Assessing the West after chaos of NBA trade deadline
From the outside vantage point, the Nuggets’ trade deadline moves were marginal.
Inside Denver’s organization, they were deemed necessary to elevate their championship odds.
Adding center Thomas Bryant, whose reported trade request out of Los Angeles gave the Nuggets an advantage, solidifies a frontcourt that had more unsettling questions than answers. Bryant’s a huge, mobile big, with good hands who works hard. Defensively, there are — and should be — reservations.
But if all you need from Bryant in the postseason are two bench stints where Denver’s reserves won’t cede ground that the Nuggets’ starters earned, there’s a good chance he’ll be able to fulfill his role. That task only becomes easier if the Nuggets are able to reach a deal with buyout candidate Reggie Jackson, who, as The Post reported, is near the top of Denver’s wish list.
Trading Bones Hyland was more complicated. Tension persisted with Hyland and numerous veterans, per sources, which was part of the reason he became available to be traded in the first place. A selfish attitude, on a team heralded for its unselfishness, doesn’t play, especially when you’re a second- year player. The noise around Hyland became so audible around the league that teams weren’t interested in paying the commensurate value for a burgeoning talent with numerous years of team control left on his contract.
Two second- round picks were all Denver could muster in what should amount to a learning lesson for all parties.
Heading into Saturday’s game at Charlotte, the Nuggets still owned a 3.5- game lead in the Western Conference over
Memphis. Despite ample rumors that the Grizzlies tried to land Toronto’s OG Anunoby, Memphis’ big splash amounted to getting Luke Kennard, the former Clippers sniper. That addition shouldn’t scare Denver. It’s the other additions that found their way to threatening West teams that should.
The Mavericks added arguably the best ball- handler in the NBA to help alleviate some of Luka Doncic’s workload. In Kyrie Irving, Dallas has another creator and another clutch scorer with significant postseason experience. Whether his myriad distractions detract from Dallas’ quest is a question everyone in the league is wondering. Talentwise, Dallas got better and more formidable, though both Doncic and Irving still need the ball in their hands to be optimized.
Hate to say it, but the Lakers got better, too. The situation with Russell Westbrook appeared to be untenable before they flipped him and just one future first- round pick for D’angelo Russell and former Nuggets Malik Beasley and Jarred Vanderbilt. In Russell, the Lakers found a productive bench scorer; in Beasley and Vanderbilt, they found two supplementary pieces to pair around Lebron James. Perhaps the moves won’t elevate Los Angeles to the heights James is accustomed to playing at, but if nothing else, the Lakers can entertain the thought that they’ll be just a bit more relevant in the playoff picture.
Those moves paled in comparison to the seismic deal Phoenix orchestrated. The Suns, seizing on an apparent opening in the West and capitalizing on the zeal of new ownership, traded valuable wings Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, and Jae Crowder plus four first- round picks for Kevin Durant. It was the type of deal you make when you sense an opening to win a championship, which was clearly what Phoenix concluded. In Durant, Devin Booker, Chris Paul, and Deandre Ayton, the Nuggets have a team that can match, if not exceed, them offensively. Durant’s good enough to drag the Suns from the morass of the West to the top of the conference. From there, it’s fair to wonder whether the Nuggets improved enough to stave off Phoenix.
As the Nuggets watched the chaos of the trade deadline unfold, the only solace they could take as Irving and Durant joined their rivals was that it came at the expense of defense, opponents’ best chance of stopping Denver’s elite attack. Wings Dorian Finney- Smith, Bridges, and Johnson are all in Brooklyn, unavailable to help as Denver unloads its offensive arsenal. Those were calculated decisions by Denver’s rivals. We’ll know whether they worked later this summer.