicapped by injuries as much as anything else, recently saw their superstar power forward LaMarcus Aldridge leave during free agency for a better chance at playoff success.
With that in mind, it’s little wonder teams are reticent to make the call on a big trade in the middle of the season.
True, a few deals will always be made around this time of year, and a few smart moves were made this time around.
Detroit picking up Tobias Harris gives them a nice young player to build around alongside Andre Drummond and Reggie Jackson. The Clippers’ move for Jeff Green gives them the athletic wing scorer they’ve been crying out for, and when Paul Pierce emerges from his regular-season hibernation, they will be a tough team to beat in the playoffs.
But if it’s big-name deals you’re after, then free agency is your surest bet. It gives teams the time to properly evaluate what moves will work for them, and which ones are better off avoiding.
And the coming free agency period will be as frantic as any. Kevin Durant, Dwyane Wade, Mike Conley and Al Horford are just a few of the stars coming off contract at the end of the season. LeBron James, Dwight Howard and Demar DeRozan are all able to join them by declining their player options. This free agency will no doubt make up for the lack of deals done over the past few days.
True, we’ve got the minor matter of the NBA Championship to be decided in the meantime.
But come July there will be player movement aplenty in the NBA.