Hawks trade Rondo, bring back Williams
Kyle Lowry stayed with the Toronto Raptors, and the Miami Heat got Victor Oladipo instead. And on a trade deadline day when NBA teams made moves right up until the last possible moment, the Denver Nuggets took a big swing at getting better for a playoff run while the Orlando Magic began a rebuild.
Lowry — considered perhaps the biggest prize available — did not get traded, the Raptors apparently unable to find enough assets to their liking. The Heat were one of the biggest pursuers for Lowry, and they may still target him as a free agent later this year, but they wound up adding Oladipo from the Houston Rockets.
That move didn’t cost Miami much: Kelly Olynyk was on an expiring deal, and Avery Bradley has barely played for the Heat this season because of COVID-19 and then a calf injury. The deal also included a pick swap in 2022, a person with knowledge of the matter told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the deal needed league approval.
Oladipo has wanted to be in Miami for some time, and the Rockets made that happen.
Deadline day can be tough on teams and players, but typically it comes with some sort of relief: The questions about someone going from one franchise to another are over now, or at least until the offseason.
“It’s not a great day around the league as far as trying to keep everybody focused, that’s for sure,” New Orleans Pelicans coach Stan Van Gundy said.
Questions swirled around Lowry all the way to the 3 p.m. Eastern deadline, and there were signs the Raptors were positioning themselves to make the move, but on his 35th birthday, he woke up as a Raptor — and remained one.
“Everything will be fine,” Lowry had said Wednesday when asked about the looming deadline and incessant reports about his trade prospects. “Everything will be fine, no matter what happens.”
Orlando made three separate deals to move three of their four leading scorers this season, including All-Star Nikola Vucevic. He’s going to the Chicago Bulls, while Evan Fournier got moved to the Boston Celtics and Aaron Gordon was sent to the Nuggets. Denver was busy Thursday, also adding JaVale McGee in a deal from the Cleveland Cavaliers for Isaiah Hartenstein and two draft picks.
The Los Angeles Clippers had been seeking point guard help for weeks and got it in the form of Rajon Rondo, who was part of the Los Angeles Lakers’ run to the title last season and now returns to L.A, according to a person with knowledge of that trade. The Clippers gave up Lou Williams in a deal with the Atlanta Hawks, who brought him back to his home state and the team he spent two seasons with from 2012 to 2014.