I feel like I’ve spent most of this week yelling about the Dallas Mavericks gifting the Los Angeles Lakers one of the best offensive players who has ever lived, so it’s time to switch things up. The trade deadline is over, and the vast majority of the deals were not incomprehensible, potentially franchise-crippling transactions that alienated fans and turned reasonable people into conspiracy theorists.
Many of them, in fact, were so sensible that I wish I had thought of them myself. Here’s a negativity-free look this week’s player movement, featuring some under-the-radar team/player fits that I’m particularly bullish on:
Clippers buy low on Bogdanovic
I will temper my enthusiasm by acknowledging how bad of a season Bogdan Bogdanovic is having. In 24 games this season, he is averaging a career-low 10 points on a career-low 50.2% true shooting in a career-low 24.9 minutes with a career-low 18% usage rate. He has made a career-low 31.6% of his catch-and-shoot 3s and a career-low 25% of his spot-up 3s. If these numbers are anything close to the new normal for Bogdanovic, then the Clippers have effectively dumped Terance Mann and Bones Hyland for three second-round picks.
I’m not just assuming that Bogdanovic is washed at 32 years old, though. Just last season, he was indispensable to the Hawks as both a playmaker and a spot-up shooter. He averaged 16.9 points in 30.4 minutes, and, if not for Naz Reid’s late-season surge, would’ve had my Sixth Man of the Year vote. The Clippers rank 23rd in offense this season, but, if they have that version of Bogdanovic supporting Kawhi Leonard, James Harden and Norman Powell, that ranking means nothing.
Bogdanovic was dealing with right hamstring tendinopathy at the beginning of this season. He had a non-surgical procedure to address it in late October, and he returned to the court in mid-November. After that, though, he missed games because of a left quad contusion, a left lower leg contusion and right knee inflammation. If there was ever a point at which he was fully healthy, it didn’t last long.
If there’s any team that has experience with persistent leg injuries, it’s the Clippers. By making this move, they are making a bet that Bogdanovic’s terrible-by-his-standards 2024-25 season is health-related and they can get him healthy. That is a bet that could pay off enormously, given that the team has exceeded expectations by locking teams down and scrounging up points when they need them. Between the eventual uptick in Leonard’s minutes and this new weapon, the Clippers now have real upside offensively.
Cavs take Hunter off Hawks’ hands
If Atlanta effectively announced that it thinks Bogdanovic’s 2024-25 production is a real representation of his ability, it took the opposite position on De’Andre Hunter. The 27-year-old forward has been enjoying a bounceback season, averaging a career-high 19 points in 28.7 minutes and making 39.3% of his catch-and-shoot 3s on good volume. In late December, Hawks coach Quin Snyder called him a “stabilizing” force at both ends of the floor, a “warrior,” a “soldier” and a “guy you love to have on your team.” Every team in the league wants 6-foot-8 wings who can guard up and guard down. Despite all that, Atlanta traded him.
My only conclusion is that, after having serious buyer’s remorse on the four-year, $90 million extension they signed him to in 2022, the Hawks were set on getting out of the deal if he could ever play well enough for long enough to rehabilitate his trade value. I love this acquisition for the Cavaliers, though, because I’d figured that any Hunter trade would feel like Atlanta was selling high. Moving him for Caris LeVert’s expiring contract, Georges Niang’s non-expiring contract, three second-round picks and two likely meaningless swaps, it does not feel like that.
De’Andre Hunter trade grades: Cavaliers get ‘A-‘ for their biggest move, Hawks could’ve done better
Sam Quinn
Hunter doesn’t necessarily have to shoot as accurately as he has with the Hawks for this trade to be worth Cleveland’s while. He just needs to continue attempting them with confidence and not revert to taking the long 2s that used to submarine his efficiency. I’m not worried about his shot profile changing for the worse on a Kenny Atkinson-coached team, and I’m sort of stunned that the Cavaliers, who entered trade season with limited resources, were able to acquire the exact type of player that they needed.
