AT THE NBA trade deadline, another round of NBA shakeup made the news. Here is a summary of the high profile team acquisitions:
Miami Heat: Victor Oladipo (Rockets) for Avery Bradley, Kelly Olynyk, and 2022 1st Round swap rights, Nemanja Bjelica (Kings) for Mo Harkless and Chris Silva
LA Clippers: Rajon Rondo (Hawks) for Lou Williams and two second-round picks
Portland Trail Blazers: Normal Powell (Raptor) for Gary Trent Jr and Rodney Hood
Chicago Bulls: Nikola Vucevic, Al-Farouq Aminu (Magic) for Wendell Carter Jr., Otto Porter, and two first- round picks, Mo Wagner and Troy Brown (Wizards) for Chandler Hutchinson, Daniel Their (Celtics) for Mo Wagner
Denver Nuggets: Aaron Gordon and Gary Clark (Magic) for Gary Harris, RJ Hampton and first-round pick, Javale McGee (Cavs) for Isaiah Hertenstein, and two second-round picks
Boston Celtics: Evan Fournier (Magic) for Jeff Teague and two second-round picks, Mo Wagner (Bulls-Wizard)
Dallas Mavericks: JJ Redick and Nicolo Melli (Pelicans) for Wesley Iwanda, James Johnson, and 2nd round pick
Buyout pick-ups: LaMarcus Aldridge(Nets) and Andre Drummond (Lakers)
Winners: Miami Heat benefits from getting Oladipo’s services for almost nothing. Their core is intact, and Oladipo adds to their firepower. Evidence of Pat Riley’s efficient human resources maneuvering.
Runner-up: Chicago Bulls haven’t had a pair of All-Stars in a long time, and with Vucevic coming in, Zach Lavine gets an able and strong tandem. Hopefully, this tandem stays for the long haul.
Losers: NBA Fans
While the stars have been aligning themselves with each other in teams, it also robs the fans of a chance to see them play their best games. Two superstars in a team is indeed a great showcase of talent. Still, more than two make the watching experience less exhilarating.
Case in point, Brooklyn. How many games have their stars played in together as a complete unit? There is no hate for them; kudos to their management for pulling this off. But as an NBA fan, I am turned off by this recent trend in the NBA. No more parity, and stars can “rest” and do other stuff because they have other teammates to cover for them.
Of course, this is not the first time that stars have aligned at this magnitude. At most, it is three superstars joining forces.
The 2004 and 2012 Lakers were the last who had more than three, but history hasn’t been kind to superteams with more than three superstars.