Week 16 recap and Roze's 5 Things

Standings - Through Sunday, February 9th 

Eastern Conference  

1. Cleveland Cavaliers 42-10
2. Boston Celtics 37-16
3. New York Knicks 34-18
4. Indiana Pacers 29-22
5. Milwaukee Bucks 28-23
6. Detroit Pistons 27-26
7. Miami Heat 25-25
8. Orlando Magic 26-28
9. Atlanta Hawks 25-28
10. Chicago Bulls 22-31
11. Philadelphia 76ers 20-32
12. Brooklyn Nets 18-34
13. Toronto Raptors 16-37
14. Charlotte Hornets 13-37
15. Washington Wizards 9-43

Western Conference 

1. Oklahoma City Thunder 42-9
2. Memphis Grizzlies 35-17
3. Denver Nuggets 34-19
4. Houston Rockets 33-20
5. Los Angeles Lakers 31-19
6. Minnesota Timberwolves 30-23
7. LA Clippers 29-23
8. Dallas Mavericks 28-25
9. Sacramento Kings 26-26
10. Phoenix Suns 26-26
11. Golden State Warriors 26-26
12. San Antonio Spurs 22-28
13. Portland Trail Blazers 23-30
14. Utah Jazz 12-39
15. New Orleans Pelicans 12-40  

Reaction 

In the Eastern Conference the Cavaliers, Celtics, and Knicks all remain in the top three spots, however, the Celtics made an emphatic statement demolishing the Knicks on their home floor on Saturday night 131-104. The Pacers continue to push their lead over the Bucks, who will be without Giannis until after the All-Star break. The Pistons remain in the 6th spot with the Heat close behind. The Magic finally snap their losing streak behind a Paolo Banchero game-winner against the Spurs on Friday night. The Hawks and Bulls round out the play-in teams once again. The 76ers still remain in 11th place after going 1-4 in their last 5 games. The Nets are only 2.5 games behind the 76ers for the 11th spot with the Raptors following behind Brooklyn. The Hornets and Wizards once again round out the basement. 

In the Western Conference the Thunder push their lead to 7.5 up on the Grizzlies after the Rockets have gone 4-6 in their last 10 games to drop to 4th lace. The Nuggets move into 3rd after going 7-3 in their last 10 with a commanding win last night against the Suns. The Lakers and Wolves boast win streaks of 5 and 3 games to round out the top 6 in the West. The Clippers fall into the play-in after going 5-5 in their last 10 games. The Mavericks move into 8th after winning their last 2 games. the Kings and Suns round out the play-in teams in the West. The Warriors in sitting in 11th at 26-26 while the Spurs are behind them in 11th. The Blazers 6-game win streak was snapped yesterday, but they sit just a 0.5 game back of the Spurs while the Pelicans are only a 0.5 game back of the Jazz for last place in the West. 

Trade Deadline Recap 

Saturday, February 1st

The Los Angeles Lakers acquire Luka Doncic, Maxi Kleber, and Markieff Morris from the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for Anthony Davis, Max Christie, and an unprotected 2031 first-round pick. The Utah Jazz also acquired Jalen Hood Schifino and a 2025 Mavericks round pick in the deal. 

Sunday, February 2nd 

Kings acquired Zach Lavine, Sidy Sissoko, a 2025 top 14 protected Hornets first-round pick (conveys into a 2026 and 2027 second round), an unprotected 2027 Spurs first-round pick, unprotected 2031 Minnesota first-round pick, and 3 second-und picks. The Spurs acquire De’Aaron Fox and Jordan Mclaughlin and the Bulls acquire Kevin Huerter, Zach Collins, Tre Jones, and their own 2025 first-round pick from the Spurs. 

Tuesday, February 4th

The Hornets acquired a 2029 second-round Suns pick from the Thunder, who received a 2030 second-round Denver pick. 

The 76ers acquired Quentin Grimes and their 2025 second-round pick from the Mavericks in exchange for Caleb Martin. 