Cleveland is a team of few flaws, as suggested by its 41-10 record. It does not, however, have an army of big wings. If the Cavaliers anticipate playing the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference finals, Hunter’s size, speed and switchability are much more valuable than LeVert’s superior playmaking.
Atkinson will surely play Hunter at the 4 when either Jarrett Allen or Evan Mobley is on the bench, and, at the other end of the spectrum, he could experiment with Hunter and Dean Wade on the wing next to the two bigs in mammoth lineups. I’m not saying that Hunter is the missing piece that will make the Cavs champions (or even champions of the East), but the margin for error in those series is usually small. Much smaller moves have swung them.
The 76ers’ wing swap
The extra second-round pick that the Philadelphia 76ers had to send Dallas may make their acquisition of Quentin Grimes a worse value proposition, but, in a way, it makes me feel even better about the swap. Caleb Martin joined the Sixers on a bargain-basement contract last summer, but, as a result of a shoulder injury and the hip ailment that currently has him sidelined, the signing has not been as big of a W as anticipated. The assumption, though, was that he was close to returning to the court, and that his 2024-25 season would finish much better than it started.
Now the Mavericks are reportedly hoping that Martin will be back in two-to-three weeks, despite the fact that a physical revealed the hip injury was worse than they’d realized. The moment that the swap was reported, I loved it for Philadelphia for big-picture reasons: Grimes is five years younger than Martin, and he’s a more natural fit next to Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and Paul George. He shoots 3s at a higher volume, commands much more defensive attention on the perimeter and he’s more suited to defending quick guards. Now, I also love it for practical, short-term reasons: The Sixers have spent most of this season digging themselves a hole, and they need healthy bodies to climb out of it. This trade doesn’t just give them an infusion of perimeter talent, it gets rid of the cloud of uncertainty that has surrounded Martin’s extended absence.
I know Philadelphia is 20-30 and this has often felt like a season from hell. I can’t help myself, though, from thinking about how good this team could be if it can just stay mostly healthy — can’t wait to see you again next season, Jared McCain! — for the next few months. Embiid looked better than he has all season when he returned to the court with a 29-point triple-double this week, Maxey appears to be becoming unstoppable, George is back again, virtually all of the role players are contributing and now Grimes is in the picture. He is not a star, and the Sixers can’t afford to pay him like one when he hits restricted free agency in a few months. He is precisely the type of player, though, that can help them tie everything together.
Other stray (positive) thoughts
- In Detroit, Dennis Schroder won’t have the role he did in Brooklyn, but why can’t he have the one he did in Oklahoma City a few years ago? He was the 6MOY runner-up that season, thriving on a team that had a nice mix of youth and experience.
- The Suns didn’t get Jimmy Butler, but if the only way to do that was trading Kevin Durant, I’m glad all they did was turn Jusuf Nurkic into Cody Martin. No one is excited about this team at the moment, and I’m not saying that anybody should be. Don’t be surprised, though, if Phoenix’s newly acquired wing plays a meaningful role in its playoff push. Lineup versatility is important.
- If you separate Kyle Kuzma‘s presence in Milwaukee from the sad way the Khris Middleton era ended, it’s possible to be optimistic about it. I find it highly unlikely that Kuzma’s dreadful 2024-25 season represents his true ability, given that he’d been a helpful role player for years before this. The Bucks need Kuzma’s best, and, given that the Mavericks tried to trade for him before acquiring PJ Washington last season, it would be appropriate for Kuzma to have a similar post-trade rejuvenation.
- I’m not exactly sure why Mann’s role and playing time varied so much in his Clippers tenure, particularly toward the end of it, but I’m happy he’s getting a fresh start. Yes, I thought the Clippers had to go get Bogdanovic, but I thought this was a smart move for Atlanta, too. At 28, Mann is much closer to the Hawks’ timeline, and his salary will be only 9.1% of the projected cap next season and 8.6% in 2027-28. That’s pretty cheap for a guy who has capably filled in the blanks on playoff teams.
