Big Trades In Midst of NBA Trade Deadline

As most expected, there were some big trades in midst of today’s NBA trade deadline. Lets start it off on a bit of a lighter note: the Portland Trail Blazers acquired Arron Afflalo and Alonzo Gee from the Denver Nuggets for Thomas Robinson, Will Barton, Victor Claver and a lottery first round pick — it becomes a second round pick if the Blazers happen to miss the playoffs in 2016 and 2017.

Despite Afflalo’s numbers being down this season, the shooting guard is still averaging 14.5 PPG and 2 APG. In a statement from Portland’s president of basketball operations Neil Olshey, “Arron is a proven winner with playoff experience who will be easily integrated into our culture. He possesses a skill set that complements our style of play on both ends of the floor and will make an immediate impact as we continue our playoff push.”

On top of this, Kevin Garnett will be returning to the place where his career began: the Minnesota Timberwolves traded Thaddeus Young for the aging star. Garnett recently dropped his no-trade clause and agreed to the swap.

Garnett, who was jut averaging 6.8 PPG, 6.8 TR and 1.6 APG, returns to the place he called home for his first twelve seasons: there he won the 2004 MVP, averaged over 20 points a game and is the team’s all-time leading scorer. On the other side of the equation, Thaddeus Young is on pace to garner his third straight 1,000 point season.

Also, after plenty of speculation about where Goran Dragic would go, he has been shipped off to the Miami Heat. The star point guard was put on the Suns’ trading block this week after he expressed unhappiness with Phoenix: “Last year was great. This year it’s different… Standing in the corner, it’s not my game.” His agent made it quite clear he was not going to re-sign with the team in the offseason, so the Suns probably wanted to get the best deal out of the situation.

While ESPN’s Marc Stein broke the story, little has been revealed about the actual trade: so wait for an update to find out the key particulars.

And finally, ESPN is also reporting a three team deal between the Philadelphia 76ers, Phoenix Suns and Milwaukee Bucks: the Buck’s Brandon Knight goes to the Suns, Michael Carter-Williams, Miles Plumelee and Tyler Ennis to the Bucks and draft picks for the 76ers.

Knight was a huge commodity before this trade deadline: the Suns, who traded Goran Dragic and Isaiah Thomas, get one of the best young point guards in the league, the Bucks add depth to their bench and the 76ers continue their rebuilding phase.