Bulls parade on
It's a new day in Chicago.
Good morning. Let’s basketball.
Suerte de Varas, Francisco Goya
The old Bulls are dead. The new Bulls are not messing around.
That’s the only possible takeaway from Chicago’s bold deals at the trade deadline on Thursday. The Bulls shook up everything Thursday morning by pulling off a trade for Nikola Vucevic, the Magic’s sweet-shooting All-Star center. Orlando picked up Wendell Carter, Jr., Otto Porter and two first-round picks in the deal, and sent out Al-Farouq Aminu. In separate deals, the Bulls also added Daniel Theis and Troy Brown, Jr. without losing any rotation players.
This is a talent build-up for Chicago, a signal that the team is gunning for a legitimate playoff appearance this season (the Bulls are currently No. 10), gunning to be a free agent destination this summer and next and gunning to be a contender in short order. Adding Vucevic to Zach LaVine creates a deadly double-barrelled weapon for Billy Donovan, and the complementary pieces already in place (Thad Young, Patrick Williams, Coby White, Tomas Satoransky, Coby White, Lauri Markkanen) and added (Theis and Brown) should fit together to create something pretty good. At least compared to recent iterations of the Bulls, who always acted the opposite of the way the Bulls acted on Thursday.
This ain’t the team trading away a contract-seeking Jimmy Butler. Arturas Karnisovas and Marc Eversley have something to say.
Poof!
The Magic traded Aaron Gordon and Evan Fournier — no real surprise there. But having also traded Nikola Vucevic … ladies and gentlemen, we have a new combatant in the Tank Wars!
Orlando is suddenly stripped down to its studs. Terrence Ross is probably the best healthy player (newcomer Gary Harris is in the running, too). Jonathan Isaac (out for the season) and Markelle Fultz (out for the season) are the perceived building blocks there, along with Carter … and of course the draft picks. Orlando added three total firsts and two seconds on Thursday. The most valuable of any pick the Magic have, though, will be their own 2021 first. Orlando has the fourth worst record in the NBA right now at 15-29, 2.5 games better than Detroit and Houston (12-31). The Magic weakened themselves more than those teams or the Timberwolves (10-34) at the deadline. The race for the bottom is on.
I also question whether Steve Clifford will be sticking around for the next phase of this project. This is not to say the Magic should look to replace him with a coach more suited to a rebuilding roster, but that Clifford’s skills might be better used elsewhere in the NBA. It’s been a very tough run since his first season down there. And Frank Vogel has shown that there is life after the Magic, if you want it.
Golden
The Nuggets were one of two contenders (in the broad definition of the word) to make a big swing, trading Harris, R.J. Hampton and a protected 2025 first for Aaron Gordon and Gary Clark. It’s going to be absolutely fascinating to watch Nikola Jokic, Aaron Gordon and Michael Porter, Jr. work together in the frontcourt, and I’m really eager to see how Gordon’s defense holds up under bright lights against the exceptional talent of the Western Conference and with real expectations (something he’s never had to deal with in Orlando). One imagines Will Barton will pick up the slack from the exiled Harris — people forget how good Will Barton is. Perimeter defense will be a little tougher, but Gordon can in many cases switch one to five. It’s a steep learning curve to figure that out before the playoffs in May. But adrenaline and the excitement for playing for a contender might carry Gordon halfway there.
The Nuggets also brought JaVale McGee back. It’s 2012 all over again.
I’m excited to see how the Nuggets play after Gordon’s been in town for a week or two. Michael Malone has some new paints in his satchel.
Fire It Up
There are two ways to look at Miami’s acquisition of Victor Oladipo. In terms of acqusition cost, this was an absolute steal for the Heat: Miami gave up Kelly Olynyk, Avery Bradley and the right to swap Miami’s 2022 first with Brooklyn’s 2022 first (which Houston already has). That’s it.
The other way to look at it is that Oladipo’s value was very low for a reason. He’s an unrestricted free agent who wants a large contract (based on him rejecting sizeable extension offers already) and who is not playing all that well this season. When you’re flirting in the bars the Heat are in — they went to the damn NBA Finals last season, a championship is the only goal — every good player helps, and Oladipo is plenty more valuable than Bradley and Olynyk. But enough to make up for the regression Miami has seen from some of its key players (Tyler Herro, Duncan Robinson, regrettably Goran Dragic)? I don’t know.
We’ll see. This doesn’t hurt, surely, and the cost was damn near free. It’s just not clear how much Oladipo will help.
The Heat also picked up Nemanja Bjelica for Moe Harkless and Chris Silva. Bjelica might be as good or better for Miami than Oladipo! If he plays …
Others Meriting Mention
Thursday broke the record for most trades on a deadline day in NBA history. My jinx about it remaining quiet worked!
