The winners and losers of the NBA trade deadline day

Yesterday at 09:54 PM

Some teams improved and some players find themselves in better situations, but not everyone is happy after the deadline.

The NBA trade deadline is behind us. The biggest moves were made in the days leading up to it, and most have clear winners and losers, but there were plenty of moves on Thursday. So let's take a look at who came out on top and who is in a worse position going forward after deadline day.

Winner: Mark Williams, the new Daniel Gafford

Williams started the day as a member of the awful Hornets, with few people still remembering the hype around the former Duke center and 15th overall pick in the 2022 NBA draft. Injuries and the perennial irrelevance of the Hornets made the big man an afterthought right up until the Lakers traded Dalton Knecht, Cam Reddish, Los Angeles' 2031 pick, and a 2030 swap. Suddenly, it seemed like the entire world was a huge fan of Williams.

Beyond the off-court name recognition he'll get with the Lakers, Williams should also benefit greatly from playing with Luka Doncic, just like Daniel Gafford before him. Gafford was an unremarkable energy big in Washington before being traded to Dallas and teaming up with Luka. Since then he's upped his numbers and found success despite his limitations. Williams should follow the same path, as long as he stays healthy.

Losers: The Hawks, providing a masterclass of roster mismanagement

How damaging the Dejounte Murray trade was to the Hawks can't be overstated. The first mistake Atlanta made was thinking the core that got to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2021 was good enough to build around, but things only got terrible when the Murray trade went awry. They sent a haul of future picks and swaps to San Antonio for a player whose fit with Trae Young was questionable, assuring that they couldn't rebuild while putting together a roster that couldn't contend. Being mediocre is one thing, but mediocre and expensive is another, so they made some tough decisions at the deadline.

The Hawks' goal was to reduce salary and cut long-term money. They did so by trading De'Andre Hunter, who was finally living up to his extension in a sixth-man role, moving Bojan Bogdanovic to the Clippers for a couple of solid role players with long contracts and using a second-rounder to dump Cody Zeller. Their roster is cheaper but also worse, which is not ideal considering their first-round pick will go to San Antonio. Blunders from past years came back to haunt the Hawks, which is fantastic news for the Spurs.

Winner: Brandon Ingram, getting a change of scenery

The Pelicans might be cursed. Everyone who plays for them gets injured and they have never been able to get teams that look fun and dangerous on paper to be as good as they could have been. This year is a good example. They went into the season with Dejounte Murray, CJ McCollum, Herb Jones, Ingram, Trey Murphy III, Zion Williamson and some decent role players like rookie Yves Missi and Jose Alvarado and are the second-worst team in the league. The basketball gods don't favor New Orleans, for some reason.

Ingram gets to finally leave, after being on the block for a while, and lands in Toronto, which didn't have to give up much to get him. He'll have competition at the wing but should be able to get minutes and touches. If he does well with the Raptors, he could earn a big paycheck in the offseason. The Pelicans are also likely happy to part ways with a player they didn't intend to keep, but getting Bruce Brown and Kelly Olynyk back for a guy who was an All-Star once and is still just 27 was surely not what they envisioned when they signed him to an extension. It was time for both sides to move on, but Ingram got the better outcome.

Losers: Marcus Smart, from DPOY to salary dumped in three years

A few years ago, teams would have given up a lot to land Smart. The Grizzlies in fact did pay the Celtics two first-round picks and sent Tyus Jones to Washington to secure his services in a three-team trade. Smart had gotten a Defensive Player award in 2022, becoming the first guard to win one since Gary Payton, and pairing him with Ja Morant in the backcourt looked like a fantastic idea. Smart wasn't particularly gifted on offense, but he could hit open shots at a good enough rate and handle the ball in a pinch. Memphis paid a hefty price but got a player who was supposed to elevate them to contention. How quickly things change.

The Grizzlies not only traded Smart but had to attach a first-rounder to make the Wizards take on his salary. Health issues limited Smart and the Grizzlies struggled with Ja Morant being off the court because of injuries and suspensions. This season, they have thrived with little help from Smart, and saving money to gain the flexibility to try to renegotiate with Jaren Jackson Jr. or make other additions in the future seemed more important than keeping an inefficient offensive player who is not as good as he was on defense. The fact that no contender tried to get Smart shows how low he has fallen. Maybe he can revive his career in Washington, but it seems unlikely.

Winners: Phoenix Suns haters

Do you hate the Phoenix Suns? If you do, the deadline and the days leading up to it must have been amazing. The Suns chased Jimmy Butler but didn't get him, got confirmation from Bradley Beal, owner of arguably the worst contract in the league, that he's not waiving his trade clause, endured Kevin Durant trade rumors, and had to attach a first-rounder not to improve the roster but to get rid of Jusuf Nurkic, who told the media days before that he had no relationship with Coach Mike Budenholzer. What a smorgasbord of bad situations for a team that is in the unenviable position of wanting to contend without the right pieces and no way to get them.

The Suns still have top-tier talent, a good coach, and added a couple of potentially solid role players in Cody Martin and Vasilije Micic for Nurkic. It's still unlikely they'll get far in the postseason, which is not great for the team with the second-highest payroll in the league. Do you think they miss the Chris Paul days right about now?