East contenders make their moves, Davis has to wait for his
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 sent center
Jonas Valanciunias to Memphis to acquire former All-Star center Marc Gasol.
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.
The 76ers have made two major trades during the season, previously getting Jimmy Butler from Minnesota before the deal to bring in Harris, Boban
Marjanovic and forward Mike Scott.
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.
LeBron, Giannis choose their teams for the All-Star Game
LeBron James' Los Angeles Lakers were unable to swing a deal for Davis, but James drafted the New Orleans Pelicans star on Thursday when he and fellow captain Giannis
Antetokounmpo sat down to choose their teams for the Feb. 17 All-Star Game in Charlotte.
Davis told the Pelicans he wanted a trade, and James has made it clear that he'd love to play with him. But for now, their time as teammates will be limited to All-Star weekend.
James chose Kevin
Durant with the No. 1 overall pick, as he did last year in the All-Star draft, to be one of his starters. They'll be joined in the Team LeBron starting five by Kyrie Irving, Kawhi Leonard and James Harden.
Team Giannis, in addition to Antetokounmpo, will start Oklahoma City's Paul George, Stephen Curry, Joel Embiid and hometown
favorite Kemba Walker.
Antetokounmpo took his Milwaukee teammate
Khris Middleton with the first pick in the reserve round, along with former Oklahoma star Blake Griffin, Nikola Jokic, Ben Simmons, D'Angelo Russell, Nikola Vucevic and Kyle Lowry. James took Davis, Oklahoma City's Russell Westbrook, Klay Thompson, Damian Lillard, LaMarcus Aldridge, Karl-Anthony Towns and Bradley Beal.
James managed to make a trade, convincing Antetokounmpo to swap Westbrook for Simmons — and give the Bucks' star the chance to have Westbrook and Embiid together, as he said he wanted.
The NBA signed off on the trade.
That left the third round and the decision between the two special additions to the game by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver — those
being Dwyane Wade and Dirk Nowitzki. James took Wade, his former Miami and Cleveland teammate and longtime close friend. That left Nowitzki for Antetokounmpo's side.
Knicks waive Kanter, Matthews after deadline
The New York Knicks have waived Enes Kanter and Wesley Matthews, allowing them to sign with other teams for a playoff run.
The Knicks were unable to find a trade before Thursday's deadline for Kanter, their former starting center who had fallen out of the rotation altogether with New York having the worst record in the league and focusing on its younger players.
Matthews was acquired last week from Dallas in the Kristaps Porzingis trade and played in two games. The veteran swingman is averaging 12.8 points this season.
Players on an NBA roster have to be waived by March 1 in order to be eligible to sign with another team and appear in the postseason.