East contenders make their moves
New Orleans holds onto Davis but deals Mirotic to the Bucks
Toronto, Milwaukee and Philadelphia made their moves. Anthony Davis will have to wait until the summer for his.
The New Orleans Pelicans held onto Davis but dealt Nikola Mirotic to the Bucks, one of the Eastern Conference contenders who fortified their teams Thursday before the NBA trade deadline.
The Raptors are getting former All-Star center Marc Gasol from Memphis. The 76ers, a day after acquiring forward Tobias Harris from the Clippers, sent Markelle Fultz to Orlando and will hope Jonathan Simmons can provide some production where the former No. 1 pick couldn’t.
“Those teams were already really good. And the assumption would only be that they’d only benefit from those moves,” Boston coach Brad Stevens said. “It will be quite a challenge. As we knew it would be.”
All the trades were confirmed to The Associated Press by people with knowledge of the details because they couldn’t be announced before they were approved by the NBA.
A busy swap season that included Dallas’ acquisition of Kristaps Porzingis from New York ended without a move for Davis, the player who dominated the discussion in recent weeks. The Pelicans didn’t find a deal for Davis, who had requested a trade and informed the team he wouldn’t sign a contract extension this summer.
But the Lakers couldn’t put together a strong enough package to the Pelicans’ liking for the All-Star forward, who will go back into the trade market after the season ends. There will be other marquee names available then with a free agent class that could be highlighted by players such as Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and Kawhi Leonard.
Boston didn’t jump into the trading deadline fray but may try to get involved in the summer. For now, the Celtics appear to feel they have enough to win the East.
Milwaukee (40-13) already has the NBA’s best record and Mirotic’s outside-shooting ability for a big man would appear to fit perfectly in a lineup around superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Two games back of the Bucks, the Raptors sent center Jonas Valanciunias to Memphis to acquire Gasol. Valanciunas had been coming off the bench and Toronto coach Nick Nurse will have to decide whether he uses Gasol in the same manner.
“(Gasol) is one of the best fives in the league for a long time now, perennial All-Star, Defensive Player of the Year,” Raptors guard Fred VanVleet said. “Just really excited to see how we can acclimate him to what we do and see how much he can give us a boost.”
Things were quieter in the West, where there were no upgrades by teams currently in playoff position.