![An image of the American Airlines Center where the Miami Heat play. [image source: Chrisg21090- Wikimedia Commons]](https://staticr1.blastingcdn.com/media/photogallery/2020/2/8/660x290/b_502x220x82/an-image-of-the-american-airlines-center-where-the-miami-heat-play-image-source-chrisg21090-wikimedia-commons_2397937.jpg "An image of the American Airlines Center where the Miami Heat play. [image source: Chrisg21090- Wikimedia Commons]")
The 2019-20 NBA trade deadline came and went and it was relatively quiet. There were two big trades with the four-team trade between the Rockets, Timberwolves, Nuggets and Hawks and the Russell-Wiggins blockbuster but most of the other deals that occurred were relatively small. Here are the winners and losers of the trade deadline.
Winners
Philadelphia 76ers
Going into the deadline, the 76ers were looking for shooting and they acquired just that. They struck a deal with the Warriors where they acquired Alec Burks and Glenn Robinson III for three second-round draft picks over the next three years.
Burks is averaging 16.1 points while slashing 40.6/37.5/89.7 while Robinson III is averaging 12.9 points while slashing 48.1/40/85.1. With both those players coming off the bench for the 76ers, it allowed them to trade James Ennis for a draft pick which will be a second-round pick in the upcoming draft.
Miami Heat
The Heat were looking to make a move that would push them over the top and possibly get them to second in the Eastern Conference. They made one trade with the Grizzlies that saw them acquire Andre Iguodala, Jae Crowder and Solomon Hill at the cost of Justise Winslow, Dion Waiters and James Johnson.
Despite sitting out the whole season, Iguodala provides the Heat with size and defence and can possibly guard Giannis Antetokounmpo if they come across the Bucks in the playoffs.
They were also able to get him to agree to a two year, $30 million extension with the second year of the deal coming in the form of a club option. Crowder provides the Heat with another two-way player although he dampens the Heat's three-point shooting but that's not much of an issue with the Heat's style of play this season.
Hill doesn't provide much to the Heat but he is a better player in the playoffs than he is in the regular season.
Dewayne Dedmon
Despite signing a three year, $40 million contract with the Kings in the offseason, Dedmon requested to be traded which even landed him a fine in doing so. At the deadline, Dedmon got his wish as he was traded to the Hawks, his former team.
With the Kings, Dedmon was having a horrible season averaging 5.1 points, 4.9 rebounds and 0.4 assists in just 15.9 minutes a game while shooting an awful 19.7 percent from three. With the trade, he'll get to return to Atlanta where he spent two seasons with the Hawks and averaged 10.4 points, 7.7 rebounds and 1.4 assists while shooting 50.7 percent from field goal range. Perhaps going back to the Peach state serving as Clint Capela's backup will help the Hawks reach the playoffs next year.
Los Angeles Clippers
The Clippers acquired Marcus Morris who's having the best season of his career averaging 19.6 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.4 assists while shooting a career-high 43.9 percent from three along with a field goal percentage of 44.2 percent and a free throw percentage of 82.3 percent.
Bringing in Morris allows pressure to be taken off of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George who are heavily relied on for the Clippers to win games and succeed. Leonard and George have also missed time with injuries this season and the Clippers bringing in Morris will allow Doc Rivers to rest Leonard and George more often now that he has another scorer in Morris.
Minnesota Timberwolves
The Timberwolves have long been trying to acquire D'Angelo Russell and they finally did. They sent Andrew Wiggins and two draft picks in 2021 to the Warriors for Russell and two others in Jacob Evans and Omari Spellman. The Timberwolves wanted Russell for two reasons: They view him and his game as a good fit with their team and that he is very close with star player Karl-Anthony Towns.
