One of the commentators made a good point yesterday - very good, experienced players, guys like Leonard or Green or DeRozan or Trent Jr. or Siakam - they all simply get better after coaching from Nurse. They shoot better, play better defence, and they can play for longer. Man knows what he is doing.
Just two days after trading Caris LeVert to the surprisingly championship-contending Cleveland Cavaliers for Ricky Rubio and a bevy of draft picks, the Pacers have traded two-time All-Star Domantas Sabonis, Justin Holiday, Jeremy Lamb, and a second-round pick in '27 to Sacramento in exchange for Tyrese Haliburton, Buddy Hield, and Tristan Thompson.
People are quite bullish on this trade from the Pacers’ perspective, actually. The two-center experiment clearly wasn’t working anymore, and Haliburton is a talented young player.
Well, C.J. McCollum has jumped ship and is going to NOLA. We traded him and Larry Nance and one other for four nobodies and some draft picks. The team is in tatters at this point and right now I’m watching Orlando (Or-fucking-lando!) delivering what may be a beating to the Blazers. I would expect Lillard to shop himself around for next season, as he now knows that Portland will never make it to the finals during his career. He would likely take a bench position for GS just to have a shot at it.
@Chefguy Another trade involving the Blazers:
Utah acquires Portland’s Nickeil Alexander-Walker and the Spurs’ Juancho Hernangomez in a three-way deal. The Spurs get guard Tomas Satoransky and the Jazz’s '27 second-round pick, and the Blazers get Joe Ingles, Elijah Hughes and the Jazz’s '22 second-round pick via Memphis.
That would be good news if not for the fact that Ingles has a torn ACL. They ended up losing to Orlando by 18 last night, and I’m not watching them play LA tonight.
Right, sorry; I forgot to mention that. Like the Pacers trading for Rubio, he’s an expiring contract that will help them get some cap space next offseason, nothing more.
I didn’t see the game, but the box score says you missed out. $76 million for LBJ and AD alone, and they lost to a Blazers squad making $28 million total. Just oof.
We ended up tuning in to the second half. All props to the squad for playing like demons, and to Simons for recovering his mojo in the second half. I’m beginning to think that a Simons-Lillard team may terrorize the NBA like the splash brothers do.
In their Kings’ debuts, Sabonis had 22 points, 14 rebounds, and 5 assists; Holiday had 6/2/4; and Lamb had 14/6/5 with a team-best plus-minus of +26, in Sacramento’s 132-119 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The Pacers debut their new players on Friday. There’s still talk that Buddy Hield and Tristan Thompson might be moved again before today’s 3 p.m. EST deadline, but at the very least, we’ll have Tyrese Haliburton.
@Dr_Paprika A trade involving the Raptors.
To the Spurs: Goran Dragic (who is expected to be bought out, with the Mavericks, Bucks, Bulls, and Clippers listed as potential suitors); the Raptors’ 2022 first-round pick (top-14 protected in '22; top-13 protected in '23; will turn into two future second-round picks if it doesn’t convey in ‘23)
To the Raptors: Thaddeus Young, Drew Eubanks, the Pistons’ 2022 second-round pick
And the rumored James Harden/Ben Simmons trade has finally happened.
Frankly, if I’m a contending team, I don’t want James Harden. He’s a talented player but he’s mercurial. It doesn’t take much before he wants to leave.
This is a nice deal for Toronto; Young is a much needed bit of depth on the bench, still plays good in limited minutes, and he’s a classy veteran to briefly help a very young team. Eubanks isn’t a terrible guy to have around either and can play center, where Khem Birch seems to have run out of steam as the bench option.
Celtics/Spurs trade:
Boston acquires Derrick White.
San Antonio acquires Romeo Langford, Josh Richardson, and the Celtics’ 2022 first-round pick (top-4 protected).
And my Pacers apparently aren’t done making moves just yet, working on finalizing a trade with the Phoenix Suns to send Torrey Craig to Phoenix in exchange for Jalen Smith and a future second-round pick.
Yeah, but Simmons. Great upside and at least he’s younger, but total headcase. I really wouldn’t want either on my team, but both teams had to do something. It’s a bit of a win-win of competing shitty situations - Simmons refused to play for Philadelphia while Harden wanted out, was purportedly starting to dog it and could have walked next season anyway.
The thing I like about the Harden-Simmons deal from the perspective of a disinterested observer is that it has such a hilariously wide range of possible outcomes. It could be an historic steal in either direction, or a rare trade that truly helps everyone, and we can all guess at what’s most likely but I honestly have no idea. Let the lord of chaos rule!
Serge Ibaka to the Milwaukee Bucks.
Bucks acquire Ibaka from LAC and two second-round picks from DET.
Kings acquire Donte DiVincenzo from MIL, and Josh Jackson and Trey Lyles from DET.
Pistons acquire Marvin Bagley from SAC.
Clippers acquire Semi Ojeleye and Rodney Hood from MIL.
Trading Ibaka frees up minutes in the Clippers’ frontcourt for starter Ivica Zubac and backup center Isaiah Hartenstein. The trade also saves the Clippers some $30 million toward the luxury tax, and gives them the opportunity to look at both Ojeleye and Hood, who are on expiring contracts.
Ibaka gives the Bucks help in the frontcourt, with Brook Lopez not playing after back surgery.
Bagley is a restricted free-agent this year who clearly wanted out of Sacramento, and frankly, who can blame him?
DiVincenzo started all 66 games he played for the world champion Milwaukee Bucks last year, but suffered a torn ligament in his left ankle early in the Bucks’ win over Miami in Game 3 of the first round and missed the remainder of the postseason. He’s only played 17 games this year and hasn’t regained his form.
Dragic saw very little play. Nurse knows what he is doing, and since losing Ibaka TO could use more bigs on D. With him in charge, not worrying about the draft pick.
Injury replacements have been named for the All-Star Game.
Eastern Conference All-Star Pool:
G LaMelo Bell, Charlotte Hornets (1st); replacing Kevin Durant
Western Conference All-Star Pool:
G Dejounte Murray, San Antonio Spurs (1st); replacing Draymond Green
Jayson Tatum of the Celtics was announced as Durant’s replacement in the Starters pool.
More trades:
Three trades involving Washington.
Washington acquires: Kristaps Porzingis and a second-round pick
Dallas acquires: Spencer Dinwiddie and Davis Bertans
Washington acquires: Vernon Carey Jr. and Ish Smith
Charlotte acquires: Montrezl Harrell
Washington acquires: Cash considerations
Phoenix acquires: Aaron Holiday
And one involving the Celtics and Rockets.
Boston acquires: Daniel Theis
Houston acquires: Dennis Schroder, Bruno Fernando (WE DON’T TALK ABOUT BRUNO!), and Enes Freedom (formerly Enes Kanter)
Schroder is on a one-year, $5.9 million deal that he hopes to parlay into a big payday this season when he becomes an unrestricted free agent.
Fernando and Freedom are also on expiring contracts. Sources say Freedom will be bought out.
Notably, the Los Angeles Lakers, though they tried to make an aggressive move at the trade deadline, ended up standing pat. They’re expected to do something in the buyout market.
Raptors now have eight in a row under their belt with a decisive 139-120 win over the Rockets in Houston (now lost four in a row). Guess I’m on the Gary Trent, Jr. Train, tonight rolling in with 42 points, 5 steals. Rounding out their storming road trip this Saturday in Denver, who tonight signed Demarcus Cousins to another 10-day contract. 
This was not a defensive battle, and while Trent Jr. and Siakam covered the absence of VanVleet, both scoring 20+ points in the first half (a franchise first), it seemed almost every play ended up with a basket.