Winners & Losers of the 2023 NBA Trade Deadline

Image via Getty/Wally Skalij

The Lakers entered the trade deadline five games under .500 and with a roster full of players that don’t fit well on their roster, most notably Russell Westbrook. And while the Lakers will exit the deadline still under .500 and two games back of a play-in spot, they suddenly look much more viable in a wild western conference. They have now turned Westbrook, Thomas Bryant, Juan Toscano-Anderson and Patrick Beverley into D’Angelo Russell, Malik Beasley, Jared Vanderbilt and Mo Bamba. They have gotten reinforcements on their front line, but most importantly shooting in the form of Beasley and Russell to pair with LeBron James and Anthony Davis. Don’t look now, but the Lakers now have legitimate depth and spacing around two of the best players in the league. Both Beasley and Russell average a combined 5.8 made 3-pointers per game, something the Lakers desperately needed while sitting last in the NBA in 3-point shooting.

Where do we start with this franchise? Was it losing Kyrie Irving during a season you finally looked cohesive and like the contenders you were expected to be? Was it losing KD in the final hours of the deadline, essentially placing you into rebuild mode? Those factor into the Nets being categorized as a loser but there’s more to this. The Nets had several players that needed to be shipped prior to the deadline regardless of their superstars’ presence. Whether it was Patty Mills or Seth Curry, there was no need to have this many undersized players on your roster who have similar strengths. With the additions of Mikal Bridges, Dorian Finney-Smith, and Cam Johnson, the Nets have too many wings on their roster as crazy as that sounds. Another issue was not finding a team to take on Ben Simmons contract but the Nets could be more patient with him now that their championship window is over. The only thing consistent with the Nets of late has been the front office’s inability to put together a complete roster. 

General managers recognized quickly that the Western Conference was wide open and decided to retool the fly. With the addition of Kevin Durant to the Phoenix Suns, the trades out West quickly picked up. The Clippers revamped their roster by adding shooting and playmaking to a roster devoid of good point guard play and timely shooting. Eric Gordon returns to where his career first started, electric young guard Bones Hyland goes from the Rocky Mountains to Rodeo Drive, and the frontcourt adds reinforcements with the presence of Mason Plumlee joining Ivicia Zubac. There are reports of Russell Westbrook potentially joining the Clippers if the Utah Jazz buys him out after being dealt this week. 

But with all that being said, the fate of the Clippers will continue to rest on the shoulders of Paul George and Kawhi Leonard; nothing more, nothing less. 

The Toronto Raptors were expected to be the biggest sellers heading into the trade deadline. All of their top players were up for grabs with the exception of Scottie Barnes. Whether it was OG Anunoby, Fred Vanvleet, Pascal Siakam, or Gary Trent Jr., it seemed as if the Raptors were going to blow it all up. They ended trading zero players from their core and technically became buyers during the deadline after adding Jakob Poeltl. You never know what Masai Ujiri’s ulterior motive is but if he was just gauging the market, it still seems like a loss when a guy Trent Jr. can walk for free this summer. You can group Anunoby into the losers category as well as he’s stuck with this franchise for another few months. 

As we got closer and closer to the NBA trade deadline, it was evident that the Dallas Mavericks needed to make a definitive move. Their roster was flawed, heavily reliant on the generational talent that is Luka Doncic, without having a true star next to him. The offseason departure of Jalen Brunson continued to loom large, and the threat of Doncic becoming the latest unhappy superstar in the Association spurned action from Mark Cuban and company. Enter Kyrie Irving. 

The dealing of two key role players and multiple draft picks for Irving drew questions from those in the media; considering that every stop Kyrie has been at, the conclusion of the relationship has been anything but amicable. However, the Mavericks were willing to take the risk, and the early payoff seemed worth it. In his debut on Wednesday in Los Angeles against the Clippers, Kyrie tallied 24 points in a win. Unlocking a Mavericks roster that hopes to find their footing and once again find themselves in the Western Conference Finals. 

Whenever you can add a perennial all-star to your roster, coupled with a Top-5 player, you take the chance every time. 

This is clearly a fork-in-the-road moment for Russell Westbrook. His homecoming to Los Angeles was anything but a fairytale, with multiple bouts of public frustration and disappointing play during his tenure with the Lakers. In a storied career that has witnessed countless All-Stars, All-NBA accolades, and an MVP – the prospect of being on his fifth team in five years has to be a disappointing reality for the proud guard. 

Westbrook isn’t the first superstar to find themselves on the other side of greatness late in their career, but a seeming lack of self-awareness to adapt his game will continue to be a problem as Westbrook ages in the NBA. While all hope isn’t lost, and there’s still time to adjust the trajectory of things, Russell Westbrook has to decide who and what he wants to be in the NBA.

This is the life. Gary Payton II won a championship with the Warriors a season ago as a defensive ace off the bench before leaving in free agency to be paid by the Portland Trail Blazers. Now, he is returning to the Bay Area through trade after collecting a bag from a different team. And he will instantly see minutes on a Warriors team that is without Stephen Curry for the foreseeable future. For a team in need of quality veteran depth and defensive help, the Warriors are getting that in the form of a familiar face. It doesn’t get much better than this for a role player in the NBA.

The Memphis Grizzlies have to be on loser lists because they mainly stayed conservative during this trade deadline, simply making moves on the fringes of their roster with the addition of Luke Kennard. The Grizzlies were linked to OG Anunoby for some time, but that move ultimately didn’t come to fruition, and that could become a problem come playoff time. But for a team with NBA Finals aspirations, the West is definitively tougher now than it was just four days ago. 

The Grizzlies’ biggest weakness continues to be the wing play, most notably Dillion Brooks, who will always remain a wildcard, for better or worse. How does this team stack up against the Suns? Or Clippers? Or the Pelicans? For Ja Morant to say that they’re “fine in the West,” the reality tells me that they’re anything but that at the moment. 

When KD demanded a trade last summer, the Suns were at the top of his list. Kyrie Irving’s shocking trade request re-opened the doors for Durant to end up with the Suns and Phoenix took advantage. They secured KD without giving up Deandre Ayton or Chris Paul to ultimately build the top quartet in the NBA with Devin Booker and KD at the helm. Despite the lack of the depth, which can be addressed in the buyout market, the Suns placed themselves in good position to come out of the West. It’s never bad to add a top 5 player in this game.

The Heat have now gone back-to-back years without making a splash during the deadline. There was belief that they would try to move Kyle Lowry to improve their point guard play but that ended up being all smoke. While this is the most of the  roster that went to the Eastern Conference Finals last year, the competition could be tougher this time around. The Celtics, Bucks, and Sixers all have improved their rosters from last season. The Heat also failed to get rid of Duncan Robinson once again. There’s not much in the buyout market that could save them so reality has probably kicked in for Heat fans.