Russell's play is one that needs the ball in his hands most of the time where most of the time he's either going for a three-point attempt or he's setting up one of his teammates for them to score. Russell is prone to missing shots as he's a career 35.7 percent from beyond the arc which makes it important pair him up with a strong rebounder which Towns is. As Towns and Russell are close, they both understand each other's style of play which makes the chemistry between them strong and when the top players on any team are on the same page, it becomes a recipe of success for the rest of the team. Bringing in Russell also prevents Towns being unhappy and requesting a trade which was gonna happen at some point in the future if the Timberwolves kept losing.
Perhaps bringing in another solid starting player in the offseason will make the Timberwolves a playoff team next season and going forward.
Losers
Houston Rockets
The Rockets not only traded away their starting center in Clint Capela but they traded away another center in Nene in the same deal to the same team. With both of them no longer being on the Rockets, the Rockets have only two centers in Tyson Chandler and Isaiah Hartenstein who both stand at 7'0 but neither are in the Rockets rotation. With the Rockets playing centerless, they will play small ball by heavily relying on three-point and long-range shots which fits their style with guys like Harden and Westbrook on the team. Despite beating the Lakers, Harden was forced to take the jump ball which he easily lost to Lakers C JaVale McGee.
In their most recent game against the Suns, they were outrebounded 51-29 and they should expect similar numbers against other teams.
If the season were to end today, they would face the Thunder in the playoffs where they would have a tough time in the paint against Steven Adams who's one of the best rebounders in the game. As the Thunder stood pat at the deadline which leaves them with multiple big guys with a combination of solid wings and guards as well, it wouldn't be too surprising to see the Thunder upset the Rockets if they were to face each other in the playoffs.
Isaiah Thomas
Isaiah Thomas was at one time one of the better players in the league and was in line to get a substantial pay raise on his next contract but injuries derailed his career and has had to settle for one-year deals with less pay.
He was traded to the Clippers as part of the three-team Marcus Morris trade that involved the Wizards. Once he was acquired by the Clippers, news broke that the Clippers didn't plan on keeping him and were going to release him. Since 2016, he has been apart of six organizations including the Clippers and with his release, he should find himself on his seventh team in five years assuming he gets picked up.
Memphis Grizzlies
Ever since the Grizzlies acquired Iguodala, they planned on flipping him for a draft pick yet they didn't land one. Instead he was sent to the Heat as part of a three for three trade which brought them back Justise Winslow, Dion Waiters and James Johnson. Despite being only 23 years old, Winslow is injury prone and has horrible percentages but is a solid defender.
They also gave up Jae Crowder in the same deal which they could have also gotten a pick for but didn't. Regarding Waiters and Johnson, Waiters will be released in the coming days and Johnson was traded to the Timberwolves for Gorgui Dieng.
Cleveland Cavaliers
Out of absolutely nowhere, the Cavs shocked everyone by acquiring Andre Drummond for Brandon Knight, John Henson and a second-round pick in 2023. The Cavs had no need for Drummond especially with a solid frontcourt that consisted of Kevin Love, Tristan Thompson and Larry Nance Jr coming off the bench. With Drummond now in the fold, they will have to find minutes for all of them as they all deserve to play. With the Cavs last in the East at 13-39, this only makes the team better rather than worse which ruins their chances of getting a better pick in the upcoming draft.
The only logical explanation regarding why the Cavs made this trade is because they may want to give themselves a head start in regards to try and keep him in Cleveland long term.
Detroit Pistons
The Pistons were looking to trade Drummond for a while and ended up trading him to the Cavaliers for almost nothing. The players they received in return, Brandon Knight and John Henson are both players on expiring contracts and may not even re-sign with the Pistons in free agency. The second-round pick they got isn't until 2023 and there's a chance that the second-round pick becomes a low one because the Cavs could be a good team by then. They also could have traded Derrick Rose when his value was at its highest with another year left on his contract but they failed to do so. They also had other tradeable assets in Markieff Morris, Langston Galloway, Tony Snell and others which they could have gotten future second-round picks for but failed to move either of them.
