Resetting after the NBA Trade Deadline: Minnesota Timberwolves, Atlanta Hawks reinvent themselves
By Phil Watson
Boston Celtics
What they did:
- Squadoosh
What it means
Boston Celtics general manager/president of basketball operations Danny Ainge opted to stand pat with a team that is 35-15 and third in the East despite what appears to be a gaping hole at the center spot.
Boston has won its last five games and eight of its last nine following a 2-6 stretch from Jan. 6-18, but after hosting the Atlanta Hawks on Friday, their final three games before the All-Star break are daunting — at Oklahoma City and Houston before finishing up next Thursday with the Clippers.
Coach Brad Stevens has been getting it done with some smoke and mirrors in the middle, patching together a rotation with Daniel Theis starting 44 games, Enes Kanter five and Robert Williams one. But the Time Lord has been out since Dec. 6 with a left hip condition, while Kanter has missed 12 games and Theis five with a variety of ailments.
But it’s working for the Celtics because of their offensive balance and their defense, which ranks third in the NBA with a defensive rating of 105.3. Boston is also second in the league in net rating at plus-7.3, trailing only the ridiculously good Milwaukee Bucks (plus-11.8).
Offensively, the Celtics are the only team in the NBA with three players averaging at least 20 points per game, as Boston is getting 22.0 points a night from Kemba Walker, 21.9 from Jayson Tatum and 20.3 via Jaylen Brown. Throw in the revitalized Gordon Hayward posting 17.2 points a night and the Celtics are awfully hard to contain.
Their 27th-ranked bench unit (29.1 points per game) could be a concern, so expect Ainge to shop the buyout market … if there is much of one.
Outlook: Celtics did nothing at the deadline, but it’s still Ainge
Brooklyn Nets
What they did:
- Signed Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot to multi-year contract
What is means
For the Brooklyn Nets, it seems they are invoking the old battle cry of their ancestors in the borough, the Brooklyn Dodgers … as in “Wait ‘Til Next Year!”
The only thing the Nets did at the deadline actually came after it, signing Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot to a multi-year contract on Friday
While there’s never anything wrong with a little TLC, the Nets are still just 23-27, which is good for seventh place in the ridiculously top-heavy Eastern Conference. Luwawu-Cabarrot began the season on a two-way contract with the Nets, but was waived on Jan. 15 and re-signed to a 10-day contract as Brooklyn added Jeremiah Martin on a two-way deal.
Luwawu-Cabarrot signed a second 10-day deal on Jan. 25 and then got the full deal on Friday.
He was the 24th overall pick by the Philadelphia 76ers in 2016 and spent two years with the Sixers before being traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder as part of the Carmelo Anthony buyout trade in the summer of 2018. He was later traded to the Chicago Bulls in February 2019 and signed with the Nets on a two-way deal in October after being waived by the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The 24-year-old has played in 25 games for Brooklyn, averaging 5.2 points and 2.1 rebounds in 15.3 minutes per game, shooting 44.8 percent overall and 43.1 percent on 2.0 deep attempts per game.