The Celtics picked up Evan Fournier for two seconds and Jeff Teague, and then traded Theis for basically nothing (apologies to Mo Wagner and Luke Kornet) to get under the tax. Boston fans are not happy. If the Celtics make a run to a legit playoff spot and potentially compete in the first round (or even win a series), it’ll be more about the Jays getting their flow back or Kemba Walker turning around his season, in my opinion.
This sums up the sentiment on what happened to Houston this season:
The Raptors kept Kyle Lowry (!) and traded Norm Powell for Rodney Hood and Gary Trent, Jr. Damian Lillard, C.J. McCollum and Powell? Holy shooting, Batman. We’ll talk more about the Raptors soon.
The Clippers traded Lou Williams to the Hawks for Rajon Rondo. This is the biggest bet on Playoff Rondo we’ve ever seen. Atlanta erased their biggest offseason reach.
The Sixers didn’t get Lowry, but they did trade Tony Bradley and three seconds for George Hill. Seems like a steep price to me but Philadelphia felt it really needed another experience point guard, and it’s hard to disagree. Trading Bradley indicates that the Sixers feel good about Joel Embiid’s health. The Thunder got more picks and also somehow Austin Rivers!
The Mavericks got J.J. Redick.
We’ll be unpacking this deadline for a week or two, especially as the buy-out market develops and we see the new-look teams in action.
Scores
Blazers 125, Heat 122 — C.J. McCollum is back. Jusuf Nurkic says he’ll play Friday. Norm is en route. Blazers, baby.
Wizards 102, Knicks 106 — Washington led for the first 43 minutes, by as many as 17. B-R-U-T-A-L.
Clippers 98, Spurs 85 — A dispiriting loss for San Antonio given Kawhi Leonard, Lou Williams, Serge Ibaka, Marcus Morris and Patrick Beverley all sat and the Spurs were at full strength save for Lonnie Walker. Brutal shooting, no turnover generation, bad defensive rebounding.
Sixers 109, Lakers 101 — Danny Green with the dagger over Kyle Kuzma. Philadelphia is S-P-I-C-Y.
Meanwhile, Dwight Howard got ejected for a silly slow-motion shoving match with his Lakers replacement Montrezl Harrell on the night he received his championship ring. Perfect Dwight Howard.
Warriors 119, Kings 141 — De’Aaron Fox, new career high. Kings? Now with two games of the Warriors for No. 10.
League Pass Cupdate
Knicks creeping closer to the top.
Lakers Panic Room
L.A. is now 0-3 since losing LeBron. The Lakers have the Cavaliers and Magic over the weekend. Better win those games or it might be a heckuva losing streak coming.
The Lakers slipped to 1.5 games behind the Clippers for No. 3 and now lead the Nuggets and Blazers each by 1.5 games. As noted above, the Nuggets and Blazers added significant players on Thursday. The Lakers did not make any moves. Buy-out help may be on its way.
Schedule
All times Eastern. League Pass Cup games denoted with a 🏆.
FRIDAY
Nets at Pistons, 7
Suns at Raptors, 7:30
Celtics at Bucks, 7:30, ESPN
Heat at Hornets, 8
Blazers at Magic, 8
Rockets at Timberwolves, 8
Nuggets at Pelicans, 8
Pacers at Mavericks, 8:30
Grizzlies at Jazz, 9
Hawks at Warriors, 10, ESPN
Cavaliers at Lakers, 10:30
SATURDAY
Pistons at Wizards, 8 🏆
Knicks at Bucks, 8
Rockets at Timberwolves, 8
Bulls at Spurs, 8:30 🏆
Mavericks at Pelicans, 9
Celtics at Thunder, 9
Grizzlies at Jazz, 9
Sixers at Clippers, 10, NBA TV
Cavaliers at Kings, 10 🏆
SUNDAY
Suns at Hornets, 1
Blazers at Raptors, 7
Hawks at Nuggets, 9, NBA TV
Magic at Lakers, 10
Links
Amid controversy at the two basketball tournaments, the NCAA announces an independent gender equity review. Uh huh.
I’m going to be honest: I have no appetite to listen to a long podcast in which Phil Jackson defends or excuses his tenure as the Knicks’ president. But some of the quotes that Stefan Bondy picks out — holy smokes.
Zach Lowe’s interesting take on the Nuggets and Magic’s divergent paths on ESPN Insider. ($)
Speaking of ESPN Insider, I always check out Kevin Pelton’s deadline grades (after I write my own take). ($)
Rob Mahoney on the gap at the top of the league being narrowed by the deadline.
Chris Herring is an absolute treasure. Here he is digging in the decline in value of rebounding and elite rebounders.
Yaron Weitzman on one of my new favorite shots in the NBA: Ben Simmons’ hook shot.
Celtics exec Allison Feaster discusses her path to the NBA.
Dan Devine on the deadline winners and losers.
Kevin Kaduk on the Bulls’ steal in Midway Minute, a great newsletter on Chicago sports.
Jason Reid in The Undefeated on his friendship with Elgin Baylor.
And finally: children explain how to get the big boat unstuck from the Suez Canal.
Be excellent to each other.