Biggest winners and losers of the 2018 NBA Trade Deadline
Winner: Los Angeles Lakers
So much for the Los Angeles Lakers pivoting to 2019 free agency.
To clarify, the Lakers will still be in the running for guys like Kawhi Leonard, Jimmy Butler and Klay Thompson that summer if they strike out in 2018, but by trading youngsters Jordan Clarkson and Larry Nance Jr. to the Cavs, Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka are keeping summer dreams of LeBron James and Paul George alive.
Even better, the Lakers — who have won 12 of their last 16 games and have no reason to tank since they don’t possess their own first round pick — may have gotten even better with this trade, bringing in the shooting of Isaiah Thomas and Channing Frye.
Three impactful details on trade for Lakers: They'll have space for two max contract slots in 2018 or 2019, replenish first-round pick in 2018 Draft and gets Lakers some shooting for rest of season with Thomas and Frye.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 8, 2018
In fairness to the truth, neither IT nor Frye has been good this year. Thomas is a miserable defender and hasn’t produced on the offensive end to make up for it, clearly struggling to work through his hip ailment and recapture his 2016-17 form when he finished fifth in MVP voting.
Thomas’ production with the Cavs shriveled to 14.7 points and 4.5 assists per game on putrid .361/.253/.868 shooting splits, while Frye was only converting 33.3 percent of his long range attempts. However, for a Lakers team that ranks dead-last in 3-point percentage, every little bit helps, especially if they can revert back to their former sharpshooting selves.
Even if they don’t though, both Thomas and Frye are expiring contracts, allowing the Lakers to free up precious amounts of cap space for their summer pursuits of big-name free agents. If they strike out or only land one of their targets, they’ll still have cap space for one or two max signings in 2019, and could potentially bring back IT as a fallback option depending on the price.
Quick thought on IT: He won’t get his massive contract, but if the Lakers are really playing for free agency in 2019, a sizeable, one-year deal with LA (like KCP’s) seems possible this summer.
— Chris Mannix (@SIChrisMannix) February 8, 2018
The Lakers haven’t accomplished anything yet. They’ve shipped off quite a few assets and young players to only have a chance at landing the bigger fish. But Jordan Clarkson was an inefficient bench gunner on a bloated contract, and the Lakers maximized his value as a former second round selection.
Losing Larry Nance Jr. and his defense, basketball I.Q. and energy hurts much worse, but the arrival of Kyle Kuzma makes it sting a little bit less, and again, the Lakers brass maximized the value of a late selection not expected to yield an actual asset.
As for trading Clarkson and Nance. It was difficult to part with both. But Kuzma had supplanted Nance as the Lakers 4 of the future so they didn't feel they were trading part of the core.
— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) February 8, 2018
For a franchise that routinely finds gems later in the draft, snagging Cleveland’s 2018 first round selection (currently slated at No. 24) is another big win, especially since the Lakers owe their own first-rounder to either Boston or Philadelphia this summer.
The Lakers have created the two max slots needed to sign LeBron and PG-13 this summer. This pipe dream just took another step closer to reality, but even if it doesn’t pan out, they’ll still get another crack at it in 2019.