Wednesday, February 5th 

Bucks receive Kyle Kuzma, Patrick Baldwin Jr, 2 second-round picks, and Jericho Sims. The Wizards receive Khris Middleton, AJ Johnson, and a 2028 first-round pick swap. The Knicks receive Delon Wright and cash from the Bucks. 

Pistons receive KJ Martin and 2 second-round picks from the 76ers. 

Rockets receive Daniel's Thesis and draft compensation from the Pelicans. 

Kings receive Jonas Valanciunas and the Wizards receive Sidy Sissoko, a 2029 Kings second-round pick, and a 2028 Denver second-round pick. 

The Warriors received Jimmy Butler (agreed to a 2-year 121 million dollar extension) from the Heat. The Heat received Kyle Anderson, Andrew Wiggins, and a 2025 top 10 protected Warriors first-round pick (same protections if it doesn’t convey in 2026, unprotected in 2027 if it doesn’t convey in 2026). 

The Raptors received PJ Tucker as part of the trade from the Heat in exchange for Davion Mitchell. 

The Jazz received Dennis Schroeder who was later traded for K.J. Martin and Josh Richardson from the Pistons. 

The Pistons also received Lindy Waters as part of the deal.  

The Raptors received Brandon Ingram from the Pelicans in exchange for Bruce Brown, Kelly Olynyk, a the Pacers 2026 first-round pick top 4 protected and a second-round pick. 

Thursday, February 6th 

The Hornets receive Dalton Knecht, Cam Reddish, an unprotected 2031 first-round pick, 2030 first-round swap from the Lakers in exchange for Mark Williams. (This trade was later rescinded due to a failed physical from Mark Williams and an unsatisfied condition from the Hornets.)

The 76ers received 4 second-round picks and Jared Butler in exchange for a 2026 first-round pick from the Wizards. The first-round pick is less favorable between the Thunder, Rockets, and Clippers. 

The Spurs received Patrick Baldwin Jr. and cash from the Bucks. 

The Suns received Cody Martin, Vassilije Micic, and a second-round pick from the Hornets in exchange for Jusuf Nurkic and a 2026 first-round pick (less favorable between Suns, Wizards top 8 protected, Magic, and Grizzlies). 

The Cavaliers received De'Andre Hunter from the Hawks in exchange for Georges Niang, Caris LeVert, 3 second-round picks, and a 2026 and 2028 first-round swap. 

The Hawks receive Terrance Mann and Bones Hyland from the Clippers in exchange for Bogdan Bogdanovic and 3 second-round picks. 

Houston received Cody Zeller and a 2028 second-round pick from the Hawks. 

The Raptors get James Wiseman and cash from the Pacers. 

The Clippers received Mar Jon Beauchamp from the Bucks in exchange for Kevin Porter Jr. 

The Wizards received Marcus Smart and a 2025 first-round pick from the Grizzlies. The Grizzlies received Alex Len, Colby Jones, Marvin Bagley, and Johnny Davis, and a 2028 second-round pick. The Kings received Jake LaRavia. 

Roze’s 5 Things

1. The Raptor's defense is good, at least for the last 10 games. 

The Raptors have not been good this year, but in the last 10 games they’ve shown some signs of improvement. Spearheaded by a healthy Scottie Barnes, the Raptors have been very good on defense as of late. The rookies look like they are getting settled into the pace of the NBA and most importantly Scottie Barnes is healthy. He’s an incredible defender, whose switch ability from 1-5 is among the best in the NBA. The Raptors rely on him being a roamer and cleaning up for everyone around the bucket and in the paint. Even without starting center Jakob Poetle for a stretch, the Raptor's defense is flying around the court. They boast a 110 defensive rating good for 6th in the NBA after spending much of their time at the bottom of the league in that category for most of the year. It’s nothing major, but with a new head coach, it’s always important to see some of the concepts he wants to implement work nicely. Being healthy also makes a huge difference for a team as well. The Raptors haven’t had a fully healthy trio of R.J. Barrett, Immanuel Quickley, and Scottie Barnes for more than 10 games this year. 

