Koby Altman, the General Manager of the Cleveland Cavaliers told the sports media in town on Thursday that his Cleveland Cavaliers team decided to stand down and not make a move as the trade deadline approached at 3 PM. Cleveland already has a core of very young talent that is building off of every win and loss and learning to become contenders for the foreseeable future.
Altman on this trade deadline moment said that there wasn’t a move to be made that would “move the needle” and with the trade already for Donovan Mitchell this past offseason and the return of Ricky Rubio to the team from injury, he felt the team was headed in the right direction.
Koby Altman said there wasn’t anything that would “move the needle” for the #Cavs, wants to give this young group opportunity to grow together
— Daryl Ruiter (@RuiterWrongFAN) February 9, 2023
While the Cavs stood pat there were some moves by other teams in the Eastern Conference that we’ll share that could challenge the Cavaliers, but for the most part by Cleveland holding steady, they’ve probably helped their case even more and will continue to win in the East and get to the playoffs for the first time since 2017.
Brooklyn Nets
The Brooklyn Nets tried to buy themselves a title when they put together a “Super Team” a couple of seasons ago, including Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and James Harden. That never happened and really never got close to being a reality.
Now, the Nets are a shell of themselves after this week of trades. Irving started the week by whining about wanting a trade and got his wish when he was dealt to the Dallas Mavericks. Good luck, Mavericks, because your team will likely not be recognizable after a few months of Irving playing for you.
Durant then was traded on Thursday to the Phoenix Suns for half of the Suns’ team and a bag of chips. Now the Suns have become instant Western Conference favorites and the Nets, who are currently hanging in the No. 5 spot in the Eastern Conference standings and 1.5 games behind Cleveland, will likely fall out of serious contention the rest of the season.
The future could be brighter for the Nets as they pocketed four unprotected 1st-round picks (2023, 2025, 2027, 2029) and a 2028 1st-round pick swap, Mikal Bridges, Cameron Johnson, and Jae Crowder. However, for now, the Cavaliers are the big winner in this battle of teams and trades.
Boston Celtics
The Boston Celtics are currently in first place in the East and only made a minor trade at the deadline. They picked up Mike Muscala from the Oklahoma Thunder. Muscala is in his 11th NBA season and has played with several teams in his career. He’s a career six-points-a game-player. He’s a bench player and will add some depth to an already very good Celtics team.
The Celtics didn’t need to make too many moves this trade deadline having great players like Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum in the starting lineup. They did, however, just learn that Brown will miss some time because of a recent facial injury. Adding Muscala’s shooting to the frontcourt can help them weather his absence and give them a different look to deploy in the playoffs.
Milwaukee Bucks
Jae Crowder got traded to the Milwaukee Bucks after he had first been traded to the Nets in the deal for Kevin Durant. There had been some chatter that maybe the Cavs were interested in Crowder as well but he ended up going to the Bucks, who are a bit ahead of Cleveland in the standings.
Crowder once played for the Wine and Gold back in the day when LeBron James played for the Cavs as well. This will be the eighth team that Crowder has played for. That’s not exactly what you want to see on a player’s NBA resume.
He’ll give the Bucks 10 points and five rebounds a game but that’s about it there. Crowder is a strong defender, though.
Philadelphia 76ers
Jalen McDaniels was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers, who stand in third place right now, a game in front of Cleveland. McDaniels could be a rising star in the league as he’s bumped his minutes up, increased his scoring, and had been starting for a pretty lowly Charlotte Hornets team. Now McDaniels goes from the bottom of the standings to almost the top.
It will be interesting to see how McDaniels does in Philly. The youngster is only 25 years old and has an 11-points-per-game average to go along with five rebounds. He’d started 21 games with the Hornets and is known to be a quality defender both on the inside and on the outside with his 6-foot-9 height and big wingspan. With teams needing defense down the stretch, this was a good move by the 76ers.
New York Knicks
Josh Hart has been traded again as he’s now played for four teams in his brief NBA career. He’s now a New York Knick after being traded from the Portland Trail Blazers. He’s only in his fifth season in the league but is considered a strong defender and a player that can help in many areas of a basketball team.
The Knicks traded Cam Reddish, who’d been linked to the Cavs in recent days as a possible trade landing spot. Hart will give the Knicks a good defensive player and even more offense. He’s averaging around 10 points a game to go along with four assists.
New York is in the No. 7 spot in the current Eastern Conference standings and has been a team that has given the Cavaliers trouble this past season when they’ve battled head-to-head. Hart can step in and be a starter as he was doing this season in Portland.
As a Cavs fan, I’d be more nervous today because of this trade because the Knicks will begin to climb in the standings. I don’t know if they’ll catch Cleveland, but this could be setting the stage for the Cavs to have to play the Knicks in the playoffs and that’s just not a good matchup for the Win and Gold.
However, in the end, the competition in the East got a lot easier for the Cavs as the Nets broke the band up with the departure of Durant and Irving to the West.
Yes, Cleveland will still need to trump the Bucks and Celtics, but I like the Wine and Gold squad’s chances even better today.