Although rumors were flying around leading up to the trade deadline, it turns out that the New York Knicks’ lone move was sending Cam Reddish, Svi Mykhailiuk, Ryan Arcidiacono, and a protected first-round pick to the Trail Blazers in exchange for Josh Hart on Wednesday night.
After staying pat on trade deadline day last year, the Knicks did the same on Thursday. It was rumored that New York was in talks with Chicago about Zach LaVine, but on Thursday afternoon, SNY’s Ian Begley reported that the Knicks communicated that the trade was “highly unlikely to happen.” That’s something that fans should be happy about.
With Hart bolstering New York’s second unit, the team has an increased chance of securing a playoff berth. Sitting at No. 7 in the conference, the Knicks could finish the season in the top six, so things are looking much better in New York than they did a year ago.
The same can’t be said for other Eastern Conference teams, though. Let’s dig into three teams in particular that embarrassed themselves ahead of the deadline.
3 Eastern Conference rivals Knicks fans can clown after trade deadline decisions
3: Brooklyn Nets
At 1 a.m. on Thursday, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski sent out a tweet that flipped the NBA world upside down. A few days after trading Kyrie Irving to the Mavericks, the Nets sent Kevin Durant and T.J. Warren to the Suns in exchange for Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, Jae Crowder (who has since been traded to the Bucks), four first-round picks, and a pick swap.
Less than four years after signing Durant and Irving in free agency, Brooklyn is still left with zero titles, even after trading for James Harden in January of 2021. The Nets are now known for having the most epic collapse in NBA history, which is something that Knicks fans have enjoyed seeing play out.
While Brooklyn did get an impressive haul in return for Irving, the Nets weren’t able to acquire one star in the Irving/Durant trades. Instead, the team was left with a roster that could still lead them to the playoffs, but won’t be able to make the deep playoff run that fans have been waiting for. Even with KD, Irving, and Harden, Brooklyn was unable to make it to the Eastern Conference Finals.
In what was once viewed as the most powerful Big 3 in the history of the league, each player eventually requested a trade, with Harden being the first to do so last year. Durant was the last domino to fall. What a disaster.
2: Chicago Bulls
After finishing sixth in the Eastern Conference last season with a 46-36 record, the Bulls have been extremely underwhelming in 2022-23 as they are currently No. 9 with a 26-29 record.
Chicago was expected to make some sort of move leading up to the deadline, but it was also thought that the Bulls could go crazy and start to tear things down. Luckily for Knicks fans, that didn’t entail sending LaVine to New York. Instead, Chicago did nothing. Yep, nothing.
The Bulls didn’t make any moves ahead of last year’s deadline, but at least the team was able to secure a playoff berth. Instead of building on last season’s success, Chicago has taken several steps backward. The organization wants to see how the remainder of the year plays out, meaning that the Bulls could be one of the more active teams in the offseason.
ESPN’s Zach Lowe called Chicago’s future “murky.” If Chicago doesn’t see any improvement between now and the end of the season, their stubbornness to upgrade the roster could come back to haunt them.
The Bulls’ struggles have benefitted the Knicks and hopefully for New York’s sake, Chicago won’t see the improvement that it is hoping to see.
1: Toronto Raptors
All of that talk about the Raptors being sellers leading up to the trade deadline ended up being pointless. After trading for Jakob Poeltl early Thursday morning, Toronto didn’t make any other moves for the remainder of the day.
OG Anunoby is a player that the Knicks had expressed interest in, as well as many other teams including the Grizzlies, Pelicans, and Warriors. There was a rumor floating around that Anunoby wasn’t happy with his role in Toronto, but he denied that claim. However, there’s still been whispers that the 25-year-old wants to leave the Raptors, which is something that Anunoby wouldn’t admit even if it were true.
If Toronto was going to trade one of its starters ahead of the deadline, the thought was that it’d be Anunoby. That didn’t happen, though, and here’s why.
"Why it didn't happen? The opportunity was not there for us for a blockbuster trade." - Ujiri
— Blake Murphy (@BlakeMurphyODC) February 9, 2023
Yes, the Raptors missed the opportunity to sell high, but perhaps the issue was that Toronto was looking to make a blockbuster trade. Anunoby’s price was reportedly too steep for rival front offices before Kevin Durant was traded and after that, his price tag went up with Western Conference teams wanting to compete with Phoenix. Instead of capitalizing on that, the Raptors did nothing.
Similar to Chicago, Toronto is No. 10 in the East with a 26-30 record after finishing No. 5 in the conference last season. The Raptors believe that they have a good team as is, but their on-court performance so far this year doesn’t reflect that. What a shame.
Grade the Knicks Trade: New York acquires Josh Hart in Cam Reddish deal with Blazers
In the Knicks' first trade of the season, they started off with a banger, trading Cam Reddish, cap filler, and a protected pick for Josh Hart.