2. Which play-in teams are the scariest in the West and East?

If the playoffs were to start today teams like the Heat, Suns, Magic, and Mavericks would be in the play-in spot, but who's the scariest and most likely to advance in the postseason assuming they get out of the play-in? In the East, it’s between the Heat, Magic, Hawks, and Bulls. I would have to say the Magic are the scariest team in my opinion for a contender to play. They finally have a healthy Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner in the lineup. I know the shooting has been terrible so far this year, but this is a team that pushed the Cavaliers to 7 games last year. They also get the entire second half of the regular season to figure out the shooting woes and the lineups. In the Western Conference, I think the Mavericks are the scariest among the Clippers, Suns, and Kings. The addition of Anthony Davis looks great so far after he put up a monster 25-point 10-rebound performance just in the first half of their game against the Rockets yesterday. The interior defense of Gafford, Lively, and Davis will give teams like the Thunder, Rockets, and Grizzlies trouble in the postseason. A healthy Davis and motivated Kyrie Irving is a site Western Conference opponents do not want to see. 

3. The Hawks' recent slide

The Hawks are now 25-28 after being 22-19 and in position to be out of the play-in in the Eastern Conference. They proved they were able to win some games and be competitive amongst some of the best teams in the East after knocking off the Celtics, Cavaliers, and Knicks in the NBA Cup. However, the last 10 games have not treated them well. They are 3-7 with the 3rd worst offensive rating. The loss of Jalen Johnson for the season has messed with the offense as teams can now double Trae Young more often without consequence and the second-unit minutes have been very poor without Johnson playing point guard for them. It isn’t’ totally because of Johnson’s injury, as the supporting players around Young have not played well. The Hawks are a team that is 24th in three-point percentage and 20th overall in field goal percentage during the 3-7 stretch and without Johnson, Trae Young is playing on the ball more, something they were trying to do less of this year. His usage rate has increased from 27.8% on the season to 30.5% in the last 10 games. The Hawks also do not own their 2025 first-round pick as they traded it to the Spurs in the Dejounte Murray trade. They’ll need to start winning games so the Spurs do not get as good a draft selection. 

4. SGA/Maxey's recent heaters

While the two teams the Oklahoma City Thunder, and the Philadelphia 76ers have gone in different directions this season. The top scorers on their teams have been showing off recently. Tyrese Maxey and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander have been putting the ball in the hoop at a crazy good pace lately. Gilgeous-Alexander leads the league in scorer on the season and in the last 10 games. He’s putting up 36.9 points per game with 3 50-point outings in the last two and a half weeks. He’s shooting 51.4% from the field and 90.8% from the free-throw line on 12 attempts a game. He’s been unstoppable when the Thunder has played recently. Maxey has been awesome in that same span as well. Over the last 10 games, he’s averaging 32.8 points per game on 50.9% from the floor and 38.4% from 3. He’s also shooting 93.4% from the free-throw line as well. He’s 3rd in scoring over the last 10 games for the NBA.  It’s been fun to watch these two players get buckets over the last 2 weeks in a multitude of ways. 

5. How do the Suns bounce back from a disappointing trade deadline?

Well, the answer to this question is simple, you have to win. The Suns were unable to acquire Jimmy Butler after being linked to the Heat’s superstar for over a month before the trade deadline. However, at the end of February 6th Butler was on the Warriors and not on the Suns. In recent light it’s been said Kevin Durant was a part of the trade in the Warriors and the Suns fielded offers on the 36-year-old superstar. This made Durant pretty unhappy and shows the turmoil that the franchise is eventually heading towards in the offseason. Durant is extension-eligible, but who knows if he’ll sign it. The Suns traded their only unprotected first-round pick in hopes of acquiring Jimmy Butler, but things fell through. Overall, the Suns did rid of Jusuf Nurkic, but they’re left with a limited roster and financial flexibility while having an unhappy Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal. Devin Booker is in the prime of his career and after an NBA finals appearance in 2021, he’s been nowhere close to going back with the recent moves of the front office. The Suns have a couple of options in trading away Booker and Durant to try and gain assets back they lost or they can stick it out and try and win games, but something tells the first option is more likely to happen.