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How did the last round of trades impact your NBA futures for 2019? We got the answers below.
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Toronto Raptors (11-1 odds)
The Raptors get Paul Gasol and that's all that matters as Toronto is now a bonafide Eastern Conference Championship contender with the second shortest odds in the league of winning.
It's not as if Gasol is the best player in the league right now, he's not. But he gives the Raptors that extra spark that should get them over the hump in most games.
From ESPN.com:
At this stage of his career, Gasol can no longer be considered a star player. At a position where players are scoring more efficiently than ever -- the average center has a true shooting percentage of .595 this season -- Gasol has become a volume scorer, with his .541 true shooting percentage worse than the league average across all positions (.558).
That makes the Raptors an ideal fit for Gasol, assuming he's ready to accept a smaller role. When he plays with Toronto's starters, Gasol won't need to create much of his own offense. The Raptors have plenty of other options for that, and his playmaking from the high post and floor spacing will fit in well with the offense Nick Nurse wants to run.
Philadelphia 76ers (18-1 odds)
The 76ers get Jonathon Simmons, a first-round pick (via OKC) and a second-round pick.
From ESPN.com:
Much more so than Simmons, the real value for Philadelphia in this trade is the picks, which help replenish the four traded to the LA Clippers earlier this week. The Sixers will hope to get a 2020 first-rounder from Oklahoma City. They're likely out their own first-round pick in the same year (lottery protected) due to that deal.
Obviously, that's selling very low on a player the 76ers gave up the No. 3 pick (used on Jayson Tatum) and Sacramento's 2019 first-round pick to get the chance to draft. Still, I think it's possible that Fultz's value could have decreased as his prospect sheen got further removed and he continued to struggle with either his health or his shooting. A return in Philadelphia never seemed like a good idea given all the scrutiny, and this way Orlando gets the possibility of Fultz taking the court this season plus a full offseason to work with him.
This may be offset by the Sixers trade with the Clippers which sends Landry Shamet, Wilson Chandler, Mike Muscala packing to LA and ESPN.com gives the Clippers an A for this trade.
Milwaukee Bucks (12-1 odds)
Already a very good team with the shortest odds of winning the 2019 NBA Championship, Milwaukee's trade for Nikola Mirotic was graded an A by ESPN.com.
Mirotic has never played for Mike Budenholzer, but he should feel right at home in a system that encourages players to let fly from 3-point range. Only in short stretches has Mirotic been an exceptionally accurate 3-point shooter -- for his career, he's at 36 percent from beyond the arc, a hair better than league average -- but he has always been a high-volume one, which is better in terms of spacing. Never in his career has Mirotic attempted fewer than 6.8 3-pointers per 36 minutes in a season, and he's up to a career-high 9.0 per 36 minutes this season -- more than anyone on the Bucks, believe it or not.
