Biggest Winners of the NBA Trade Deadline

Written by :

C Costigan

Published on :

10 February, 2020

The NBA trade deadline passed and now we take an early look at the biggest winners this year.

Miami Heat

The Heat are in fourth place in the Eastern Conference at 34-18 and their team got significantly better by adding veteran and wing depth after their trade with the Grizzlies.

Andre Iguodala, Jae Crowder and Solomon Hill are now in Miami and they sent Justise Winslow, Dion Waiters and James Johnson to Memphis. The Heat now has additional perimeter defense, shooting and playmaking. This move also helped them save over $40 million in salary for next season, which is important because they want to go sign a big free agent.

Winslow, Waiters, and Johnson were not playing much this season because of injury and rotations. Now the Heat have a deeper roster with more experience and flexibility.

Los Angeles Clippers

The Lakers wanted to trade for Knicks forward Marcus Morris (plus-1.4 Offensive Box Plus/Minus) but the Clippers prevented them from getting him. What's more remarkable is that they traded for him and still kept Landry Shamet (plus-1.1 Offensive Box Plus/Minus). To me, this move tips the scales in their favor once the playoffs start.

Morris was playing extremely well for the Knicks. He led New York with a career-high 19.6 points and also averaged 5.4 rebounds and shot 44.2 percent from the field and a career-best 43.9 percent from beyond the arc in 32.3 minutes over 43 games.