Hearts are broken. Men are left crying. Some will win. Many will lose.  

The NBA trade deadline can make or break a team’s season. Teams on the brink of playoff glory try to acquire more pieces while teams that are trying to rebuild obtain draft picks and prepare for the future. It’s an ambiguous time when almost anything can happen. It’s also a day of panic when a team’s GM may make an irrational decision to get a deal done. Some fans will celebrate a franchise-changing trade while others are left mortified by their team’s decisions. 

The deadline was this Thursday and several impactful deals were made.  With D’Angelo Russell leaving the Golden State Warriors and Clint Capela leaving the Houston Rockets, here is some insight on the top trade deadline day deals of 2020. 

#1 D’Angelo Russell to the Minnesota Timberwolves

This move has been rumored since last offseason and Timberwolves fans are ecstatic that it’s finally gone through. It didn’t happen because of the Nets sign and trade with the Warriors, and it seemed as if Russell would stay with the Warriors. However, due to the Warriors’ recent struggles, Russell was shipped off to the Timberwolves for Andrew Wiggins, a first-round pick, and a second-round pick. He and Karl Anthony-Towns have been good friends, and it’ll be interesting to see how far they can go together. Wiggins is also a good fit for Golden State because with Russell they’d have too many guards but now they have a good defensive forward. Both teams are winners in this trade because both got what they needed for a successful future. 

#2 Andre Drummond to the Cleveland Cavaliers
Drummond has been one of the NBA’s top rebounding centers for some time, so it was surprising to see him get traded for essentially nothing. Drummond felt backstabbed by the Pistons organization since he’s been such a key part of their success. He was traded for Brandon Knight, John Henson, and a second-round pick. While his contract is big, he is worth all the money he is getting, so the Pistons are definitely the losers of this trade.

#3 Clint Capela to the Atlanta Hawks

The Clint Capela trade was definitely the craziest to go through. It involved four teams in total, which is quite a rare occurrence. The main outcome of this trade was Capela joining the Hawks. He’s known as a pretty good center, which made it surprising to see the Rockets trade him because he was their only center. Rocket’s coach Mike D’Antoni wanted this trade to go through because he wants the Rockets to embrace a small-ball style of play. The Rockets acquired Robert Covington out of the deal. He adds great three-point shooting as well as excellent wing defense to the team. This trade can go either way for the Rockets, and it’ll be interesting to see how this team deals with being undersized. “I think the Rockets should run a zone defense since they have no center,” said Ismail Khassa (’20). “However, zones are difficult to run, but if the Rockets can perfect it, then they can counter centers.”

#4 Marcus Morris to the Los Angeles Clippers

For a team that’s on the brink of championship glory, the Clippers made a big move to acquire Marcus Morris in a three-team trade. They gave up a first-round pick and acquired Isaiah Thomas’s, contract to get Morris. The Knicks received Maurice Harkless, Issuf Sanon, the Clippers’ first-round pick, and a second-round pick. The Wizards received Jerome Robinson. Morris has been the leading scorer for the Knicks so far this season, which makes it ridiculous that he’s joining the Clippers, who have the highest scoring bench in the NBA. The Lakers wanted to trade for Morris but decided not to negotiate when the Knicks requested Kyle Kuzma to be involved. “The Knicks made a smart move for their future and the Clippers made a huge move in their race to the NBA Finals,” said Aaron Gordon (’20). “The Clippers not only gained a great scorer, but they beat the Lakers out all in one trade.” The Clippers are the clear winners of the trade since they acquired another player who can guard Lebron James, and it looks as if the Clippers are now the favorites to win the West. 

With all of these deals going down, the scope of the NBA has drastically changed. The Clippers edged out the Lakers with their pickup of Morris and the Rockets made a high-risk, high-reward trade that could change the scene of the NBA. With the playoffs coming up in a mere three months, we will see soon enough whether or not these trades paid off.